Breakdown of Du måste betala en mindre avgift för rummet.
du
you (singular)
en
a, an (common)
rummet
the room
måste
to have to, must
för
for, to
betala
to pay
liten
small
avgiften
the fee
Questions & Answers about Du måste betala en mindre avgift för rummet.
Doesn't mindre usually mean 'smaller'? Why is it translated as 'minor' here?
Yes, mindre is the comparative form of liten (small), so it usually means 'smaller'. However, Swedish often uses the comparative form without actually comparing two things. This is called the absolute comparative. It softens the meaning to express a moderate amount. Here, en mindre avgift simply means 'a minor fee' or 'a rather small fee', rather than a fee that is literally smaller than another one.
Does the ending of mindre change if it describes an ett-word or a plural noun?
No! One of the nice things about comparative adjectives in Swedish (like mindre, större, or äldre) is that they never change their endings. They stay exactly the same whether they describe an en-word, an ett-word, or a plural noun.
I sometimes forget when to use att. Why is it left out before betala?
Måste (must) is a modal verb. Just like in English where you say 'must pay' instead of 'must to pay', Swedish modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive form of the next verb without using the infinitive marker att.
Why do we use the preposition för instead of till here?
When you pay in exchange for a good or service (like renting a room), you use the preposition för (for). You would use till (to) if you were mentioning the person, business, or account receiving the payment.
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