Questions & Answers about Alla pirater går till sängs.
Why does säng have an -s on the end in till sängs?
This is a fossilized genitive form. In older Swedish, the preposition till forced the noun after it into the genitive case, adding an -s. While modern Swedish no longer uses cases this way, fixed expressions like till sängs (to bed) have survived.
Is there a difference between gå till sängs and gå till sängen?
Yes. Gå till sängs is a fixed idiom that specifically means going to sleep. Gå till sängen is literal: it means physically walking toward the specific piece of furniture (going to the bed).
Why is it alla pirater (indefinite) instead of alla piraterna (definite)?
When you are talking about all members of a group in a general sense (all pirates), you use alla with the indefinite plural. You only use the definite plural alla piraterna when referring to all of the pirates in a specific, already-known group.
Because till sängs is a fixed expression, can I use it with any verb?
No, these fossilized expressions only pair with a few specific verbs. You can gå till sängs (go to bed) or ligga till sängs (be confined to bed, usually from illness). If a pirate were doing something else, like jumping onto the bed, you would drop the old idiom and use standard modern Swedish: hoppar i sängen.