Breakdown of Vi borde köpa två likadana muggar till våra föräldrar.
vi
we
köpa
to buy
till
to (direction, destination)
vår
our
föräldern
the parent
två
two
böra
should, ought to
likadana
identical (plural)
muggen
the mug
Questions & Answers about Vi borde köpa två likadana muggar till våra föräldrar.
Why is it likadana with an -a at the end?
The word likadan behaves like an adjective, meaning it must agree with the noun it describes. Since we are talking about två muggar (two mugs), which is plural, we use the plural form likadana. If it were just one mug, it would be en likadan mugg.
Why do we use till instead of för to say "for our parents"?
In English you buy something "for" someone, but in Swedish, when there is a clear recipient of an object or a gift, you use till (which literally means "to"). You would only use för here if you were buying the mugs on their behalf (for example, if they were too busy to go to the store themselves).
Why is the noun föräldrar in the indefinite form after våra?
In Swedish, whenever you use a possessive pronoun like min, din, or våra (our), the noun that follows must always be in the indefinite form. Even though we mean our specific parents, it is always våra föräldrar, never våra föräldrarna.
Is borde a past tense verb here?
Technically, borde is the past tense of the verb böra (ought to). However, just like "should" in English, Swedish uses this past tense form to express a present or future recommendation or obligation. Because it acts as a modal verb, it is followed directly by the infinitive verb köpa without using att (to).
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