Breakdown of Myteristen och sjömannen hatar varandras lögner.
och
and
lögnen
the lie
varandras
each other's
hata
to hate
myteristen
the mutineer
sjömannen
the sailor
Questions & Answers about Myteristen och sjömannen hatar varandras lögner.
How does varandras demonstrate the phrasal genitive (gruppgenitiv) we are learning in this lesson?
While we treat varandra (each other) as a single word today, it historically comes from the two-word phrase var andra (each the other). Instead of both words taking a genitive ending, Swedish attaches the possessive -s only to the very end of the group to form varandras. This perfectly matches the logic used when adding an -s to the end of a long noun phrase like mannen på gatans hund (the man on the street's dog).
Why is lögner (lies) in the indefinite form here instead of the definite lögnerna?
This is an important rule to remember: whenever a noun is preceded by a possessive word ending in -s (like varandras, Annas, or lärarens), the noun that follows must always be in the indefinite form. Even though the sentence refers to specific lies, the possessive -s essentially replaces the definite ending, leaving us with varandras lögner.
How does the word sjömannen break down, and how would it look in the plural?
The word is a compound of sjö (sea) and man (man), shown here in the singular definite form (the sailor). Because it ends in -man, it gets an irregular plural just like in English. The plural of man is män, so if the sentence was about multiple sailors, it would be sjömännen.
What is the base word for myteristen?
The root noun is ett myteri (a mutiny). To describe the person participating in it, Swedish adds the common suffix -ist to create en myterist. In this sentence, we see the definite singular form, myteristen (the mutineer).
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