Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Nouns

Gender: Neuter and Common

Number: Singular and Plural

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Possessive Forms of Nouns (Genitive)

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns (Subject and Object)

Reflexive Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

Possessives

Demonstratives

Interrogative Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Verbs

Compound Verbs

Present Tense

Past Tense (Imperfect)

Present Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense (Pluperfect)

Future

Conditional Mood

Past Participle

Present Participle

Supine

Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs)

Modal Verbs

Deponent Verbs

Imperative

Active and Passive Voice

Adjectives

Adverbs

Comparison

Conjunctions

Prepositions

Numbers

Negative Construction

Interrogatives

Sentences

Time and Dates

Grammar Pages

Number

Person

Gender

Verb Conjugation

Definite/Indefinite

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Alphabet and Pronunciation

The following table lists the 29 individual letters in the Swedish alphabet and various letter combinations.

LETTER		EXAMPLE		EXAMPLE
Vowels	Long		Short
a	father	dag	between a in cart and u in cut	dagg
e	bay (not diphthong) or French née	le	belt	lett
i	bee	vit	hit	vitt
o	soon	bo	hot	boll
u	between moon and few and long German ü (rounded lips)	hus	between put and short German ü (rounded lips)	rulla
y	German über or French une (rounded lips)	yta	short German ü or French u (rounded lips)	nytt
å	tone (rounded lips)	rå	hot	rått
ä	man	ära, läsa	get	bäst
ö	fur (long; rounded lips)	öra	girl (short; rounded lips)	rött
Consonants	General/specific	Example	Other positions	Example
b	bread	baka
c	cedar (before e, i, y, ä, ö)	cigarr	cartoon	Carlsson
d	duck (harder pronunciation than in English; tip of tongue should touch the back of front teeth)	dag
f	fun	flicka
g	yet (before e, i, y, ä, ö)	ge	go	gaffel, gripa
h	hold	hitta
j	yes	jaga
k	sure (before e, i, y, ä, ö)	kivas	kit	kalla
l	land	land
m	milk	mamma
n	night	natt
p	past	passa
q (+ u)	k in kit followed by v in vast (q is usually followed by u)	Holmquist
r	roll (rolled as in Scottish)	rulla
s	so	sy
t	tell (harder pronunciation than English; tip of tongue should touch the back of front teeth)	tack
v	van	vinna
w	van (mostly in names)	Wahlberg	win (a few loan words)	whiskey
x	box	boxa
z	so	zenit
Combinations	General/specific	Example	Other positions	Example
ch	shut (at the beginning of words)	chef	lack	och
ck, kk	lack	nicka, Pekka
dj, gj, lj, hj	yet (at the beginning of words)	djup, ljus	consonants pronounced separately	vilja
kj	between sure and chair and Scottish loch	kjusa
rd, rl, rn, rs, rt	r is not pronounced; turn up the tip of the tongue behind front teeth	vardag, svart
(s)sio, sch, skj, sj, stj	shut	mission, skjorta, schema
sk	shut (before e, i, y, ä, ö)	skynda	skip (other positions)	skola
tion	between shut and chat (word endings)	station
tj	between sure and Scottish loch	tjur

The Swedish alphabetical order is:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Å Ä Ö

W is regarded as a variant of V. In many lists (telephone directories for instance), last names starting with C are mixed with those starting with K (Carlsson/Karlsson).

Note that Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö are separate, individual letters, not accents or diacritics on A and O. They always come last in the alphabet.


Nouns

Nouns label or name things, persons, places, concepts, etc.: kvinna (woman), päron (pear), längtan (longing). They typically function as subjects or direct/indirect objects of sentences. Swedish nouns have two genders (common and neuter) and two numbers (singular and plural). They are used with definite and indefinite articles, and take different endings.

Common nouns (about 80 per cent of all nouns) are also called en words (en blomma /a flower/). Neuter nouns are also called ett words (ett träd /a tree/). A few nouns can be both common and neuter: en/ett paraply (an umbrella).

Plurals are formed by adding different endings depending on the declension.

Table of Noun Forms

DECLENSION	SINGULAR		TRANSLATION
	Indefinite	Definite
1st	en blomma	blomman	flower
2nd	en hund	hunden	dog
3rd	en park ett geni	parken geniet	park genius
4th	ett ansikte	ansiktet	face
5th	ett får en lärare	fåret läraren	one sheep teacher
	PLURAL
	Indefinite	Definite
1st	blommor	blommorna	flowers
2nd	hundar	hundarna	dogs
3rd	parker genier	parkerna genierna	parks geniuses
4th	ansikten	ansiktena	faces
5th	får lärare	fåren lärarna	many sheep teachers
Gender: Neuter and Common

Number: Singular and Plural

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Possessive Forms of Nouns (Genitive)

See also

The Definite Declension of Adjectives

The Indefinite Declension of Adjectives


Gender

Each Swedish noun has one of two genders: common or neuter. Common nouns use en as the indefinite article; neuter nouns use ett. The best method is to learn nouns and articles together.

Compound nouns take the gender and plural of their final element:

ett barn (a child) + en vagn (a wagon, a cart) = en barnvagn (a pram)

en stol (a chair) + ett ben (a leg) = ett stolsben (a chair leg)

ett gräs (grass) + en klippning (a cutting) + en maskin (a machine) = en gräsklippningsmaskin (a lawnmower)

Common Nouns

1. Most nouns denoting human beings:

en man (a man), en kvinna (a woman), en pojke (a boy)

2. Most nouns denoting animals:

en fisk (a fish), en gris (a pig), en hund (a dog)

3. Most nouns denoting days, months, seasons:

en tisdag (Tuesday), en kall augusti (a cold August), hösten (the autumn)

4. Most nouns with the following endings:

ENDING	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
a	en visa	a song
ans	en leverans	a delivery
ant	en fabrikant	a manufacturer
are	en arbetare	a worker
dom	en sjukdom	an illness
else	en frestelse	a temptation
ens	en konferens	a conference
het	en sevärdhet	a sight
ik	trafiken	the traffic
(n)ing	en vägledning	a guide
ion	en position	a position
ism	surrealismen	the surrealism
nad	en tystnad	silence
Neuter Nouns

1. Most geographical names that are proper nouns:

Sverige är vackert (Sweden is beautiful), Sahara är hett (The Sahara is hot)

2. Letters of the alphabet:

ett a (an a)

3. Most nouns with the following endings:

ENDING	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
ande	ett antagande	an assumption
ende	ett leende	a smile
eri	ett infanteri	an infantry
um/eum/ium	ett datum ett museum ett gymnasium	a date a museum a highschool
ek	ett bibliotek	a library
em	ett system	a system
iv	ett objektiv	a lens
Note: Nouns ending in ande or ende but denoting a person are common nouns:

en sökande (an applicant), en gående (a pedestrian)


Number: Singular and Plural

A noun can be singular (one person or thing) or plural (more than one person or thing). Swedish nouns, pronouns, articles, and adjectives change their form based on number. In both singular and plural, Swedish distinguishes between indefinite and definite forms.

The Swedish language has five declensions, or five ways of forming the plurals of nouns.

See also Definite and Indefinite Articles

First Declension

First declension nouns end in -or/-orna in the plural.

The first declension includes:

1. Common nouns of more than one syllable ending in a. These drop the -a before adding the plural ending.

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en gata	gator	gatorna	street/streets/the streets
en blomma	blommor	blommorna	flower/flowers/the flowers

2. Some common nouns ending in el and er. These drop the e before adding the plural ending:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en åder	ådror	ådrorna	vein/veins/the veins
en toffel	tofflor	tofflorna	slipper/slippers/the slippers

3. Very few nouns ending in a consonant. These simply add or/-orna to the singular form:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en ros	rosor	rosorna	rose/roses/the roses

In informal Swedish, the or and orna endings are often pronounced as if they were spelled er and erna.

Second Declension

Second declension nouns end in: -ar/-arna in the plural.

The second declension includes:

1. Many monosyllabic common nouns ending in a consonant:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en arm	armar	armarna	arm/arms/the arms
en brunn	brunnar	brunnarna	well/wells/the wells

2. Some monosyllabic common nouns ending in a vowel:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en fru	fruar	fruarna	wife/wives/the wives
en å	åar	åarna	river/rivers/the rivers

3. Many common nouns ending in unstressed e, el, en, er, dom, (n)ing, lek, is. Those with the singular endings e, el, en, and er drop the e before adding ar.

