Breakdown of Låset till kistan är brutet.
vara
to be
till
to (direction, destination)
låset
the lock
kistan
the chest
Questions & Answers about Låset till kistan är brutet.
Why is the word for broken brutet instead of bruten or brutit?
Brutet is the past participle of the strong verb bryta (Group 4). Because it acts like an adjective describing låset (an ett-word), it must take the neuter ending -et. You would use brutit (the supine form) if you were saying someone has broken it, like någon har brutit låset.
How exactly do we build the form brutet from the verb bryta?
Group 4 verbs form their past participles using the stem of their supine form. The supine of bryta is brutit, so the stem is brut-. We then add the Group 4 adjective endings: -en for en-words, -et for ett-words, and -na for plural. Since låset is an ett-word, we add -et to get brutet.
Why does the sentence use till instead of av for the lock of the chest?
When expressing that a specific part belongs to or fits a particular object, Swedish typically uses the preposition till rather than av. You will see this often with functional pairs, such as låset till kistan (the lock to the chest) or nyckeln till dörren (the key to the door).
Does kistan mean coffin or chest?
The word en kista can mean both a chest (like a treasure chest or storage trunk) and a coffin. The context usually makes it clear which one is meant. Since this sentence is about a lock being broken, a storage chest is the most logical translation here.