Breakdown of Festen är den trettioförsta december.
vara
to be
festen
the party
den
the (with en-words)
december
December
trettioförsta
thirty-first
Questions & Answers about Festen är den trettioförsta december.
Why is there no word for "on" (like på) before the date?
When stating a specific date in Swedish, you don't use a preposition for "on". You simply say den followed by the ordinal number and the month. So, är den trettioförsta translates directly to "is on the thirty-first".
Why do we use den before the date?
In Swedish, ordinal numbers like trettioförsta (thirty-first) act like adjectives describing a specific day. Just as you use den before an adjective to say "the" (like den stora festen), you need den before a date to say "the thirty-first".
How do you build long ordinal numbers like trettioförsta?
You simply attach the regular number for the tens (trettio) directly to the ordinal number for the units (första) to make a single word. For example, the twenty-second would be tjugoandra.
Is it a mistake that december is written with a lowercase 'd'?
No, it's correct! Unlike English, Swedish does not capitalize the months of the year or the days of the week unless they are the very first word in a sentence.
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