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en pojke	pojkar	pojkarna	boy/boys/the boys
en mantel	mantlar	mantlarna	cloak/cloaks/the cloaks
en öken	öknar	öknarna	desert/deserts/the deserts
en vinter	vintrar	vintrarna	winter/winters/the winters
en spådom	spådomar	spådomarna	prophecy/prophecies/the prophecies
en sanning	sanningar	sanningarna	truth/truths/the truths
en kärlek	kärlekar	kärlekarna	love/loves/the loves
en gris	grisar	grisarna	pig/pigs/the pigs

Please note that monosyllabic common nouns that have a short vowel and end in m or n, double the final consonant before adding ar and arna:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en rem	remmar	remmarna	strap/straps/the straps
en mun	munnar	munnarna	mouth/mouths/the mouths

There are also some second declension nouns with irregular plural forms.

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en sommar	somrar	somrarna	summer/summers/the summers
en afton	aftnar	aftnarna	evening/evenings/the evenings
en dotter	döttrar	döttrarna	daughter/daughters/the daughters
en moder	mödrar	mödrarna	mother/mothers/the mothers
en morgon	morgnar	morgnarna	morning/mornings/the mornings
en djävul	djävlar	djävlarna	devil/devils/the devils
Although almost all nouns in the second declension are common nouns, one neuter noun, ett finger (finger), falls into this declension as well.

Third Declension

Third declension nouns end in -er/-erna in the plural.

Third declension nouns include:

1. Many monosyllabic nouns ending in a consonant:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en dam	damer	damerna	lady/ladies/the ladies

2. Many nouns of foreign origin:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en regel	regler	reglerna	rule/rules/the rules
en armé	arméer	arméerna	army/armies/the armies
en meny	menyer	menyerna	menu/menus/the menus
en salong	salonger	salongerna	parlor/parlors/the parlors
en situation	situationer	situationerna	situation/situations/the situations

3. Common nouns ending in -else, het, nad, -när, -skap:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en villrådighet	villrådigheter	villrådigheterna	irresolution/irresolutions/the irresolutions
en rodnad	rodnader	rodnaderna	blushing/blushings/the blushings
en händelse	händelser	händelserna	event/events/the events
en konstnär	konstnärer	konstnärerna	artist/artists/the artists
en kunskap	kunskaper	kinskaperna	knowledge/knowledges/the knowledges

4. Neuter nouns ending in -eri and -ori:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett bryggeri	bryggerier	bryggerierna	brewery/breweries/the breweries
ett konditori	konditorier	konditorierna	café/cafés/the cafés

5. Some common nouns ending in a vowel which add only -r and -rna to form the plural:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en ko	kor	korna	cow/cows/the cows
en sko	skor	skorna	shoe/shoes/the shoes
en bastu	bastur	basturna	sauna/saunas/the saunas
en tå	tår	tårna	toe/toes/the toes
en mö	mör	mörna	maid/maidens/the maidens
en fiende	fiender	fienderna	enemy/enemies/the enemies
en linje	linjer	linjerna	line/lines/the lines

Please note the following:

Polysyllabic nouns ending in unstressed el, en, drop the e before adding the plural endings er and erna:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en sägen	sägner	sägnerna	legend/legends/the legends

Nouns of Latin origin ending in eum, ium, drop the um before adding the plural endings er and erna:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett museum	museer	museerna	museum/museums/the museums

Nouns ending in unstressed a, drop the a before adding the plural endings er and erna:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett drama	dramer	dramerna	drama/dramas/the dramas

Some nouns double their final consonant before adding the plural endings er and erna:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en vän	vänner	vännerna	friend/friends/the friends
en nöt	nötter	nötterna	nut/nuts/the nuts

Some nouns modify their root vowel and add the plural endings er and erna. The vowel modifies from a to ä, from å to ä, or from o to ö:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en hand	händer	händerna	hand/hands/the hands
ett land	länder	länderna	country/countries/the countries
en son	söner	sönerna	son/sons/the sons

Some nouns modify their root vowel from o to ö and double their final consonant (or change from k to ck) before adding the plural endings er and erna.

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en fot	fötter	fötterna	foot/feet/the feet
en rot	rötter	rötterna	root/roots/the roots
en bok	böcker	böckerna	book/books/the books

Some third declension nouns occur only in the plural: grönsaker (vegetables), ferier (vacation).

Fourth Declension

Fourth declension nouns end in -n or -na in the plural.

The fourth declension includes only neuter nouns and is comprised of:

1. Neuter nouns ending in a vowel:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett piano	pianon	pianona	piano/pianos/the pianos
ett ansikte	ansikten	ansiktena	face/faces/the faces
ett frö	frön	fröna	seed/seeds/the seeds

2. Neuter nouns ending in ande (originally present participles):

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett medgivande	medgivanden	medgivandena	concession/concessions/the concessions

3. The letters of the alphabet:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett a	an	ana	an a/ as/ many as

The following frequent nouns of the fourth declension are exceptions and have irregular plural forms:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett öga	ögon	ögonen	eye/eyes/the eyes
ett öra	öron	öronen	ear/ears/the ears
ett huvud	huvuden	huvudena	head/heads/the heads
Fifth Declension

Fifth declension nouns do not add anything to their stem to form the indefinite plural. This declension is called the zero plural (0 plural). Thus, the indefinite singular and indefinite plural forms are identical (compare to English sheep, sheep).

In neuter nouns, the definite plural forms add en to the indefinite plural forms.

In common nouns, the definite plural forms add na to the indefinite plural forms.

Note: Since the indefinite singular and indefinite plural forms are identical, ambiguities can occur:

Hennes lärare åkte till Italien.

Her teacher/teachers went to Italy.

Fifth declension nouns can be common or neuter and include:

1. Many neuter nouns ending in a consonant:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
ett barn	barn	barnen	child/children/the children
ett hus	hus	husen	house/houses/the houses

2. Most common nouns referring to people, ending in are and ande, as well as some ending in -er:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en lärare	lärare	lärarna	teacher/teachers/the teachers
en studerande	studerande	studerandena	student/students/the students
en politiker	politiker	politikerna	politician/politicians/the politicians
Note: Common nouns of the fifth declension ending in are (as lärare above), drop the e before adding na to form the definite plural (lärarna).

Note: Nouns ending in ande but not denoting a person (unlike studerande above) are neuter and inflected according to the fourth declension with n and na as plural forms: ett medgivande, flera medgivanden, medgivandena (one concession, many concessions, the many concessions).

3. Nouns denoting measurements:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
en meter	meter	meterna	meter/meters/the meters
en kilometer	kilometer	kilometerna	kilometer/kilometers/the kilometers
en liter	liter	literna	liter/liters/the liters
ett pund	pund	punden	pound/pounds/the pounds

The following frequent nouns of the fifth declension have irregular plural forms:

SINGULAR	INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
broder	bröder	bröderna	brother/brothers/the brothers
fader	fäder	fäderna	father/fathers/the fathers
man	män	männen	man/men/the men
gås	gäss	gässen	goose/geese/the geese
lus	löss	lössen	louse/lice/the lice
mus	möss	mössen	mouse/mice/the mice
mil	mil	milen	one Swedish mile/miles/the miles
tum	tum	tummen	inch/inches/the inches

Note: One Swedish mile equals ten kilometers, approximately six US miles.


Definite and Indefinite Articles

Articles that refer to specific persons or objects are called definite articles: den, det (the). Articles that refer to unspecified persons or objects are called indefinite articles: en, ett (a, an).

Indefinite Article

In the singular, the indefinite article is en for common nouns and ett for neuter nouns. Indefinite plural nouns in Swedish have endings (suffixes) rather than articles.

See also Number: Singular and Plural

COMMON SINGULAR ARTICLE	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
en	en apelsin	an orange
	en moder	a mother
NEUTER SINGULAR ARTICLE
ett	ett äpple	an apple
	ett piano	a piano

Definite Article

In the singular, the definite article is den for common nouns and det for neuter nouns.

Definite plural nouns in Swedish have endings (suffixes) rather than articles.

See also Number: Singular and Plural

COMMON SINGULAR ARTICLE	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
den	den modern	the mother
NEUTER SINGULAR ARTICLE
den	det pianot	the piano

Definite Article Singular

The definite article is added as a suffix; en/n for common nouns, and et/t for neuter nouns. Nouns ending in a consonant add en or et, and nouns ending in a vowel add n or t.

