Question 1

Why do we use helt (completely) instead of a word like väldigt (very) with tårögd?

Accepted Answer

In Swedish, tårögd (teary-eyed) is often treated as a non-gradable or absolute adjective. It describes a physical state that is generally seen as binary: you either have tears in your eyes or you don't. For these types of adjectives, we use absolute modifiers like helt (completely) or totalt (totally) rather than degree modifiers like väldigt (very) or ganska (quite).

Question 2

Why use av here to mean "from" the chili sauce, rather than från?

Accepted Answer

When "from" indicates the cause of a physical or emotional reaction (like getting teary-eyed, sick, or tired), Swedish uses the preposition av. You use från when talking about physical movement or spatial origin, like taking a bottle from the table (från bordet).

Question 3

How is the word tårögd formed?

Accepted Answer

It is a compound of tår (tear) and ögd (eyed). The word ögd is an adjective formed from the noun öga (eye). You will see this -ögd suffix in other descriptive words too, such as blåögd (blue-eyed) or enögd (one-eyed).

Question 4

If there were multiple finalists, how would the phrase helt tårögd change?

Accepted Answer

The adjective must agree with the plural subject, so it would become tårögda. However, the adverb helt modifies the adjective and never changes its form, regardless of whether the subject is singular, plural, an en-word, or an ett-word. So the plural sentence would be: Finalisterna blev helt tårögda av chilisåsen.

Finalisten blev helt tårögd av chilisåsen.

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