Breakdown of Gästerna gick sjungande runt hela bordet.
bordet
the table
gå
to go, to walk
sjunga
to sing
gästen
the guest
hel
whole
runt
around
Questions & Answers about Gästerna gick sjungande runt hela bordet.
Why is there no "det" before hela bordet? Usually, definite adjectives need a standalone article.
You've hit on the main exception to the "double definiteness" rule! Words like hela (the whole), halva (half the), and båda (both) directly modify the definite noun without needing the free article (den/det/de) in front. So, it's just hela bordet, not det hela bordet.
What role does sjungande play here, and why does it end in -ande?
Sjungande is the present participle of the verb sjunga (to sing). While present participles often act as adjectives, here it acts as an adverb describing how the guests walked. To form it, you generally add -ande to the stem of verbs ending in -a, and -ende to verbs ending in other vowels.
Could I place the participle at the end and say Gästerna gick runt hela bordet sjungande instead?
Placing sjungande at the end sounds quite clunky in Swedish. When a present participle describes the continuous action happening alongside the main verb (walking while singing), it usually sits right next to that verb: gick sjungande.
Is runt acting as a verbal particle or a preposition in this sentence?
It's acting as a preposition here. It links the walking directly to the table (runt hela bordet). If it were a verbal particle, the stress would change and it would alter the core meaning of the verb itself (for example, the particle verb gå runt can mean "to make ends meet" or "to circulate").
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