	COMMON	TRANSLATION
Indefinite article	Definite singular suffix
en son	sonen	a son/the son
en flicka	flickan	a girl/the girl
	NEUTER
ett barn	barnet	a child/the child
ett äpple	äpplet	an apple/the apple

There are some exceptions. Common nouns ending in unstressed el, er, or add n only:

fågelfågeln (bird)

broderbrodern, dotterdottern, faderfadern, modermodern (brother, daughter, father, mother)

doktordoktorn, motormotorn (doctor, engine)

Neuter nouns ending in unstressed el, er add et, but drop the e in their stem:

segelseglet (sail)

fingerfingret (finger)

Both neuter and common nouns ending in unstressed en, add en or et according to gender, but drop the e in their stem:

en ökenöknen (desert)

ett vapenvapnet (weapon)

Many common nouns ending in an have the same form whether they are definite or indefinite:

anmälan (notice), ansökan (application), fruktan (fear)

Definite Article Plural

See also Number: Singular and Plural

1. In the first, second, and third declensions, the definite plural suffix na is added to the indefinite plural form.

INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
gator	gatorna	streets/the streets
armar	armarna	arms/the arms
damer	damerna	ladies/the ladies

2. In the fourth declension the definite plural suffix a is added to the indefinite plural form:

INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
pianon	pianona	pianos/the pianos

3. In the fifth declension, common nouns add the definite plural suffix na to the indefinite plural form, and neuter nouns add the definite plural suffix en to the indefinite plural form.

INDEF. PLURAL	DEF. PLURAL	TRANSLATION
elektriker	elektrikerna	electricians/the electricians
barn	barnen	children/the children


Possessive Forms of Nouns (Genitive)

Add s to the indefinite or definite singular or plural form of all nouns to get the genitive form:

Possessive forms	TRANSLATION
Indefinite Singular:
en flickas blomma	a girls flower
Definite Singular:
flickans blomma	the girls flower
Indefinite Plural:
flickors blomma	girls flower
Definite Plural:
flickornas blomma	the girls flower

Note: Do not use an apostrophe in front of the genitive s.

Exception: After proper names ending in s, x, z, an apostrophe (but no s) may be used to indicate the genitive:

Possessive forms	TRANSLATION
Schweiz/Schweiz vackra berg	The beautiful mountains of Switzerland
Marx/Marx teorier	Marxs theories

Note: The apostrophe as a genitive indicator is used with proper names only to avoid ambiguities: Andreas bok (Andreas book, i.e., a girl called Andrea) versus Andreas bok (Andreas book, i.e., a boy called Andreas).

There are some remnants of older Swedish genitive case in fixed expressions after the preposition till (to):

GENITIVE CASE	TRANSLATION
till fots	on/by foot
till skogs	to the forest
till havs	to sea
till sjöss	to sea
gå till bords	go to the table (to eat)
gå till sängs	go to bed


Pronouns

Pronouns are words which are used in place of a noun: han (he = Daniel), de (they = Maria and Erik). There are several categories of pronouns: personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, indefinite and reflexive. In Swedish, pronoun use is governed by number and gender.


Personal Pronouns

Subject and Object Forms

Personal pronouns have different forms according to their use and positions in the sentence. The subject forms of personal pronouns replace the subject of a sentence. The object forms of personal pronouns are used for both direct and indirect objects.

Singular:

SUBJECT	OBJECT	TRANSLATION
jag	mig (mej)	I/ me
du	dig (dej)	you (normal form)
ni	er	you  (very formal)
han, hon	honom, henne	he/ she/ him/ her
den	den	it (common)
det	det	it (neuter)

Plural:

PLURAL
Subject	Object
vi	oss	we/ us
ni	er	you
de (dom)	dem (dom)	they/ them

Note: Mig, dig are pronounced mej, dej. De is pronounced dom (short vowel). The spellings mej, dej, dom are accepted but rarely used in cultivated Swedish.

Use of Personal Pronouns

The first person refers to the speaker:

Jag heter Per. Kalla mig Pelle. Det vi säger stannar mellan oss.

My name is Per, call me Pelle. What we are saying will stay between us.

The second person is used as a form of address, and corresponds to the English you. Du, the usual form, is used in the singular, and is not capitalized. Ni is used when addressing more than one person or when addressing someone more formally and conservatively:

Var är du någonstans? Vi kan inte åka utan dig.

Where are you (one person)? We cannot leave without you.

Var är ni någonstans? Vi kan inte åka utan er.
Where are you (two people or the conservative form)? We cannot leave without you.

The third person personal pronouns correspond to the English pronouns he /she /it/ they/ him/ her/ them:

Var är han/hon/den/det/de någonstans? Jag kan inte se honom/henne/den/det/dem.

Where is/are he/she/it/they? I cannot see him/her/it/them.

Note: Hon (she) is used with the nouns människa (human being) and klocka (when referring to time, not to the object itself):

Människan hinner knappt födas innan hon ska dö.

Man is hardly born before it is time to die.

Vad är klockan? Hon är fyra.

What time is it? Four oclock.

The use of det:

1. Referring back to a neuter noun:

Jag har ett äpple. Det är rött.

I have an apple. It is red.

2. As a complement with vara, bli, heta, kallas, finns (be, become, be named, be called, be/exist) regardless of gender and number:

Vad är det? Det är en bil.

What is it? Its a car.

Hon heter Katarina, men det kallas hon aldrig.

Her name is Katarina, but she is never called that.

3. As a formal subject. In many cases it corresponds to the English there is:

Det är svårt att komma igång och motionera.

It is hard to start exercising.

Det har hänt något.

Something has happened.

Det sitter en pojke i bilen.

There is a boy in the car.

4. It is used as an object of vara, bli, kunna, göra, veta (be, become, be able to, do, know), when answering a question containing those verbs (no equivalent in English):

Blev det en flicka? Ja, det blev det!

Was it a girl? Yes, it was!

Kan du kinesiska? Nej, det kan jag inte.

Do you know Chinese? No, I dont.


Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject and can be used as either direct or indirect objects:

Singular

REFLEXIVE	TRANSLATION
mig (mej)	myself
dig (dej)	yourself (normal form)
er	yourself (very formal)
sig (sej)	himself, herself, itself

Plural

REFLEXIVE	TRANSLATION
oss	ourselves
er	yourselves
sig (sej)	themselves

Note: Mig, dig, sig are pronounced mej, dej, sej. The spellings mej, dej, sej are accepted but rarely used in cultivated Swedish.

Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject:

Jag tvättar mig. Ni klär på er. De kammar sig.

I wash (myself). You are dressing. They are combing their hair.

There is a significant difference in meaning between the reflexive pronouns and the object forms of the personal pronouns:

Han hängde sig. Han hängde honom.

He hanged himself. He hanged him (= somebody else than the subject).

Själv

The Swedish words själv/självt/själva are used to express myself/ yourself/ himself, etc. when emphasis of the words they refer to is desired:

Jag vill göra det själv. Barnen bestämmer själva.

I want to do this myself. The children themselves decide.

Själv is often used idiomatically, as in the following:

Själva kungen kom till premiären.

The king himself came to the opening night.

Självaste kungen kom till premiären.

The very king himself came to the opening night.

Det säger sig självt.

That goes without saying.

Hon pratar för sig själv.

She is talking to herself.

I själva verket...

As a matter of fact...

Hon är inte sig själv i dag.

She is not herself today.

Hur mår du? Bra, (och) själv?

How are you? Fine, (and) yourself?

Tack själv.

Thanks to you, too.


Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns refer to nouns or pronouns in the preceding main clause: Jag har köpt ett hus som ligger vid en sjö (I bought a house that is situated by a lake). The relative pronouns in Swedish are som, vilken, vilket, vilka, vad, vars, vilkens, vilkets, vilkas (which/that/who/whom/whose).

Som is the most common relative pronoun. It can be used as a subject or object, and can refer to any gender and number.

Jag köpte en bok som var dyr. Jag träffade två vänner, som jag inte sett på länge.

I bought a book that was expensive. I met two friends whom I had not seen in a long time.

Som can be omitted when it is used as an object:

Här får du en bok, (som) du kommer att tycka om.

Here is a book (that) you will enjoy.

Unlike in English, the relative pronoun som may not be omitted when it is used as a subject:

Boken, som ligger på bordet, är intressant.

The book (that is) on the table is interesting.

Vilken, vilket, vilka reflect the gender and number of the word(s) they refer to:

Här är boken i vilken vi får veta allt.

Here is the book in which we get to know everything.

