Learn Swedish: Vi förlorade quizet eftersom vi glömde namnet på det näst största vattenfallet. - We lost the quiz because we forgot the name of the second largest waterfall.

In Swedish, you express a secondary rank by putting the word näst (next) directly before a superlative adjective. While största means "largest", adding näst makes it literally "next largest", which we translate as "second largest". If you wanted to say "third largest", you would switch to an ordinal number: tredje största.

Why is the adjective in the -a form (största) instead of the base superlative form störst?

Because it is part of a definite noun phrase. The phrase starts with the definite article det and ends with the definite noun vattenfallet. When a superlative adjective is sandwiched between these, it must take the definite ending -a.

Why do we say namnet på instead of namnet av for "the name of"?

English speakers often try to use av to translate "of", but Swedish uses prepositions differently. When talking about a specific attribute belonging to something, like the name, price, or address of a thing, Swedish almost always uses på.

Could I use tappade instead of förlorade for losing the quiz?