Breakdown of Forskaren studerar de av klimatförändringen drabbade djuren.
djuret
the animal
de
the (plural, before adjective)
av
of, by / from (cause)
forskaren
the researcher
studera
to study (formal, at university)
klimatförändringen
the climate change
drabba
to affect (strike, afflict)
Questions & Answers about Forskaren studerar de av klimatförändringen drabbade djuren.
Why is the phrase av klimatförändringen sandwiched between de and drabbade djuren?
This is a complex pre-modifying attribute. In Swedish, a participle (drabbade, affected) acting as an adjective can take its own descriptive phrases (like av klimatförändringen, by the climate change). Instead of putting this describing phrase after the noun like in English, Swedish often packages the entire block between the definite article (de) and the noun (djuren). It translates literally to "the by the climate change affected animals."
Is there a more conversational way to word this without the "sandwich" structure?
Yes. This pre-modifying structure is highly characteristic of formal, journalistic, or academic written Swedish. In everyday speech, you would typically use a relative clause instead: Forskaren studerar djuren som är drabbade av klimatförändringen (the animals that are affected by the climate change) or ...som har drabbats av... (...that have been affected by...).
Why does the past participle drabbade end in -ade here?
Past participles function exactly like adjectives when placed before a noun. The verb drabba (to strike/affect) forms the basic en-word past participle drabbad. However, because it is modifying a definite and plural noun phrase (de ... djuren), it must take the plural/definite ending for this group of participles, which is -ade.
Even though de is used at the start of the phrase, why does djur still take the definite ending -en?
This is a great refresher on Swedish "double definiteness." Whenever you introduce an adjective or a participle before a definite noun, you must add the freestanding definite article (den, det, or de). However, this does not replace the noun's own definite suffix. You still need the -en on djuren.
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