Note the a difference in meaning:

Jag hittade en penna och ett block, som hade varit borta länge.

I found a pen and a notepad which had been missing for a long time. (Ambiguous: either both the pen and the notepad or only the notepad had been missing.)

Jag hittade en penna och ett block, vilka hade varit borta länge.

I found a pen and a notepad which had been missing for a long time. (Vilka makes it clear that they had both been missing.)

Något som or vilket are also used to refer to a complete clause (som alone cannot be used here):

Hon är sen, något som/vilket inte förvånar mig.

She is late, which does not surprise me.

Note the difference in meaning:

Hon visade mig en målning, som jag tyckte mycket om.

She showed me a painting that I liked a lot (= I liked the painting).

Hon visade mig en målning, något som/vilket jag tyckte mycket om.

(I liked the fact that she was showing me the painting.)

Vars, vilkens, vilkets, vilkas are the genitive forms of the relative pronouns, and are not generally used in conversation:

Mannen, vars bror bor i Australien, har inte kommit hem ännu.

The man whose brother lives in Australia has not returned home yet.

Studenterna, vilkas/vars familj inte betalar skolavgiften, arbetar ofta på loven.

The students whose families do not pay the school fees often work during vacation.


Possessives

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

In Swedish, possessive adjectives have the same form as possessive pronouns. For example, min/mitt/mina can mean either my or mine:

Det där är min penna. (That is my pencil.)

      Boken är min. (The book is mine.)

Singular

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
Common	Neuter
min	mitt	mina	my, mine
din	ditt	dina	your, yours (normal form)
er	ert	era	your, yours (very formal)
hans/sin	hans/sitt	hans/sina	his
hennes/sin	hennes/sitt	hennes/sina	her, hers
dess/sin	dess/sitt	dess/sina	its

Plural

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
vår	vårt	våra	our, ours
er	ert	era	your, yours (plural)
deras/sin	deras/sitt	deras/sina	their/theirs

All possessive pronouns, except the 3rd person forms hans, hennes, dess, deras agree in number and gender with the noun(s) to which they refer.

Min bil är gul. Hennes väskor är svarta. Vårt hus är litet. Deras katter är söta.

My car is yellow. Her bags are black. Our house is small. Their cats are cute.

Bilen är min. Väskorna är hennes. Huset är vårt. Katterna är deras.

The car is mine. The bags are hers. The house is ours. The cats are theirs.

Dess is mostly used in written language, often in titles:

Universitetet och dess politiska roll i dagens Sverige.

The University and its Political Role in Sweden Today.

His, her/hers, its, and their/theirs each translate into two different forms in Swedish: hans, hennes, dess, deras or sin/sitt/sina.

Hans/ hennes/ dess/ deras are used when they refer to the subject OR when they refer to an object which is does not belong to the subject of the clause in which they occur:

Hon och hennes dotter åkte till England.

She and her daughter went to England.

(Hennes refers to hon, one of the subjects of the clause.)

Lena är Susannes sekreterare. Hon öppnar hennes post.

Lena is Susannes secretary. She opens her mail.

(Hennes because the object, the mail, does not belong to the subject of the clause, hon = Lena.)

The possessive reflexive adjectives sin/sitt/sina are used when they refer to the subject of the clause AND when the object belongs to the subject. They are translated as his own/ her own/ their own.

Hon skickade ett vykort till sin dotter.

She sent a postcard to her (own) daughter.

(Sin because it refers to the subject AND the object belongs to the subject.)

Note the difference in meaning:

Birgit är ute och dansar med sin pojkvän.

Birgit is out dancing with her (own) boyfriend.

Cecilia brukar också gå ut och dansa med hennes pojkvän.

Cecilia also goes out dancing with her (= Birgits) boyfriend.

Bertil och Anna bor hos hans/hennes far.

Bertil and Anna live with his/her father.

Bertil och Anna bor hos sin far.

Bertil and Anna live with their (own) father (= they are siblings).


Demonstratives

Demonstrative pronouns refer to someone or something that has been mentioned previously. They agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun they refer to.

Denna/Denne man / Den här mannen skulle jag vilja gifta mig med.

This man I would like to marry.

De spelar alltid samma sång.

They always play the same song.

COMMON SING.	NEUTER SING.	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
den här	det här	de här	this (one), these
denna/denne	detta	dessa	this (one), these
den där	det där	de/dem	that (one), those
samma/samme	samma	samma	(the) same
densamma/densamme	detsamma	desamma	the same
sådan	sådant	sådana	such

Denna, denne, detta, dessa, densamma, densamme, detsamma, desamma are mostly used in writing. Note that de (those) takes the object form dem in cases such as:

Jag vill ha de här blommorna, inte dem.

I want these flowers, not those.


Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns replace a noun when they introduce direct and indirect questions. The main Swedish interrogative pronouns are:

COMMON	GENITIVE	NEUTER	GENITIVE	PLURAL	GENITIVE	TRANSLATION
vem	vems			vilka	vilkas	who, whom, whose
		vad		vad, vilka		what
vilken	vilkens	vilket	vilkets	vilka	vilkas	which
vad för en		vad för ett		vad för (ena)		what kind of
vad för någon		vad för något		vad för några		what kind of
vad för sorts		vad för sorts		vad för sorts		what kind of
vad för slags		vad för slags		vad för slags		what kind of
hur(u)dan		hur(u)dant		hur(u)dana		what kind of
vilkendera	vilkenderas	vilketdera	vilketderas			which one (out of two)
Examples of usage:

Vem var det? Jag undrar vem det var. Vems är boken? Vilkas bilar kan vi ta?

Who was that? I wonder who that was. Whose book is it? Whose cars can we use?

Vad har hänt? Vilka är de tre största städerna i världen? Vilket brev skrev du?

What has happened? What are the three largest cities in the world? Which letter did you write?

Vad för sorts/slags ost tycker du om? Hur(u)dant blir vädret i dag?

What (kind of) cheese do you like? What is the weather going to be like today?


Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Indefinite pronouns refer to persons or objects that are not identified. Some can also be used as adjectives. The following are the most commonly used indefinite pronouns:

1. Man

SUBJECT	OBJECT	POSSESSIVE	REFLEXIVE	TRANSLATION
man	en	ens, sin	sig	one/you/people/they ones/your; oneself, yourself.
Man måste alltid förklara sig, ens ord missförstås ofta.

One/You always needs/need to explain oneself/yourself; ones/your words are often misunderstood.

2. Varje

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
varje	varje		every, each (adjective only)
var	vart		every, each (adjective only)
var och en	vart och ett		each one, every single
varenda	vartenda		each one, every single (adjective only)
varenda en	vartenda ett		each one, every single
varannan	vartannat	varandra	every second, every other
Varje dag regnar det. Vartenda hus är blött. Varannan källare är översvämmad.

Every day it rains. Every single house is wet. Every other basement is flooded.

3. Vardera, någondera, ingendera

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
vardera	vartdera		each, either
någondera	någotdera		some, any, either
ingendera	ingetdera		none, neither
endera	ettdera		one, one of these
		bådadera	both
Endera dagen inser nog företagen, att ingetdera av dem har pengar kvar.

One of these days, the companies will probably realize that none of them has any money left.

4. All

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
	allt	alla	all, everything, everyone
all + noun	allt + noun	alla + noun	all (of the), every
hela + noun	hela + noun	hela + noun	the whole, all (of the)
Alla sa att allt hopp var ute. Han hade all anledning att oroa sig hela dagen.

Everyone said that all hope was gone. He had every reason to worry all day.

5. Annan

	COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
INDEFINITE	(en) annan	(ett) annat	andra	another (one), others
DEFINITE	den andra	det andra	de andra	the other(s)
En tjuv stal pengarna. En annan tog andra värdesaker.

One thief stole the money. Another took other valuables.

6. Någon, ingen

COMMON	NEUTER	PLURAL	TRANSLATION
någon	något	några	some, any
ingen	inget	inga	no, nobody, none, not . . . any
Har du något socker? Ingen har något kvar.

Do you have any sugar? Nobody has any left.

7. Båda, mycket, många, litet

English both (of) corresponds to Swedish båda or bägge:

Båda cyklarna är fina. Jag vill ha bägge (två).

Both bikes are nice. I want them both.

English much, a lot correspond to Swedish mycket:

Hur mycket tjänar han? Mycket!

How much does he earn? A lot!

English many corresponds to Swedish många:

Hur många kom till mötet? Inte många.

How many (people) came to the meeting? Not many.

