Breakdown of Publiken tyckte att maten var helt oätlig.
vara
to be
maten
the food
att
that
publiken
the audience
Questions & Answers about Publiken tyckte att maten var helt oätlig.
Why do we use helt here instead of väldigt or mycket?
Because oätlig (inedible) is a non-gradable adjective. Something is either inedible or it isn't; there are no degrees to it. Therefore, you cannot use a gradable modifier like väldigt (very) or mycket (much). You must use an absolute degree modifier like helt (completely) or totalt (totally).
I always mix up verbs for 'think'. Why is tyckte used in this sentence instead of trodde or tänkte?
Tycka is used to express a personal opinion or subjective feeling, which fits perfectly here because the audience experienced the food and formed a judgment. You would use tro for a belief without certainty (such as guessing what the food might taste like before trying it) and tänka for the cognitive process of pondering.
Does publiken mean 'the public' or 'the audience'?
In Swedish, publiken almost always means 'the audience' or 'the crowd' at a specific event, concert, or performance. If you want to talk about 'the public' in a broader societal sense, you should use the word allmänheten.
How is the word oätlig constructed?