Breakdown of Elefanten framför pyramiden är sjuttio år gammal.
vara
to be
året
the year
gammal
old
sjuttio
seventy
Questions & Answers about Elefanten framför pyramiden är sjuttio år gammal.
Why does the sentence use the word gammal? Can I just say Elefanten är sjuttio år?
Yes, you can! Just like in English, you can use either är sjuttio år (is seventy years) or är sjuttio år gammal (is seventy years old). The pattern of combining a quantity, a unit of measurement, and an adjective (like sjuttio år gammal or två meter lång) is the standard way to express age and physical dimensions in Swedish.
The number is seventy (sjuttio), so why does the word for year (år) look like it is in the singular form?
It actually is in the plural form! År is an ett-word (a neuter noun) that ends in a consonant. In Swedish, these types of words look exactly the same in the indefinite plural as they do in the singular. Therefore, ett år means one year, and sjuttio år means seventy years.
Could I use före instead of framför to mean 'in front of'?
No, and this is a common mix-up! Framför is used for physical space, meaning 'in front of' a location or object (like the pyramid). Före is strictly used for time, meaning 'before' an event. Since we are talking about the elephant's physical location, framför is the only correct choice here.
How is sjuttio usually pronounced in everyday speech?