English (a) little corresponds to Swedish litet:

Det finns litet mat kvar. Litet blev gjort i dag.

There is a little food left. Little was done today.

8. Whoever/whatever, etc.

The English whoever/whatever and  the like correspond to Swedish constructions with som helst or än:

EXPRESSION	TRANSLATION
vem som helst	whoever/anyone
vem än	whoever
vad som helst	whatever/anything
vad än	whatever
vilken som helst (common)	whichever/any/anyone (at all)
vilket som helst (neuter)	whichever/any/anyone (at all)
vilka som helst (plural)	any, anyone (at all)
när som helst	at any time at all, whenever
var/vart som helst	anywhere, wherever
hur som helst	however; any way (at all)
ingen/inget/inga som helst	none at all, none whatsoever
ingenting som helst	nothing at all
There are many idiomatic expressions for these types of constructions. The examples below show several different ways of saying whoever in Swedish:

 Släpp in honom, vem han än är.

 Let him in, whoever he is.

 Svara inte, vem som än ringer.

 Dont answer, whoever calls.

 Säg till alla som frågar att lektionen är inställd.

 Tell whoever asks that the class is canceled.

 Den som inte arbetar, ska inte heller äta.

 Whoever does not work, should not eat.

 Fråga vem som helst!

 Ask whomever!

 Läraren, eller vem det nu var, ställde in lektionen.

 The teacher, or whoever she was, canceled the class.

 Vem i all världen vill prata med chefen?

 Who ever wants to talk to the boss? (= who on earth)


Verbs

Verbs describe actions, processes, or states of being. There are four conjugations of Swedish verbs. The four conjugations are distinguished by their supine endings: -at for the first conjugation, -t for the second conjugation, -tt for the third conjugation and -it for the fourth conjugation. There are no plural verb forms in present day Swedish.The stem is the part of the verb to which endings are added.

First Conjugation

1. Supine ending   -at

The first conjugation includes some 80 per cent of all Swedish verbs. Almost all new verbs belong here,as well as all verbs ending in era:

FORM	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
Infinitive	(att) dansa	(to) dance
Present	dansar	dance, dances
Imperfect	dansade	danced
Supine	dansat	(have, had) danced
Present participle	dansande	dancing
Past participle	dansad (common) dansat (neuter) dansade (plural/definite)	(is) danced
Imperative	dansa	dance

Second Conjugation

2. Supine ending   -t

The second conjugation includes two main types of verbs; those with stems ending in either voiced (d, g, j, l, m, n, r, v) or voiceless (k, n, p, s, x) consonants. There are several divisions and subdivisions in this large and complex category:

FORM	EXAMPLES		TRANSLATION
Infinitive	köra	köpa	drive; buy
Present	kör	köper	drive(s); buy(s)
Imperfect	körde	köpte	drove; bought
Supine	kört	köpt	have driven; bought
Past participle	körd	köpt	is driven; bought
Present participle	körande	köpande	driving; buying

Many common verbs belong to the second conjugation but have one or several irregular forms. In some cases, past participle forms exist only in compounds (here marked by a preceding hyphen):

INFINITIVE	PRESENT	IMPERFECT	SUPINE	PAST. PART.	TRANSLATION
göra	gör	gjorde	gjort	gjord	do, make
ha	har	hade	haft	havd	have
heta	heter	hette	hetat		be called
kunna	kan	kunde	kunnat		can, be able to
lägga	lägger	lade	lagt	lagd	lay, place, put
skola	skall, ska	skulle	skolat		shall, will
säga	säger	sade, sa	sagt	sagd	say
sätta	sätter	satte	satt	satt	place, put
veta	vet	visste	vetat		know
vilja	vill	ville	velat		want

Third Conjugation

3. Supine ending   -tt

Only a few words belong to the third conjugation. They are generally monosyllabic, and their stems end in a stressed vowel other than a:

FORM	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
Infinitive	bo	live
Present	bor	live(s)
Imperfect	bodde	lived
Supine	bott	have lived
Past participle	bodd	is lived
Present participle	boende	living

Many of the common verbs belonging to the third conjugation have one or several irregular forms. In some cases, past participle forms exist only in compounds (here marked by a preceding hyphen):

INFINITIVE	PRESENT	IMPERFECT	SUPINE	PAST. PART.	TRANSLATION
be	ber	bad	bett	bedd	ask, pray
dö	dör	dog	dött		die
få	får	fick	fått		get, receive
ge	ger	gav	gett, givit		give
gå	går	gick	gått		go, walk
se	ser	såg	sett	sedd	see

Fourth Conjugation

4. Supine ending   -it

The fourth conjugation is comprised of strong verbs. Strong verbs are those that have stems ending in consonants, and change the stem vowels in the imperfect and/or supine forms. There are many subdivisions in this category which has about one hundred of the most frequent verbs.

Some examples of strong verbs:

INFINITIVE	PRESENT	IMPERFECT	SUPINE	PAST. PART.	TRANSLATION
bli	blir	blev	blivit	bliven	become
rida	rider	red	ridit	riden	ride
flyga	flyger	flög	flugit	flugen	fly
frysa	fryser	frös	frusit	frusen	be cold, freeze
binda	binder	band	bundit	bunden	bind, tie
dricka	dricker	drack	druckit	drucken	drink
finna	finns	fanns	funnits		be, exist
ta, taga	tar	tog	tagit	tagen	take
bära	bär	bar	burit	buren	carry
falla	faller	föll	fallit	fallen	fall
hålla	håller	höll	hållit	hållen	hold
vara	är	var	varit		be

See also:

Compound Verbs

Present Tense

Past Tense (Imperfect)

Present Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense (Pluperfect)

Future

Conditional Mood

Past Participle

Present Participle

Supine

Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs)

Modal Verbs

Deponent Verbs

Imperative

Active and Passive Voice

Verb Conjugation


Compound Verbs

The many Swedish compound verbs are divided into two types, inseparable and separable compound verbs.

Inseparable verbs form an inseparable compound and fall into the following categories:

1. Most verbs compounded with nouns: rådfråga (advise, consult).

2. Most verbs compounded with adjectives: godkänna (approve).

3. Most verbs compounded with other verbs: gråtskrika (cry and scream).

4. Most verbs compounded with numerals and prepositions: tredubbla (triple), överdriva (exaggerate).

5. Verbs compounded with the following prefixes: be, ent, för(e), an, bi, er, miss, o, sam, und, van: betala (pay), föredra (prefer), missförstå (misunderstand).

Separable verbs are those which can be used in both separate and compound forms. In some cases the meaning remains the same (although the stylistic value can differ considerably), but often it changes semantically according to form. The separated form usually has a more concrete meaning, while the compound form is more abstract:

uppstiga or stiga upp (rise, get up)

förvarna or varna för (forewarn)

avbryta (interrupt) but bryta av (break off)

avgå (resign) but gå av (break off or get off)

överstiga (exceed, surpass) but stiga över (step over)

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Present Tense

The present tense in Swedish is used to express what is happening in the present time or what  will happen in the future (English present tense or present continuous tense):

Konserten börjar klockan 7.

The concert starts at seven.

Jag sitter och skriver ett brev.

I am writing a letter.

      Han läser alltid samma bok.

      He always reads the same book.

      Jag åker till Uppsala i morgon.

      I am going to Uppsala tomorrow.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Past Tense (Imperfect)
Past Tense

The simple past tense (also called imperfect or preterite) is used to describe completed past events:

Konserten började klockan 7.

The concert started at seven.

Jag satt och skrev ett brev.

I was writing a letter.

Han läste alltid samma bok.

He always read the same book.

Some Swedish fixed expressions use the imperfect where English uses the present:

Det var dyrt/gott/varmt/trevligt/synd...

Thats expensive/good/hot/nice/a shame...

Hur var namnet?

What is your name, please?

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is often equivalent to the English present perfect tense (I have gone) and sometimes to the English past tense (I went). The present perfect is a compound tense and is formed using the present tense of the auxiliary verb ha (which can be omitted in subordinate clauses) and the supine of the main verb:

Konserten har redan börjat.

The concert has already started.

Jag har skrivit klart brevet nu, fast jag ännu inte (har) fått svar på mitt förra.

I have finished (writing) the letter now although I have not yet received any answer to my previous one.

Vem har skrivit Hamlet?

Who wrote Hamlet?

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.

See Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) for forms of the auxiliary verbs.


