Breakdown of Mannen med ärrets papegoja pratar mycket.
prata
to speak
mycket
much / very
mannen
the man
med
with
ärret
the scar
papegojan
the parrot
Questions & Answers about Mannen med ärrets papegoja pratar mycket.
Why is the possessive -s added to ärrets (the scar) when the man is the actual owner of the parrot?
This is the phrasal genitive (gruppgenitiv), which is the focus of this lesson. In Swedish, just like in English, when a noun phrase contains multiple words, the possessive -s attaches to the very last word of the whole phrase. Here, the entire owner phrase is mannen med ärret, so the -s goes directly onto ärret.
What is the base noun for ärrets, and how is the word built in this specific sentence?
The base noun is the ett-word ett ärr (a scar). Because the sentence says "the man with the scar", we first need the definite form, which is ärret. Finally, we attach the phrasal genitive -s to the very end of the phrase, resulting in ärrets.
Is papegoja in the definite or indefinite form here? We are talking about a specific parrot, after all.
It is in the indefinite form. This is a strict rule in Swedish that is always worth reviewing: whenever a noun comes directly after a possessive word or a genitive -s, it must take the indefinite form. Even though we know exactly which bird it is, saying ärrets papegojan would be a grammatical mistake.
Does this sentence sound natural to a Swede, or would they avoid attaching an -s to the scar?
The phrasal genitive is completely grammatically correct and used in everyday speech, but attaching ownership to the last word can sometimes feel a bit clunky. To avoid any awkwardness, Swedes will frequently rephrase this kind of sentence using a relative clause, such as papegojan som mannen med ärret har (the parrot that the man with the scar has).
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