Breakdown of De basnoter som vi använder är träiga, men toppnoten är blommig.
vara
to be
vi
we
men
but
de
the (plural, before adjective)
använda
to use
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
träig
woody
basnoten
the base note
toppnoten
the top note
blommig
floral
Questions & Answers about De basnoter som vi använder är träiga, men toppnoten är blommig.
Why is it De basnoter and not De basnoterna if we are saying The base notes?
This is the determinative construction you are currently learning! When a noun is immediately restricted or defined by a som clause, Swedish drops the noun's definite suffix. Instead, you use the freestanding article De (or Den/Det for singulars) plus the indefinite noun: De basnoter som.
Why is the second noun, toppnoten, in the standard definite form instead of using den toppnot?
Because it doesn't have a som clause attached to it. The determinative rule (freestanding article + indefinite noun) only triggers when you specify exactly which one you mean using a relative clause right after it. Since the top note stands on its own here, it just takes the regular definite suffix (-en).
Why do the adjectives end differently (träiga vs. blommig)?
Adjectives placed after the verb är (predicative adjectives) still have to agree with the noun they describe. De basnoter is plural, so träig takes the plural -a ending to become träiga. toppnoten is a singular en-word, so blommig stays in its base form.
Both basnoter and toppnoten end with the word not. How does this affect their grammar?
In Swedish compound words, the very last word determines the gender and how it forms its plural or definite forms. Since en not is an en-word that takes -er in the plural, any compound ending in it will behave exactly the same way.
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