Breakdown of Hennes händer är väldigt ömma.
vara
to be
hennes
her (possessive)
handen
the hand
väldigt
very (extremely)
Questions & Answers about Hennes händer är väldigt ömma.
Why is ömma spelled with a double 'm' when the dictionary form is öm?
This happens because the base word öm has a short vowel sound. When you add the plural ending -a to match the plural noun händer, Swedish spelling rules require you to double the m to keep the ö short. If it were spelled öma, the ö would become a long vowel sound.
I thought the singular Swedish word was en hand. Why does it become händer here?
En hand is the singular form. It belongs to a small group of nouns that change their main vowel in the plural (from a to ä), making it händer (hands). You might remember this same pattern from en tand (a tooth), which becomes tänder (teeth).
Why does väldigt end in a -t?
In this sentence, väldigt (very) is acting as an adverb because it describes the adjective ömma (sore). In Swedish, you usually create an adverb by adding a -t to the base adjective (in this case, väldig).
Why do we use hennes here instead of the reflexive pronoun sina?