Breakdown of Vi provsmakar en sorts gryta på marknaden.
vi
we
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
marknaden
the market
provsmaka
to taste (sample)
en sorts
a kind of
grytan
the stew
Questions & Answers about Vi provsmakar en sorts gryta på marknaden.
Why does it say en sorts here? Does the en agree with the en-word gryta?
It actually doesn't! The en agrees with the word sort (which is an en-word), not with gryta. You use the fixed phrase en sorts regardless of the gender of the noun that follows it. For example, you would also say en sorts äpple even though apple is an ett-word. The other common phrase you will see is ett slags, which uses ett because slag is an ett-word.
Why is there no article before gryta?
After phrases like en sorts or ett slags, the noun that follows goes directly into its bare indefinite form. You don't add another article. Just like in English where we say "a kind of stew" (not "a kind of a stew"), Swedish uses en sorts gryta and never en sorts en gryta.
Could I just use smakar instead of provsmakar here?
You could, but provsmakar is much more specific. While smakar can mean "tastes" (like "it tastes good" or "I taste it"), provsmakar specifically means to "taste-test" or "sample" something. It's a compound of provar (try/test) and smakar (taste), which fits perfectly for sampling food from a market stall.
Why do we use the preposition på before marknaden?
In Swedish, you generally use på for public surfaces, squares, and specific events. Because a market (en marknad) is traditionally held on an open-air square or street surface, you use på marknaden (at the market) rather than i (in).
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