Breakdown of Väskan av skinn är sydd för hand.
vara
to be
väskan
the bag
för
for, to
av
of, by / from (cause)
handen
the hand
sy
to sew
skinnet
the leather (soft, hide)
Questions & Answers about Väskan av skinn är sydd för hand.
Why is the word for sewn spelled sydd here instead of sytt?
Sydd is the past participle of the Group 3 verb att sy (to sew). Because it functions like an adjective describing väskan (an en-word), it takes the en-word form, which ends in -dd for Group 3 verbs. If it were describing an ett-word, it would be sytt, and for plurals it would be sydda.
How can I tell that att sy belongs to Group 3 to make this participle?
Group 3 verbs are easy to spot because their stem ends in a vowel other than -a. Words like sy (to sew), bo (to live), and tro (to believe) all fall into this group. To form their past participles, you just add -dd for en-words, -tt for ett-words, and -dda for plurals.
Could I just say skinnväskan instead of väskan av skinn?
Yes, you absolutely can! Swedish loves compound words, so skinnväskan (the leather bag) is very natural and common. Saying väskan av skinn (the bag of leather) is just another way to phrase it, which puts a little more emphasis on the material itself.
The English translation says 'by hand', but isn't the Swedish word for 'by' usually av? Why use för here?
While av often translates to 'by' in passive sentences (like 'made by him'), för hand is a fixed expression in Swedish meaning 'by hand' or 'manually'. Prepositions rarely translate perfectly one-to-one between languages, so it is best to memorize för hand as a set phrase.
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