Questions & Answers about Vad är det som är den näst kallaste öknen?
Why do we use näst here instead of a number like andra for "second"?
In Swedish, to express "second most", you must use the word näst before the superlative adjective. You cannot say andra kallaste. Interestingly, for rankings from third and onwards, you go back to using normal ordinal numbers, such as tredje kallaste (third coldest) or fjärde kallaste (fourth coldest).
Why is the sentence phrased as Vad är det som är rather than just Vad är?
This is a cleft sentence, translating literally to "What is it that is...". While Vad är den näst kallaste öknen? is grammatically correct, inserting det som är is extremely common in spoken Swedish. It softens the directness and adds a nuance of "What exactly is...", making the question sound much more natural to native ears.
Why does the superlative adjective take the form kallaste instead of kallast?
Because the noun phrase is definite (indicated by the article den), the superlative adjective must also be in its definite form. For regular superlatives ending in -ast, we add an -e to make them definite, resulting in den näst kallaste.
Why is the definite form of öken spelled öknen instead of ökenen?