Breakdown of Satiren var den mest komiska delen av boken.
vara
to be
boken
the book
den
the (with en-words)
av
of, by / from (cause)
mest
most
delen
the part
satiren
the satire
komisk
comical
Questions & Answers about Satiren var den mest komiska delen av boken.
Why do we use mest komiska instead of adding -aste to make it "komiskaste"?
Adjectives ending in -isk, like komisk (comical) or typisk (typical), are exceptions to the usual rule. They sound awkward with the normal -are and -aste endings. Instead, they must use mer (more) and mest (most) to form the comparative and superlative.
Why does komisk get an -a at the end here?
Even though we are using mest for the superlative, the adjective itself still needs to follow the definite rules because it is part of a definite noun phrase. When an adjective is between the freestanding article den and a definite noun like delen, it takes the definite ending -a.
Why do we need den before mest, and then also put delen in the definite form?
This is the Swedish rule of "double definiteness." When a definite noun like delen (the part) is described by an adjective, you have to add the freestanding definite article in front of the whole phrase. Since del is an en-word, we use den, giving us den mest komiska delen.
Why say delen av boken instead of using the s-genitive bokens mest komiska del?
While the s-genitive is grammatically possible, using av (of) sounds much more natural in Swedish when you are talking about a piece or fraction of a larger whole. It translates exactly to the English structure "part of the book."
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