Breakdown of Smeden värmer järnet och gör det böjligt.
det
it (neuter)
och
and
göra
to do, to make
värma
to heat
Questions & Answers about Smeden värmer järnet och gör det böjligt.
Why does böjligt end with a -t here instead of being just böjlig?
It is acting as an object predicative, meaning it describes the object of the sentence rather than the subject. The object here is det (referring to järnet, which is an ett-word). Because adjectives must agree with the noun or pronoun they describe, böjlig gets a -t added to match.
What if the blacksmith was heating multiple pieces of iron? How would the end of the sentence change?
If it were plural (järnen, the irons), the object pronoun would become dem (them). The object predicative adjective would then need to take the plural -a ending, becoming böjliga. The phrase would be och gör dem böjliga.
I usually translate gör as 'do'. Is it normal to use it for 'make' like this?
Yes! When you are talking about causing a person or thing to enter a certain state (like making something pliable, happy, or angry), you use gör (from göra). Swedish does not use verbs like skapar or tillverkar for this kind of abstract change.
Is böjligt related to a verb?