Past Perfect Tense (Pluperfect)

The past perfect is a compound tense and is formed using the past tense of the auxiliary verb ha (which can be omitted in subordinate clauses) and the supine of the main verb. It expresses an action in the past which took place before another action (expressed in the imperfect form):

Konserten hade redan börjat när han fick meddelandet.

The concert had already started when he got the message.

Sedan jag (hade) skrivit färdigt brevet, började jag laga mat.

After I had finished (writing) the letter, I started cooking.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.

See Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) for forms of the auxiliary verbs.


Future

There are four main ways to express the future.

1. The simplest and most common method is to use the present tense with an appropriate time marker:

Jag åker till Uppsala i morgon.

I am going to Uppsala tomorrow.

2. Another method is to use kommer att with the infinitive of the main verb. This is often used with a nonpersonal subject:

Jag kommer att vara där över helgen.

I will be there over the weekend.

Det kommer att snöa i morgon.

It will snow tomorrow.

3. A third method is to use ska with the infinitive of the main verb:

Ska du studera i Uppsala?

Are you going to study in Uppsala?

4. A fourth method is to use tänker (present tense of the verb to think) with the infinitive of the main verb. This implies plans for the future:

      Hon tänker öppna ett konditori.

      She is planning to open a café.

      Vad tänker du göra ikväll?

       What are you doing tonight?

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Conditional Mood

The conditional mood is used to express a doubt, a wish or a possibility. It is formed by skulle (should, could, would) and the infinitive of the main verb:

De skulle komma.

They would come.

      Om vi hade råd, skulle vi köpa en villa.

      If we could afford it, we would buy a house.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Past Participle

The past participle is used with the auxiliary verb vara (to be, to make) to express passive or adjectival meanings:

CONJUGATION	PAST PARTICIPLE	TRANSLATION
	Sing. common	Sing. neuter	Plural
1st	arbetad	arbetat	arbetade	worked
2nd	böjd köpt	böjt köpt	böjda köpta	bent bought
3rd	sydd	sytt	sydda	sewn
4th	bjuden	bjudet	bjudna	invited
Jag är bjuden på middag.

I am invited to supper.

Mannen var böjd i ryggen.

The man had a bent back.

Note the difference between the past participle and the supine:

Jag har skrivit brevet (supine). Brevet är skrivet (past participle).

I have written the letter. The letter is written.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.

See 	Supine for usage of the supine forms.

See Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) for forms of the auxiliary verbs.


Present Participle

The present participle is formed by adding ande to verbs with stems ending in a consonant or in unstressed a, and ende to verbs with stems ending in a stressed vowel:

arbeta  arbetande, skriva  skrivande (work  working, write  writing)

gå  gående (go  going)

This form does not correspond to the English continuous tense. Rather, it is used as an adjective, a noun, or an adverb:

Hon har omfattande kunskaper i geografi. (She has an extensive knowledge of geography.)

inflytande, studerande, påstående (influence, student, statement)

Detta var förbluffande enkelt. (This was amazingly easy.)

The English present participle in the continuous sense is usually translated by two verbs in the same form:

Ligger han fortfarande och sover?

Is he still sleeping?

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Supine

The indeclinable supine is used with the auxiliary verb ha (have) to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses:

CONJUGATION	SUPINE	TRANSLATION
1st	arbetat	worked
2nd	böjt köpt	bent bought
3rd	sytt	sewn
4th	bjudit	invited

Jag har bjudit dem på middag.

I have invited them to supper.

Mannen hade böjt ryggen.

The man had bent his back.

Note the difference between the past participle and the supine:

Jag har skrivit brevet (supine). Brevet är skrivet (past participle).

I have written the letter. The letter is written.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.

See 	Past Participle for usage of the past participle forms.

See Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) for forms of the auxiliary verbs.


Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs)

The main auxiliary verbs in Swedish are ha (have) and vara (be).

INFINITIVE	PRESENT	IMPERFECT	SUPINE
ha	har	hade	haft
vara	är	var	varit

Ha is used with other verbs to form the present perfect and the past perfect tenses. Vara is used with the past participle. They can also both be used independently as main verbs.

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.

See Modal Verbs for other modal auxiliary verbs.

See Past Participle for usage of the past participle forms.

See Supine for usage of the supine forms.

See Present Perfect Tense for usage of the present perfect tense.

See Past Perfect Tense (Pluperfect) for usage of the past perfect tense.


Modal Verbs

Modal (auxiliary) verbs express possibility, desirability, intention, permission, necessity, or uncertainty in connection with a main verb in the infinitive:

Jag skulle vilja be dig om en tjänst.

I would like to ask you for a favor.

There are eleven Swedish modals:

INFINITIVE	PRESENT	IMPERFECT	SUPINE	TRANSLATION
skola	ska/skall	skulle	(skolat)	shall, will
kunna	kan	kunde	kunnat	be able to
vilja	vill	ville	velat	want to
	måste	måste	måst	must, have to
böra	bör	borde	bort	should, ought to
	tör	torde		is probably
	må	måtte		may
	månde			may
	lär			is said to
låta	låter	lät	låtit	let
få	får	fick	fått	may, must

See Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) for the main auxiliary verbs ha (have) and vara (be).


Deponent Verbs

Deponent verbs have active meanings but passive forms (in all tenses). They can only be used in an active sense:

Jag hoppas han kommer. Minns du honom? Finns hans hus kvar?

I hope he will come. Do you remember him? Is his house still standing?

Jag hoppades... Det har funnits... De hade färdats... Hon skulle minnas...
I was hoping... It has been... They had been traveling... She would remember...

Deponent verbs rarely have a form without s. Those which do have entirely different meanings and are considered different verbs:

Jag tyckte han var snygg. Han tycktes inte märka det.

I thought he was goodlooking. He seemed not to notice.

Some common deponent verbs are:

VERB	TRANSLATION
andas	breathe
envisas	persist
finnas	be, exist
hoppas	hope
färdas	travel
lyckas	succeed
låtsas	pretend
saknas	be missing
minnas	remember, recall
trivas	be content/happy
tyckas	seem
trängas	crowd


Imperative

The imperative is used for commands and requests: Kom hit! (Come here!) The imperative form of the verb is the same as its stem (not necessarily the same as the infinitive form):

CONJUGATION	INFINITIVE	IMPERATIVE	TRANSLATION
1st	arbeta	arbeta	work
2nd	känna	känn	feel
3rd	tro	tro	believe
4th	skriva	skriv	write

See Verbs for tables of conjugations and forms.


Active and Passive Voice

In the active voice, the grammatical subject is the doer of the action expressed by the verb:

Mannen köpte en ros. (The man bought a rose.)

In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon:

En ros köptes av mannen. (A rose was bought by the man.)

Note that the direct object in the active voice sentence (en ros) becomes the subject in the passive voice one, while the former subject (mannen) becomes the agent. Passive constructions without agents also occur:: Bilen lämnades slarvigt parkerad (The car was left carelessly parked).

In Swedish, the passive can be formed either:

1. By adding the ending s to the active form of the verb (all tenses):

Middag serveras i matsalen.

Dinner will be served in the dining room.

OR:

2. With the auxiliary verbs vara, bli (be, become) and the past participle of the main verb:

Hon är bortrest.

She is away.

Hennes bil blev påkörd.

Her car was hit.

The pronoun man (one, you) or other impersonal subjects and the active form of the verb can also be used to express the passive:

Man vet inte så mycket om olyckan ännu.

Not much is known about the accident yet.


Adjectives

Adjectives describe or modify nouns. They agree in declension, gender, and number with the noun that they modify. There are two adjective declensions in Swedish: definite and indefinite.

See also Comparison

See also Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

The Indefinite Declension

An adjective is declined according to the indefinite declension when the noun it qualifies is in the indefinite form.

1. With singular common nouns, adjectives take no ending:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
en kall vinter	a cold winter

2. For singular neuter nouns, the adjective ending is t:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
ett kallt väder	a cold weather

3. For plural neuter and common nouns, the ending is a:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
kalla vintrar	cold winters
kalla fingrar	cold fingers

There are some variations to these rules. Many adjectives ending in a long vowel add tt to the neuter form: frifritt, blåblått, nynytt, etc. (free, blue, new). Also, many adjectives (especially loan words) ending in a long vowel and -t have the same common and neuter forms: konkret, akut, privat, separat (concrete, acute, private, separate). This is also true for adjectives ending in a short vowel and -tt: lätt, rätt, platt (easy, correct, flat).

Use of the Indefinite form of adjectives

The indefinite form of the adjective is used:

1. To describe an attribute, with a noun following the adjective:

Jag såg en stilig man. Vi fick god mat. Han har en snabb bil.

