Breakdown of Hundratals nedsatta böcker såldes före öppningen.
boken
the book
sälja
to sell
före
before (preposition, + noun or time)
öppningen
the opening
nedsatt
reduced
hundratals
hundreds of
Questions & Answers about Hundratals nedsatta böcker såldes före öppningen.
Why does hundratals end in an -s, and how does it differ from ett hundratal?
Adding the -s turns the aggregate noun into an indefinite plural meaning "hundreds of". If the sentence had used ett hundratal nedsatta böcker, it would mean "a hundred or so discounted books" (approximately one hundred). The -s ending is used to express multiples of these numbers, just like tusentals (thousands of) or tiotals (dozens of).
Why is there no Swedish word for "of" between hundratals and nedsatta böcker?
In English, we say "hundreds of books", but in Swedish, aggregate numbers ending in -tals behave like quantifiers or adjectives. They attach directly to the noun phrase they modify without needing the preposition av.
Where does the word nedsatta come from, and why does it end in -a?
It is the past participle of the phrasal verb sätta ned (to reduce or mark down). Here it is used as an adjective modifying böcker. Because böcker is plural, the participle must take the plural -a ending to match.
What verb form is såldes?
It is the past tense passive form of sälja (to sell). By adding an -s to the active past tense form sålde, it changes the meaning from "sold" to "were sold". This is known as the s-passive, which is very common in Swedish, especially in formal or written contexts.
Could I use innan instead of före before öppningen?
Strictly speaking, före is a preposition used before nouns (like öppningen), while innan is a conjunction used before a full clause with a subject and verb (like innan butiken öppnade). In modern everyday Swedish, many native speakers do use innan before nouns as well, but före remains the grammatically standard choice in this sentence.
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