28 Comments
Why is there "de" in this sentence? Isn't this unnecessary because the we already know it's definite from the use of "fåglarna" intead of "fåglar"?
Swedish nouns often (but not always) require the construction with de/den/det when used with an adjective.
Ok, this is the first sign Swedish might not be as easy peasy as I first thought.
So what is the rule here? I thought "de gula fåglarna" meant "these yellow birds", no?
I get this right, but I am confuse. the correct translation is... "I like the yellow birds" or "I like the yellow of the birds"
It does make sense if you live in a tropical country where birds have more that one color...
My confusion arise from the fact the "De" (The) is us in the sentence. Why it is use if we have "Flagarna" (The birds)? This is what make me think the sentence was about the color of the bird and not about the bird itself.
888
The article is needed before adjective + determinate noun.
I'd translate I like the yellow of the birds as Jag tycker om fåglarnas gula färg or Jag tycker om den gula färgen på fåglarna. If you try to say that without adding the word färg 'color' in Swedish, it will sound very poetic/archaic.
- 659
I understand the usage of den/det before adjectives. Is there any rule as to when to use de?
after reading all these comments i am still confused about the de article before an adjective. are there just certain adjectives/nouns that require it beforehand and i just have to learn them (if which is the case, which is it gula or fåglarna that requires is) or is there a way to predict that the sentence will have this random DE in it.?
- 888
If you're speaking about something determinate, with an adjective, you normally need to have an article first. (the only exception is things that are names or more or less like names, like Vita huset, 'the White house')
So whenever you have the + adjective + noun in English, it will be de/den/det + adjective + determinate noun in Swedish.
It was taught in any lesson before that ? I didnt know that . I almos lost all my hearts
this page has a really good thorough description of swedish grammar in general, but specifically part 3.2.2, under inflection under adjective gives a really good description complete with a table of this grammar structure that seems to be tripping everybody up.
Sorry, but which page? I am struggling with colours are there are no tips and notes for them to explain masculine, feminine, neuter and plural endings.
i keep seeing this and thinking it says "färg" so i keep putting "i like the yellow paint."
"Gul" describes "en" nouns, "Gult" describes "ett" nouns and "Gula" is for plural nouns.
