"Den lila klänningen är min."

Translation: The purple dress is mine.

[Jasmyne33]

Why do you not say "Den lila klänning är min" or "De lila klänning är min"? I thought 'klänningen" means 'the dress'. It looks like this sentence translates to "The purple the dress is mine" which is all kinds of wrong =D

[SusanaMont]

Why do we have to use "den" and "klanningen"? klanningen is already "the dress", so why repeat "the"? so confused....

[Sjodni]

Why klänningen in this case?

[lord_zulo]

Because it is definite singular, dictated by 'Den'

[helloelly123]

So it's "Den lila klänningen" for singular, and "De lila klänningar" for plural? I was just confused about "den", and does "lila" change based on number/gender?

[Arnauti]

"De lila klänningar" is the indefinite plural with an article, this form is rarely used. It occurs mainly with relative subclauses. The form you want is the definite plural, "de lila klänningarna" = the purple dresses.

[therealpeter]

this guy just hangs out everywhere on duolingo forums I swear

[ritablob]

Theyre a helper, im not sure what thats called in duolingo hierarchy but, their "job" is to help with swedish

[lily.loam]

But why do we use den?

[Hashmush]

"lila" does not change at all. "En lila hund"; "Ett lila hus"; "De lila blommorna".

[yarahnaomi]

Why "den" and not "de"?

[Arnauti]

de is for plural, den is for common gender singular. (and det is for neuter singular)

[jhlouise]

Is there any difference between the pronunciation of "lila" and "lilla"? I'm sure there is, but my non-native ears are struggling to hear it.

[Hashmush]

"Lila" is pronounced with a long "i" (almost "ij"*). "Lilla" is pronounced with a short "i". I'm pretty sure they have different tone accents.

(* See these for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFXCHM4NYBM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzYArZVTD4s)

[KatherineMaas]

Thank you so much for this explanation and for the URLs. I can see this entire series of videos will be very helpful in learning Swedish!

[gonzzi7]

Why isn't 'that' accepted here? How would you say 'that purple dress is mine'?

[Arnauti]

Den där lila klänningen är min. But we've added that as an accepted translation too. If you stress den when you say Den lila klänningen är min, it will also mean 'That purple dress is mine', and besides, English uses that much more often than we say 'den där' in Swedish. But if you want to be really clear that you mean that, den där is the way to go.

[yairchemla]

Only when you learn a new language that is not your native one that you realize how many rules there are.. And was here thinking hebrew is hard to learn. Tack! :)

[creativemetaphor]

Oy vey!

[yarahnaomi]

Can you also say Den lila klänningen där är min. ?

[Arnauti]

Yes, but that would mean The purple dress (over) there is mine.

[lord_zulo]

Yes. I would not interpret:
"Den lila klänningen där är min" or
"Den där lila klänningen är min"
differently.

[swede100]

"the" is less specific than "that" when describing something

[stamas47]

Lila is also lila in hungarian :)

[Teagun]

Could you say this without 'den'? So just Lila klänningen är min? It is weird to me to essentially say 'the' twice.

[Hashmush]

No, you have to say it. That's Swedish for you :)

[abdulrahma444077]

" Den svart kostymen är min " is dis acceptable as a sentence?

[vegidio]

Ok, "The purple dress is mine", but based only on what I hear (not looking at the text), I find difficult to see the difference between this and "The little dress is mine"

[Jack_Boulet]

I'm fairly certain there should be a difference with the way the i is prnonounced, and perhaps the double-l in lilla (small) is held longer than the single-l in lila (purple).

[annagoosey]

If lila is purple then how do we say lilac? Tack!

[roosa2183]

Is a purple dress = en lila klänning
Purple dresses = en lila klänningar or without "en"
The purple dress = den lila klänningen
The purple dresses = de lila klänningarna?