Breakdown of Vi sparar hälften av vasslen till en hantverksmässig ost.
vi
we
en
a, an (common)
till
to (direction, destination)
av
of, by / from (cause)
osten
the cheese
spara
to save (money, resources, data)
hälften
the half
hantverksmässig
artisanal
vasslen
the whey
Questions & Answers about Vi sparar hälften av vasslen till en hantverksmässig ost.
Why do we use hälften here instead of halv?
Hälften is a noun meaning the half. It is used when talking about a fraction of a whole amount, as in hälften av vasslen (half of the whey). By contrast, halv is an adjective used directly before a noun, like in en halv ost (a half cheese).
The word for artisanal is hantverksmässig. How does the suffix -mässig work here?
The suffix -mässig is a very useful tool in Swedish that turns a noun into an adjective meaning in the manner of or relating to. Here, it takes the noun hantverk (handicraft) and adds a connecting s plus -mässig to describe something produced using traditional craft methods.
Why is the preposition till used here to mean for? Couldn't I use för?
When you are saving, using, or reserving something for a specific future purpose or product, Swedish strongly prefers till. You will often see this pattern when the first thing is an ingredient or resource destined to become the second thing, such as saving whey till en ost (for a cheese).
What is the root word of vasslen (the whey)?
The root word here is en vassle, which makes its definite form vasslen. Swedish actually has a few accepted forms for this noun: you might also see it as en vassla (definite vasslan) or even as an ett-word, ett vassle (definite vasslet). All mean whey, but en vassle is the form used to get vasslen in this sentence.
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