Breakdown of Den nya har en lång garanti, men den gamla hade ingen.
en
a, an (common)
ha
to have
men
but
gammal
old
ny
new
lång
long / tall
den
the (with en-words)
ingen
no, none (en-word)
garantin
the warranty
Questions & Answers about Den nya har en lång garanti, men den gamla hade ingen.
Why is there no Swedish word for 'one' in den nya and den gamla?
English uses 'one' as a placeholder so the adjective does not stand alone, but Swedish does not need this. You simply use the freestanding definite article (den or det) followed by the definite form of the adjective (nya or gamla). The noun is left out completely when it is already clear from context.
How do we know what gender the missing objects are?
The word den gives it away! Because the sentence uses den nya and den gamla, we know the speaker is referring back to an en-word, like en maskin (a machine) or en telefon (a phone). If they were talking about an ett-word, like ett kylskåp (a fridge), it would be det nya and det gamla.
Why do the adjectives nya and gamla end in an 'a'?
Whenever you use a definite article like den or det, the adjective must take its definite form. For most adjectives, including ny and gammal, the definite form ends in -a. Note how gammal drops its second 'm' and its 'a' to become gamla.
Why does the sentence end with ingen instead of inte?
ingen means 'none' or 'no' when referring back to an en-word (in this case, en garanti). If you wanted to use inte (not), you would have to pair it with någon (any) and say hade inte någon. Using ingen is a shorter, more natural way to say 'had none'.
Learn Den nya har en lång garanti, men den gamla hade ingen and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free