Breakdown of Med undantag av en ingrediens är receptet enkelt.
vara
to be
en
a, an (common)
enkel
simple
receptet
the recipe
Questions & Answers about Med undantag av en ingrediens är receptet enkelt.
Why doesn't undantag have a definite article here, like it does in the English translation "with the exception of"?
In Swedish, the phrase med undantag av is a fixed expression that uses the bare noun. Even though you translate it as "with the exception of", you should not say med undantaget av.
Could I use bortsett från in this sentence instead?
Yes, you could say Bortsett från en ingrediens and the meaning would be essentially the same. Med undantag av sounds slightly more formal, much like comparing "with the exception of" to "apart from" in English.
Why is the verb är placed before the subject receptet?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. Because the sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Med undantag av en ingrediens, that entire block of words counts as position one. The verb är must take the second position, pushing the subject receptet after it.
Why is the adjective written as enkelt instead of enkel?
The adjective must agree with the noun it describes, which is receptet. Because recept is an ett-word (ett recept), the adjective enkel takes the neuter -t ending to become enkelt.