I saw a handsome man. We had good food. He has a fast car.

2. After the indefinite pronouns många (many), någon (some, someone), ingen (no, nobody, not any), varje (every), var (every), varannan (every second), varenda (every one) and their inflected forms:

Hon köpte många röda äpplen. Varje sorglig sång får mig att vilja gråta.

She bought many red apples. Every sad song makes me want to cry.

3. In exclamations:

Vilken stilig man! Sådana röda äpplen!

What a handsome man! What red apples!

Note that the neuter form of the adjective is usually not used when the neuter noun refers to a person:

Stadsbudet var arg. Affärsbiträdet var ung. Stadsrådet blev nervös.

The porter was angry. The shop assistant was young. The cabinet minister was getting nervous.

The Definite Declension

An adjective is declined according to the definite declension when the noun it qualifies is in the definite form. Adjectives take an a ending (sometimes e) in the definite declension for both common and neuter nouns, singular and plural. In addition to this ending, the definite article must precede the adjective. The noun keeps its definite article suffix.

Definite Forms of Adjectives:

	ARTICLE	ADJECTIVE	COMMON	NEUTER	TRANSLATION
Singular	den	fina	blomman		the pretty flower
	det	fina		trädet	the nice tree
Plural	de	fina	blommorna		the pretty flowers
	de	fina		träden	the nice trees
Adjectives ending in unstressed al, el, en, er drop the a or e:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
den enkla uppgiften	the simple task
de enkla uppgifterna	the simple tasks

Use of the Definite Form of Adjectives

The definite form of the adjective, with the definite article, is used to describe an attribute, with a noun following the adjective:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
den stora hunden	the large dog
de stora hundarna	the large dogs
The definite form of the adjective, without the definite article, is used:

1. After demonstrative adjectives:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
denna stora hund	this large dog
dessa stora hundar	these large dogs
2. After genitive forms of nouns and after possessive pronouns:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
Nilssons stora hund	Nilssons large dog
våra stora hundar	our large dogs
3. In many fixed expressions and constructions:

EXPRESSION	TRANSLATION
Vita huset	The White House (in Washington DC; det vita huset means the white house, any house)
svenska folket	the Swedish people
sena natten	late at night
Kungliga slottet	the Royal Palace (in Stockholm)
Gamla stan	the Old Town (in Stockholm)
Röda korset	the Red Cross

4. 	In forms of address:

EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
Kära vän!	Dear friend!
Bästa Herr Nilsson!	Dear Mr. Nilsson!

Note that there can be a difference in meaning based only on whether the article precedes the definite form of the adjective:

Vill du ha hela limpan?

Would you like the whole (entire) loaf of bread?

Vill du ha den hela limpan?

Would you like the whole (unsliced, uncut) loaf of bread?


Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and specify place, time, manner, and causality. In most cases, adjectives in Swedish can be made into adverbs by adding t. Thus, the adverb and the neuter form of the adjective are often identical:

Linan är lång (adjective common). Brevet är långt (adjective neuter). Han har långt hem (adverb).

The rope is long. The letter is long. He is a long way from home.

See also

Comparison

Adverbs of place:

här (here), där (there), ingenstans (nowhere), utanför (outside), ovan (above)

Adverbs of time:

alltid (always), tidvis (from time to time), genast (immediately), aldrig (never), snart (soon)

Adverbs of manner and degree:

knappast (hardly), mycket (very), nog (enough), annars (differently), nästan (almost)

Adverbs of causality:

därför (which is why), följaktligen (consequently), sålunda (thus), alltså (therefore), annars (otherwise)


Comparison

Adjectives

Adjectives have a positive (basic) form (glad, happy), a comparative form (gladare, happier), and a superlative form (gladast, happiest). There are four main types of adjective comparison in Swedish.

1. The endings are and ast are added to the positive form:

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
fin	finare	finast	fine, finer, finest
rolig	roligare	roligast	funny, funnier, funniest

2. The endings re and st are added to the positive form, and the root vowel is modified:

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
stor	större	störst	big, bigger, biggest
ung	yngre	yngst	young, younger, youngest
lång	längre	längst	tall, taller, tallest

3. Irregular comparison. Many commonly used adjectives fall into this category:

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
god, bra	bättre	bäst	good, better, best
dålig	sämre	sämst	bad, worse, worst
gammal	äldre	äldst	old, older, oldest
liten	mindre	minst	little, less, least

4. The words mera, mest (more, most) precede the positive form. This is often the case for long adjectives:

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
typisk	mera typisk	mest typisk	typical, more typical, most typical
varierande	mer(a) varierande	mest varierande	varied, more varied, most varied

Adverbs

Adverbs derived from adjectives have the same comparative and superlative forms as the adjectives (the t of the positive adverb is dropped):

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
sent	senare	senast	late
högt	högre	högst	highly

Some irregular adverbs:

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE	TRANSLATION
väl, bra	bättre	bäst	well
illa	sämre/värre	sämst/värst	badly
mycket	mer(a)	mest	much
See also

The Definite Declension of Adjectives

The Indefinite Declension of Adjectives


Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words which join two or more phrases or clauses together. Coordinating conjunctions link two phrases or sentences of equal value.

Jag hoppas, att hon kommer hit snart, och att hon har mat med sig.

I hope that she will be here soon and that she is bringing food.

The most important coordinating conjunctions are:

och, samt (and), eller (or), men, fast (but), för (since), så (so that)

Subordinating conjunctions join a subordinate clause to the main clause.

Jag hoppas, att hon kommer hit innan festen tar slut.

I hope that she will be here before the party is over.

The most important subordinating conjunctions are the following and their many synonyms:

då, när (when), tills (until), innan (before), medan (while), sedan (after, since), för att (because), då (as, while), ifall (if), fastän (although), även om (even though), som om (as if).


Prepositions

Prepositions govern a noun or pronoun to form a prepositional phrase. Fifteen prepositions are among the most frequently used words in the Swedish language:

av	of, by
från	from
efter	after
för	to
(i)genom	through, by
i	in
med	with
(e)mellan	between
om	about
på	on, in
till	to
under	under
vid	at
över	over
mot	against

Since preposition usage is often idiomatic, translations of prepositions are highly variable:

Det här är en bok av Strindberg.

This is a book by Strindberg.

Jag har fått den av Pelle.

I got it from Pelle.

Jag har en ring av rent guld.

I have a ring of pure gold.

Han grät av glädje.

He cried with joy.

Av vilken anledning är hon borta?

For what reason is she absent?

Swedish sometimes put the preposition last in the sentence, often for emphasis:

Det borde du ha tänkt på.

You should have thought of that.

Du är omöjlig att bo med.

You are impossible to live with.

Det var ett sätt att spara pengar på.

It was a way of saving money.

Den lilla sjön badade vi ofta i.

We often swam in that little lake.


Numbers

Cardinal numerals, such as en, ett (one) and två (two), are used to express precise quantities.

Cardinal numbers from one to nine are called ental. Numbers such as tio (ten), tjugo (twenty), trettio (thirty) are called tiotal.

Cardinal numbers from 1 to 20 are:

NUMERAL	SWEDISH	TRANSLATION
0	noll	zero
1	en, ett	one
2	två	two
3	tre	three
4	fyra	four
5	fem	five
6	sex	six
7	sju	seven
8	åtta	eight
9	nio	nine
10	tio	ten
11	elva	eleven
12	tolv	twelve
13	tretton	thirteen
14	fjorton	fourteen
15	femton	fifteen
16	sexton	sixteen
17	sjutton	seventeen
18	arton	eighteen
19	nitton	nineteen
20	tjugo	twenty

Higher numbers are formed by compounds (without and) following the order of the figures:

tjugoett (twentyone), trettioåtta (thirtyeight), femhundranittiosex (five hundred and ninetysix)

Note that the US decimal point is a decimal comma in Swedish. Swedish uses a blank space to mark thousands.

