Breakdown of De här dyra ostarna är fantastiska.
vara
to be
dyr
expensive
de här
these
fantastisk
fantastic
osten
the cheese
Questions & Answers about De här dyra ostarna är fantastiska.
I thought ost (cheese) was an uncountable mass noun. Why is it pluralized to ostarna here?
This is an example of sortpluralis (plural of kind/sort). While ost is normally uncountable when talking about cheese as a general substance, you can pluralize it to ostar to mean 'types of cheese' or 'entire wheels of cheese'. Adding the definite plural suffix gives us ostarna (the cheeses).
Why is the noun in the definite form (ostarna) when we already have the pointing word for 'these' (De här)?
Swedish uses 'double definiteness' with demonstrative pronouns like den här, det här, and de här. This means you must use the definite form of the noun alongside the pronoun. You are literally saying 'these here the expensive cheeses'.
Why does fantastiska have an -a at the end when it comes after the verb?
In Swedish, predicative adjectives (adjectives that follow a verb like är) must still agree in number and gender with the noun they describe. Because ostarna is plural, the adjective must take the plural -a ending to become fantastiska, rather than staying in the base singular form fantastisk.
Is De här actually pronounced the way it is spelled?
In formal reading, yes, but in almost all everyday spoken Swedish, the pronoun De is pronounced as dom. You will hear native speakers say 'dom här dyra ostarna är fantastiska'.
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