Breakdown of Den skräckinjagande tunneln såg ut som om den vore vattenfylld.
vara
to be
den
it (common)
se ut
to look, to appear
som om
as if
Questions & Answers about Den skräckinjagande tunneln såg ut som om den vore vattenfylld.
How is the compound adjective skräckinjagande constructed?
It combines the noun skräck (terror or fear) with injagande, the present participle of the verb injaga (to instill or strike). Literally, it translates to 'fear-instilling'.
Why doesn't skräckinjagande take an -a ending to match the definite phrase Den ... tunneln?
Because it ends in a present participle. In Swedish, present participles used as adjectives always end in -ande or -ende and never change their form, regardless of whether the noun is definite, plural, or an ett-word.
Would the other compound adjective, vattenfylld, change if it were describing a plural noun?
Yes. Unlike present participles, compound adjectives ending in a past participle (like fylld) must agree with the noun they describe. Because tunneln is a singular en-word, it takes the base form vattenfylld. For an ett-word it would be vattenfyllt, and for plural nouns it would be vattenfyllda.
Why is the word vore used here instead of var?