21,236 (twentyone point twothirtysix), 21 236 (twentyone thousand two hundred and thirtysix)

Ordinal numbers, such as första (first) and andra (second), refer to a position in a series. The regular forms add nde to the corresponding cardinal numbers (from seven and up with a vowel modification on eight). If the context makes it clear that it is an ordinal, they are spelled just like cardinals. For clarification, a colon and a or e (for 1, 2, 3) or a colon and e (for the remaining cardinals) can be added (18:e plats, eighteenth place):

NUMBER	SWEDISH	TRANSLATION
1	första, förste	first
2	andra, andre	second
3	tredje	third
4	fjärde	fourth
5	femte	fifth
6	sjätte	sixth
7	sjunde	seventh
8	åttonde	eighth
9	nionde	ninth
10	tionde	tenth
11	elfte	eleventh
12	tolfte	twelfth
13	trettonde	thirteenth
14	fjortonde	fourteenth
15	femtonde	fifteenth
16	sextonde	sixteenth
17	sjuttonde	seventeenth
18	artonde	eighteenth
19	nittonde	nineteenth
20	tjugonde	twentieth


Negative Construction

To form a negative statement in Swedish, the word inte (ej, icke in written, formal language) is added. Other negations are ingalunda (by no means), knappt(ast) (hardly), omöjligen (not possibly), aldrig (never). They usually follow the verb (or auxiliary verb):

Hon arbetar här. Han arbetar inte här. De har aldrig varit här.

She works here. He does not work here. They have never been here.

Icke is used in compounds: en ickerökare (a nonsmoker).


Interrogatives

In interrogative sentences, the verb comes first and is followed by the subject:

Vad vill du göra i morgon? Ansåg hon att du hade rätt?

What would you like to do tomorrow? Did she think that you were right?

See also Interrogative Pronouns


Sentences

Sentences are made up of one or more clauses. A clause consists of a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a predicate (what is said about the noun or pronoun). The predicate always contains a verb. In this simple sentence: Drottningen regerar (The queen rules), Drottningen is the subject and regerar is the predicate.

The subject is normally placed next to the verb. Its position varies with the type of sentence:

Anna läser. Läser Anna?

Anna reads/is reading (statement). Does Anna read (question)?

Imperative clauses, or commands, have no explicit subject (they are directed to a you): Läs boken! (Read the book!)

Adjectives and adverbs are used to describe what is being asserted about someone or something: Den kloka drottningen regerar (The wise queen rules), Drottningen regerar klokt (The queen rules wisely).

Nouns or pronouns related to the action of the verb or to a preposition are called objects. In Swedish there are direct and indirect objects. The direct object of a verb is a noun or pronoun which receives the action of a verb directly. In the sentence Drottningen älskar kungen (The queen loves the king), kungen is the direct object. Indirect objects are nouns or pronouns for whom, to whom, or in whose interest something is done, given, or said. In the sentence Drottningen ger kungen en bok (The queen gives the king a book), kungen is the indirect object, while en bok is the direct object. The object usually follows the verb, but can also begin a sentence (for emphasis):

Anna har läst boken. Den boken har Anna inte läst.

Anna has read the book. Anna has not read this book.

Word Order

Straight and Inverted Word Order

Straight word order (subject  verb) is used in both Swedish and English: Han sover, regnet faller, alla barnen sjunger (he is sleeping, the rain is falling, all the children are singing). However, the inverted word order (verb  subject) is much more frequent in Swedish than in English. It is used in questions, commands, and all sentences that begin with something else than the subject:

Statements:

I går läste Anna boken. I Australien är det sommar nu.

Yesterday Anna read the book. In Australia it is summer now.

Questions:

Läste Anna boken i går? När läste hon boken? Kan hon tyska?

Did Anna read the book yesterday? When did she read the book? Does she know German?

Commands (no subject):

Läs (du) boken!

(You) read the book!


Time and Dates

Time

The 24hour clock is the standard for stating time.

17.30 (5.30 pm)

Note that half past an hour in English is expressed as half (to) the next hour in Swedish:

17.30 = halv sex

half past five (five thirty)

There is no equivalent to the English at before times in Swedish. It is usually expressed with the word klockan (oclock) preceding the time:

Vi träffas klockan tre.

Lets meet at three (oclock).

EXPRESSSIONS	TRANSLATION
Hur mycket är klockan/Vad är klockan?	What time is it?
Klockan/Hon är tre.	Its three oclock.
Klockan är fem (minuter) över tre.	Its five past three.
Klockan är kvart över tre.	Its a quarter past three.
Klockan är halv fyra.	Its half past three.
Klockan är kvart i fyra.	Its a quarter to four.
Klockan är tio i fyra.	Its ten to four.
Klockan är tolv på dagen.	Its noon.
Klockan är tolv på natten.	Its midnight.
Hur dags...	What time...
Dates

There are several accepted standards for stating dates. The official and frequently used format is YYYYMMDD:

19970529 (May 29, 1997)

In letter openings, the date is frequently stated Uppsala den 29 maj 1997 (Uppsala, May 29, 1997).

There is no equivalence to in before years in Swedish. It can be expressed with the year only, or the word år (year) preceding it:

1987 flyttade vi till Australien.

År 1987 flyttade vi till Australien.

In 1987, we moved to Australia.

There is no equivalence to on before dates in Swedish. It can be expressed with the date only:

Vi kom fram den 12 maj.

We arrived on May 12.

Months, days, and holidays are spelled in lower case letters: januari, mars, onsdag, söndag, påsk, julafton (January, March, Wednesday, Sunday, Easter, Christmas Eve).


Grammar Pages

Number

Person

Gender

Verb Conjugation

Definite/Indefinite


Number

There are two numbers in Swedish: singular and plural.

Most nouns in Swedish have singular and plural forms:

familjen, familjerna (the family, the families)

See Number: Singular and Plural

Pronouns also have singular and plural forms:

min, mitt (my, mine [singular])

mina (my, mine [plural])

See Pronouns

Adjectives and articles agree with nouns in number, gender, and declension.

en gammal hund	an old dog
ett gammalt hus	an old house

See

Adjectives

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Swedish verbs add endings to their stem in the various tenses. There are no plural forms.

Vi arbetar. Vi arbetade. Vi har arbetat.

We work. We worked. We have worked.

See

Verbs

Active and Passive Voice

Past Participle

Present Participle


Person

Grammatical person indicates the relationship of the speaker or writer to the rest of the sentence. First person refers to the speaker or to the speaker group:

jag	I
mig	me
min	my/mine (common, sing.)
mitt	my/mine (neuter, sing.)
mina	my/mine (plural)
vi	we
oss	us
vår	our (common, sing.)
vårt	our (neuter, sing.)
våra	our (plural)

Second person refers to whomever is being spoken to:

du	you
dig	you (as object of sentence)
din	your (common, sing.)
ditt	your (neuter, sing.)
dina	your (plural)
ni	you (plural / singular formal form of address)
er	you (as object of sentence for plural and formal singular)
ert	your (plural / singular formal, neuter)
era	your (plural)
Third person refers to the entity being spoken about:

han	he
honom	him
hon	she
henne	her
sig	himself
den	herself
det	it
dess	its
See

Personal Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Possessives


Gender

There are two genders in Swedish: common and neuter.

All nouns in Swedish are either common or neuter.

Although there are no rules by which the gender of all nouns can be determined, the gender of many nouns can be determined by their meaning or their ending. The gender of other nouns must be learned individually. The best way to memorize the gender of words is to learn the article together with the word.

en man, mannen	a man, the man (common)
ett hus, huset	a house, the house (neuter)

See

Nouns

Knowing the gender of every noun is important not only for the noun itself, but for the spelling and pronunciation of the words it influences in a sentence: adjectives, articles, participles, and pronouns. They agree in gender and in number with the noun.

See

Adjectives

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Past Participle

Present Participle

Pronouns


Verb Conjugation

First Conjugation

Infinitive	spela
Present	spelar
Imperfect	spelade
Supine	spelat
Past participle	spelad
Present participle	spelande
Second Conjugation

Infinitive	köra
Present	kör
Imperfect	körde
Supine	kört
Past participle	körd
Present participle	körande
Third Conjugation

Infinitive	bo
Present	bor
Imperfect	bodde
Supine	bott
Past participle	-bodd
Present participle	boende
Fourth Conjugation

They are called strong verbs.

Infinitive	dricka
Present	dricker
Imperfect	drack
Supine	druckit
Past participle	drucken
Present participle	drickande
See

Verbs


Definite/Indefinite

All Swedish nouns have definite and indefinite forms, and corresponding definite and indefinite articles in the singular. For the plural, the definite/indefinite distinction is shown by the ending (suffix).

en man, mannen	a man, the man (common singular)
män, männen	men, the men (common plural
ett hus, huset	a house, the house (neuter singular)
hus, husen	houses, the houses (neuter plural)

See

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Past Participle

Present Participle

Adjectives

Comparison

Nouns

Number: Singular and Plural