Svenska → English
Nouns and articles: en, ett, the definite ending, the plural
Swedish nouns with en and ett (en bil, ett hus), the definite ending (bilen, huset), the plural (bilar, flickor, parker, äpplen, hus) and its definite form (bilarna, husen), the genitive -s (Annas bok), den här and det här, and number nouns (en tvåa, femman).
The English a or an is en before an en-word and ett before an ett-word: en bil, en bok, en stol, en lägenhet, ett hus, ett äpple, ett bord. The form of a noun rarely shows its gender, so each noun is learned with its article. Ett is also the number one.
Per har en hund. Vi har ett glas.
The English speaker's trap is a single article for every noun: en hus and ett bil are wrong.
Show the answer Jag har ___ bil. enShow the answer
Show the answer Anna har ___ hus i Lund. ettShow the answer
The definite form (the car) is made by adding an ending to the noun. An en-word takes -en, or -n after a vowel. An ett-word takes -et, or -t after a vowel.
| Noun ends in | en-word | ett-word |
|---|---|---|
| a consonant | bil, bilen; bok, boken; lägenhet, lägenheten | hus, huset; bord, bordet; glas, glaset; hotell, hotellet |
| a vowel | flicka, flickan; pojke, pojken | äpple, äpplet |
An en-word in unstressed -or takes only -n: dator, datorn. A few short words ending in -m or -n after a short vowel double the consonant: rum, rummet; vän, vännen; man, mannen.
The English speaker's trap is a separate word for the: the definite form of bil is bilen, never den bil.
Show the answer Jag har en bil. ___ (bil) är ny. BilenShow the answer
Show the answer Anna har ett hus. ___ (hus) är bra. HusetShow the answer
The indefinite form is used for a thing named for the first time: en hund, ett bord, en väska, en kamera, en film. The definite form is used once the thing is known, because it has been mentioned or is present: hunden, bordet, katten, boken, huset, barnet, datorn, koppen.
Elin har en stol. Stolen är ny.
Swedish and English use a and the in the same way, but the Swedish the is an ending on the noun: Where is the book? is Var är boken?
Show the answer Erik köper ___ (hund). Hunden heter Max. en hundShow the answer
Show the answer Anna har en katt. ___ (katt) är grå. KattenShow the answer
Swedish nouns fall into five plural groups. The first two take -or and -ar.
| Ending | Nouns | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -or | en-words in -a, the -a dropped | flicka, flickor; kaka, kakor; väska, väskor; kvinna, kvinnor |
| -ar | many en-words | bil, bilar; hund, hundar; stol, stolar; dag, dagar; klänning, klänningar |
The final unstressed -e of an en-word is dropped before -ar: pojke, pojkar.
The English speaker's trap is the plural -s, which Swedish does not have. -or is used only with nouns in -a, so bilor is wrong.
Show the answer Vi har tre ___ (bil). bilarShow the answer
Show the answer Anna ser fyra ___ (flicka) här. flickorShow the answer
The other three groups take -er or -r, -n, or no ending.
| Ending | Nouns | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -er | many en-words, often of foreign origin | park, parker; student, studenter; biljett, biljetter; banan, bananer; vän, vänner |
| -r | a few nouns ending in a vowel | sko, skor |
| -n | ett-words ending in a vowel | äpple, äpplen; meddelande, meddelanden |
| none | ett-words ending in a consonant, en-words in -are | hus, hus; barn, barn; rum, rum; hotell, hotell; lärare, lärare |
Whether an en-word takes -ar or -er is learned with the noun: bil, bilar; park, parker. An ett-word ending in a consonant has the same form in the singular and the plural: ett hus, två hus.
The English speaker's trap is an ending on every plural: three rooms is tre rum, never husar or rums.
Show the answer Lund har fyra ___ (park). parkerShow the answer
Show the answer Anna har tre ___ (äpple). äpplenShow the answer
The definite plural is formed by adding an ending to the indefinite plural.
| Indefinite plural | Ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| in -or, -ar, -er, -r | -na | flickorna, kakorna, bilarna, stolarna, bussarna, biljetterna, skorna |
| in -n | -a | äpplena |
| an ett-word with no ending | -en | husen, barnen |
| an en-word in -are | -na, the -e dropped | lärarna |
Show the answer Anna har två bilar. Hon tvättar ___ (bil) nu. bilarnaShow the answer
Show the answer Vi ser fyra flickor här. ___ (flicka) är studenter. FlickornaShow the answer
The genitive is formed by adding -s, without an apostrophe: Annas, Eriks, Elins, Johans, Saras, Karins, Oskars. Countries and towns take -s too: Sveriges huvudstad, Lunds. A name ending in -s takes no extra -s: Lars bil.
The noun after a genitive has no article and no definite ending: Pers hund, never Pers hunden.
The English speaker's trap is the apostrophe: Emmas bil, not Emma's bil.
Show the answer Det är ___ (Anna) bil. AnnasShow the answer
Show the answer ___ (Erik) hund heter Max. EriksShow the answer
This and these are den här, det här and de här; that and those are den där, det där and de där. The form agrees with the gender and number of the noun, and the noun is in the definite form.
| en-word | ett-word | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| this, these | den här väskan | det här rummet | de här kopparna |
| that, those | den där katten | det där huset | de där studenterna |
Other examples are den här filmen and de här bananerna.
The English speaker's trap is the bare noun: this car is den här bilen, not den här bil.
Show the answer ___ här bilen är ny. DenShow the answer
Show the answer ___ här huset är bra. DetShow the answer
A number used as a noun is an en-word, mostly formed with -a, with the usual definite and plural forms.
| Number | Noun | Definite | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| ett | en etta | ettan | ettor |
| två | en tvåa | tvåan | tvåor |
| tre | en trea | trean | treor |
| fyra | en fyra | fyran | fyror |
| fem | en femma | femman | femmor |
| sex | en sexa | sexan | sexor |
| nio | en nia | nian | nior |
A flat is named by its number of rooms, the kitchen not counted: en tvåa has two rooms and a kitchen. A school year is named in the definite form: Hon går i fyran (she is in year four).
The English speaker's trap is the bare numeral: a two-room flat is en tvåa, not en två.
Show the answer Anna bor i en lägenhet med två rum och kök. Det är en ___. tvåaShow the answer
Show the answer Erik bor i en lägenhet med tre rum och kök. Det är en ___. treaShow the answer
A noun takes en or ett, the definite ending, a plural ending or the genitive -s, and after den här or det här the definite form: ett hus, en tidning, jackan, mannen, skolor, vänner, hotell, bananerna, skorna, Saras, det här, en femma.
Show the answer Johan vill köpa ___ hus. ettShow the answer
Show the answer Emma har en jacka. Hon tvättar ___ (jacka) nu. jackanShow the answer
Create an account to see the rest Already have an account? Sign in.
This catalogue is protected by the EU database right (Directive 96/9/EC): extracting or reusing a substantial part of it is not permitted. Legal notice