Breakdown of Med tången gör hon hästskon böjlig i elden.
hon
she
i
in
göra
to do, to make
med
with
elden
the fire (flames, campfire)
böjlig
pliable
hästskon
the horseshoe
tången
the tongs
Questions & Answers about Med tången gör hon hästskon böjlig i elden.
Why is the adjective böjlig in its basic form here?
Böjlig (pliable) acts as an object predicative here—an adjective that describes the object of the sentence, hästskon (the horseshoe). Because en sko is an en-word and it is singular, the adjective takes the basic en-form böjlig. If she were heating multiple horseshoes, it would be gör hästskorna böjliga.
Why is tången singular when the English translation says "the tongs"?
In English, tools with two joined parts like tongs, scissors, or pliers are treated as plural nouns. In Swedish, they are treated as singular objects. So "the tongs" is just a singular en-word in its definite form: tången (from en tång).
Why do we use gör (makes) here instead of får?
When you make something into a certain state (followed by an adjective), Swedish uses gör, just like English uses "makes". For example, gör mig glad (makes me happy) or gör hästskon böjlig. You use får when you make someone or something do an action (followed by an infinitive verb), like får honom att skratta (makes him laugh).
How does the definite ending of hästskon work?
It is a compound of en häst (a horse) and en sko (a shoe). Like all Swedish compound nouns, the gender and definite ending are determined entirely by the final word. Since the definite form of en sko is skon, the combined word becomes hästskon.
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