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Den gåtfulla inskriften är omöjlig att förstå.

Den gåtfulla inskriften är omöjlig att förstå.
The enigmatic inscription is impossible to understand.
From Lesson 468:Adjectives with infinitives (den är svår att...)·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Den gåtfulla inskriften är omöjlig att förstå.

Why is the adjective omöjlig not in the neuter form omöjligt?
In this sentence structure, the adjective agrees with the subject Den gåtfulla inskriften, which is an en-word (common gender). Therefore, omöjlig takes no suffix. This grammar pattern is called 'Tough-movement': the logical object of the verb (what is being understood) is moved to the subject position, and the adjective must agree with that new subject.
How would this sentence change if we started it with a dummy subject like 'It is impossible...'?
It would become: Det är omöjligt att förstå den gåtfulla inskriften. When det (it) becomes the dummy subject, the adjective must take the neuter ending -t to become omöjligt. The noun phrase then moves back to its standard position as the object of the verb att förstå.
As a refresher, why does gåtfulla end in -a?
Swedish uses 'double definiteness'. Because the noun inskriften is in its definite form and is preceded by the independent definite article Den, the adjective between them must also take its definite ending, which is -a.
What is the root of the word inskriften?
It is the definite form of en inskrift (an inscription). It combines the prefix in- with the noun skrift (writing or script). Nouns ending in -skrift are almost always en-words, which is why we use Den and the -en suffix here.

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