Breakdown of Det putsas många kristallglas, men inga bestick.
många
many
men
but
inga
no (plural)
det
there (dummy subject)
kristallglaset
the crystal glass
putsa
to polish
besticket
the piece of cutlery
Questions & Answers about Det putsas många kristallglas, men inga bestick.
Why use det here instead of just making många kristallglas the first words?
This is the presentational det. Swedish often avoids starting a sentence with an indefinite subject like många kristallglas. Instead, it uses det as an empty placeholder subject and moves the real subject after the verb. This structure is very common with passive verbs like putsas.
How is the passive verb putsas formed here?
It is in the present tense. You form this s-passive by taking the active present tense verb putsar (polishes) and replacing the final r with an s, giving us putsas (are being polished).
Both kristallglas and bestick look like singular words. How can we tell they are plural in this sentence?
Both are ett words ending in a consonant, which means their singular and plural forms are exactly the same. We know they are plural here because they are paired with plural quantity words: många (many) and inga (no/none).
Why do we use inga before bestick instead of inte?
The word inga is used to negate nouns directly, meaning no or none. The word inte is used to negate verbs. Since we are talking about plural cutlery, we use the plural form inga rather than the singular inget.
Learn Det putsas många kristallglas, men inga bestick 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