Breakdown of Sjömannen i masten letar efter piraten med krokens papegoja.
i
in
med
with
leta efter
to look for (physical items, everyday)
piraten
the pirate
kroken
the hook
papegojan
the parrot
masten
the mast
sjömannen
the sailor
Questions & Answers about Sjömannen i masten letar efter piraten med krokens papegoja.
Why is the -s attached to kroken when the parrot belongs to the pirate, not the hook?
This is the phrasal genitive (gruppgenitiv). In Swedish, when a descriptive noun phrase acts as a possessor (here, piraten med kroken), the genitive -s simply attaches to the very last word of that phrase. The entire phrase works as a single unit owning the parrot.
Could I attach the -s directly to the pirate instead, saying piratens med kroken papegoja?
No, that is grammatically incorrect in Swedish. The possessive -s must go at the absolute end of the possessor phrase. You cannot split the phrase or put the -s in the middle of it.
Does this phrasing ever sound weird or confusing to native Swedes?
Yes, it absolutely can! While the phrasal genitive is very common in everyday speech, it can create funny mental images, like a hook owning a parrot. In formal writing, Swedes often rephrase to avoid this clumsiness by saying something like papegojan som tillhör piraten med kroken (the parrot that belongs to the pirate with the hook).
I remember söker also means to look for. Could we use söker instead of letar efter here?
Yes, you could say söker piraten. The verb söker is transitive and doesn't require the preposition efter. It is generally a bit more formal, whereas letar efter is the most natural, everyday choice for physically searching around for a tangible object or person.
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