"Ett litet barn"
Translation:A small child
15 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Lilla is the definite form of liten, so you say: ”ett litet barn” (a small child) but ”det lilla barnet” (the small child).
No, de små barnen. For this adjective, the definite form singular and the plural form are different.
Thanks :) I really need to focus on this language I thought it will be easy because it's similar to English, now I know that it's not :-)
1251
That would be små barn. Små is the plural form of liten regardless of the word’s definitiveness.
Why did you put det infront of lilla barnet? Would it still be the small child without the det?
We need to show it in three places when using an adjective with a noun. With a separate word den/det/de, and by changing the adjective and the noun into their definite forms.
- Ett litet barn → Det lilla barnet
In my long-ago comment below, I was surprised that my answer "a small child" was corrected to One small child. But now I see "a small child" is the answer or "one" answer or "an" answer.... It's often not clear whether one or "a" is called for in an isolated phrase or sentence starting with ett.
- 1251
Would this have the same meaning as a "little kid" in English where it could refer to someone's age rather than their size? What about "en liten flicka/pojke"?
As you may know, adjectives conjugate according to the gender and number of the noun. Små and liten both mean small or little, but are used slightly differently. You use liten for singular en nouns (like en liten hund), but små is ALWAYS used for plural (Flera små hundar). Here is a link to a useful website explaining this.
http://blogs.transparent.com/swedish/big-and-small-in-swedish/
- 2460
Tack så mycket! I thought they were (kind of) synonyms, but now it's clear they're singular and plural forms of an 'irregular' adjective ;)