Breakdown of Polisen har hittat mördarens dna på bh:n.
hitta
to find
ha
to have
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
polisen
the police officer
mördaren
the killer
dna:t
the DNA
bh:n
the bra
Questions & Answers about Polisen har hittat mördarens dna på bh:n.
Why is there a colon in the word bh:n?
bh is an initialism (short for bysthållare, meaning bra). When attaching a grammatical suffix like the definite -n to an initialism, Swedish uses a colon to separate the base abbreviation from the ending.
Since dna is also an abbreviation, why does it not have a colon here?
Colons are only used when adding suffixes, such as definite, plural, or genitive endings. In this sentence, dna is in its basic indefinite form. If the sentence needed the definite form, it would take the definite suffix and be written as dna:t, since it is an ett word.
Why is dna written in lowercase letters?
In Swedish, well-established initialisms that act as everyday common nouns (like dna, tv, or cd) are standardly written in lowercase letters. You will sometimes see it capitalized, but the lowercase version is the formally recommended style in Swedish.
How is bh:n pronounced?
Because it is an initialism rather than an acronym, you pronounce the individual Swedish letters (be-ho), followed directly by the -n sound for the definite suffix. This letter-by-letter pronunciation is exactly why it takes a colon before suffixes.
How are the suffixes built on the word mördarens?
The base word is mördare (killer). To make it definite, you add the -n suffix to get mördaren (the killer). Finally, adding the genitive -s gives us mördarens (the killer's). This is a good reminder of how to stack suffixes on nouns ending in -are.
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