Breakdown of Turisten besökte östra Afrika nyligen.
besöka
to visit
turisten
the tourist
nyligen
recently
östra
eastern
Questions & Answers about Turisten besökte östra Afrika nyligen.
Why is it östra Afrika and not det östra Afrika?
This is a special rule for geographical names! Normally, a definite adjective like östra needs the free definite article det (the) in front of it. However, when we use adjectives with geographical proper nouns like continents, countries, or cities, we usually skip the free definite article.
Why does östra end in -a here? Is Africa a plural word?
No, Africa is singular. The -a ending on östra is the definite form of the adjective. Even though we dropped the word det because of the geography rule, the adjective itself still takes its definite ending since we are talking about a specific, named place.
Why isn't it öster Afrika?
Öster is a noun meaning the east, or an adverb meaning towards the east. To describe a place as eastern, you must use the adjective form, which is östra when modifying a definite noun like a continent.
Could we put nyligen earlier in the sentence, like Turisten nyligen besökte östra Afrika?
No, that would break the V2 rule. In Swedish main clauses, the verb must come second. You can put nyligen at the very beginning (Nyligen besökte turisten östra Afrika) or at the end as it is here, but you cannot put it between the subject and the verb.