Breakdown of Bostäderna i staden blir allt dyrare.
i
in
staden
the city
dyr
expensive
bli
to become
bostaden
the home (residence, dwelling)
allt
increasingly
Questions & Answers about Bostäderna i staden blir allt dyrare.
How does allt dyrare translate to "increasingly expensive"?
In Swedish, placing allt before a comparative adjective like dyrare (more expensive) shows that a continuous change is happening. You can think of allt here as meaning "ever" or "increasingly," so allt dyrare literally means "ever more expensive," which we usually translate as "increasingly expensive" or "more and more expensive."
The English translation says "are becoming", so why does the Swedish sentence just use blir?
Swedish does not have an exact equivalent to the English "-ing" continuous tense. Instead, the simple present tense blir (becomes) is used. The ongoing nature of the action is made perfectly clear from the context, especially by the progressive phrase allt dyrare.
What is the singular form of bostäderna?
The singular form is en bostad (a dwelling or home). Words ending in -stad are irregular and typically change their vowel to an ä in the plural, making it bostäder. The -na suffix is then added to make it the definite "the homes".
Shouldn't dyrare have a plural ending to match the plural noun bostäderna?
No, it stays exactly as it is! While standard adjectives take an -a ending for plural nouns (like dyra bostäder), comparative adjectives are a welcome exception. Once an adjective is in its comparative -are form, it never changes to match the noun's gender or number.
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