Breakdown of Den sällsynta fågeln har en röd näbb och en lång stjärt.
en
a, an (common)
och
and
röd
red
ha
to have
fågeln
the bird
lång
long / tall
den
the (with en-words)
sällsynt
rare
näbben
the beak
stjärten
the tail (of a bird or fish)
Questions & Answers about Den sällsynta fågeln har en röd näbb och en lång stjärt.
Why do we use stjärt here for tail instead of svans?
In Swedish, svans is used specifically for the tails of mammals, like dogs, cats, or horses. For birds, fish, and reptiles, you must use stjärt. Note that stjärt is also used colloquially to mean a human bottom, so choosing the right word for an animal is important!
What is the literal meaning behind the adjective sällsynta?
The word sällsynt (rare) is a compound made from sällan (rarely) and synt (seen, from the verb synas). So a rare bird is quite literally a rarely seen bird. Breaking down compound words like this makes them much easier to remember at the B2 level.
Why does sällsynta end in an -a even though we are talking about a single bird?
This is a quick refresher on the Swedish double definite rule. Because we are talking about a specific bird, we use the definite article Den and the definite noun fågeln. Any adjective sandwiched between them must take its definite form, which almost always ends in -a regardless of gender or number.
How would the grammar change if we were talking about multiple rare birds?
The sentence would become: De sällsynta fåglarna har röda näbbar och långa stjärtar. The adjective sällsynta keeps the same ending, but the indefinite adjectives röd and lång get an -a added to match the plural nouns näbbar and stjärtar.
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