Breakdown of Vem tillhör det lilla hänglåset?
vem
who
det
the (with ett-words)
liten
small
hänglåset
the padlock
tillhöra
to belong to
Questions & Answers about Vem tillhör det lilla hänglåset?
The lesson is about vems (whose). Why does this sentence use vem instead?
The word vems means "whose". You could absolutely ask Vems är det lilla hänglåset? (Whose is the small padlock?). However, this sentence uses the verb tillhör (belongs to). Just like in English where you ask "Who does this belong to?" rather than "Whose does this belong to?", Swedish uses the pronoun vem (who/whom) as the object of tillhör.
Why is the subject (det lilla hänglåset) at the very end of the sentence?
This is because of the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule. The question word Vem takes the first position, so the verb tillhör must take the second position. This forces the subject, det lilla hänglåset, to move to the spot immediately after the verb.
Do we need to add a word for "to" after tillhör?
No, the preposition is already built into the verb tillhör (notice that it starts with till, meaning "to"). Adding an extra preposition would be redundant.
Hänglås is an ett-word. Why do we use lilla instead of the neuter form litet?
Because the phrase is in the definite form ("the" small padlock). When an adjective comes between a free-standing definite article (det) and a definite noun (hänglåset), the adjective takes its definite form, which usually ends in -a. Liten is an irregular adjective, and its definite form is lilla.
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