"Jag tycker om de gula fåglarna."
Translation:I like the yellow birds.
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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.
So what is the rule here? I thought "de gula fåglarna" meant "these yellow birds", no?
Yes, it is. Adjectiv in general and simply put excluding exceptions. Bestämd Form= den gula fågeln Ombestämd Form singular= en gul fågel Ombestämd form plural= flera gula fåglar Ombestämd form singular neutra= ett gult äpple
I think it is similar to French. It has to do with an implied "some". Otherwise you would be saying you liked every single solitary yellow bird in existence.
This would have been nice to see explained in the course notes, unfortunately I have not come across it there yet so I'll give it a crack. Native speakers correct me if anything is off.
Firstly, this has no relation to the French construction 'de', it is simply how Swedish forms noun + adjective phrases. In these constructions, a word's 'definiteness' must be marked both before the adjective and at the end of the noun. This is known as double determination and it also occurs in Norwegian (especially Nynorsk which has less Danish influence), whereas in Danish it does not (perhaps due to the influence of neighbouring languages..). Compare:
en gul fågel = a yellow bird
den gula fågeln = the yellow bird
gula fåglar = yellow birds
de gula fåglarna = the yellow birds
Hope this clears that up.
Could a Swede confirm this? This would then make a lot of sense indeed! Tack!
Ok, this is the first sign Swedish might not be as easy peasy as I first thought.
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How do you know which to use? Is de for plural and den and det are for en and ett words? How do you know WHEN to use them with which nouns?
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.
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.
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.?
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
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I understand the usage of den/det before adjectives. Is there any rule as to when to use de?
