nyckelns

Nyckelns is the genitive form of the Swedish noun nyckel, meaning “the key.” It is used to indicate possession or association with a key, as in nyckelns funktion (the key’s function) or nyckelns lås (the key’s lock).

In Swedish, the common way to form possessives is by adding -s to the definite form of the noun. For nyckel, the indefinite singular is nyckel, the definite singular is nyckeln, and the genitive singular is nyckelns. The indefinite plural is nycklar, the definite plural is nycklarna, and the genitive plural is nycklarnas. Thus nyckelns is specifically the possessive form of the definite singular.

Nyckelns use is to show that something belongs to or is closely related to a key. It can denote ownership, characteristic, or a close association, typically in written or formal Swedish. For example, nyckelns färg means “the key’s color,” and nyckelns kapacitet refers to “the key’s capacity.” Because it is a suffix-based genitive, the possessive does not require an additional possessive pronoun, though a noun phrase can still specify the owner when needed (e.g., garageporten nyckelns ägare).

Etymology and related forms: nyckel is cognate with Danish nøgle and Norwegian nøkkel, all from Germanic roots. The genitive nyckelns follows the same pattern as other Swedish nouns that form possessives with -s appended to the definite form.

See also: Swedish grammar, Genitive case, Possessive forms.