Swedish: An Essential Grammar, 2nd edition

Parts of the body, clothing:
Hon skall tvätta håret/händerna.
She is going to wash her hair/hands.
Hon tog av sig skorna/kappan.
She took off her shoes/coat.
Han har ont i ryggen/magen.
He has a pain in his back/stomach.
3.6.5
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Article use
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Article use with demonstrative pronouns
Den här 
etc.
Den 
etc.
Denna 
etc.
+ End article
+ End article
No end article
See also 5.8.
Non-
den här filmen den filmen
denna film
⊗
neuter den där filmen
this/that film
this/that film
this/that film
Neuter det här kortet
det kortet
detta kort
⊗
det där kortet
this/that card
this/that card
this/that card
Plural
de här filmerna de filmerna
dessa filmer
⊗
de där filmerna
these/those films these/those films these/those films
de här korten
de korten
dessa kort
⊗
de där korten
these/those cards these/those cards these/those cards
Exception: where den/det/de are determinative pronouns, see 5.9.
No article after the possessive
As in English, nouns following a possessive never take a definite article
(see also 5.5):
pennan
the pen
min penna
my pen
bordet
the table
mitt bord
my table
This also applies to constructions with noun + adjective (see also 4.3.3):
min röda penna
my red pen
mitt stora bord
my big table
3.6.7
3.6.6
3
Nouns
52

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Genitives
The genitive
See 10.3.5 for the translation of English expressions with ‘of’.
1 The Swedish genitive is formed by adding -s to the noun. Notice that
there is no apostrophe:
en flickas
flickans
flickors
flickornas
a girl’s
the girl’s
girls’
the girls’
Exceptions
(a) No -s after a noun ending in -s, -x:
Marx skrifter
Marx’s writings
en kaktus taggar
a cactus’s spines
(b) No -s after place names ending in a vowel:
Uppsala slott Uppsala Castle
(cf. Gripsholms slott)
2 Latin genitive endings are found in some names:
Jesu liv (
←
←
Jesus)
Jesus’s life
Kristi himmelsfärd (
←
←
Kristus)
Christ’s ascension
3 The genitive -s is usually placed on the last word of the group:
mannen på gatans åsikter
the views of the man in the street
Karl den tolftes död
the death of Charles XII
4 The noun following a genitive never takes an end article:
gårdens ägare
⊗
the owner of the farm
Sveriges huvdstad
⊗
the capital of Sweden
årets sista dag
⊗
the last day of the year
3.7.1
3.7
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Genitives
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5 In addition to denoting possession or belonging in a wide sense, the
genitive is also used in the following senses:
(a) In measurement:
ett par timmars sömn
a couple of hours’ sleep
ett fyrtifem minuters program
a 45-minute programme
(b) To express ‘a kind (sort) of’:
en sorts fisk
a kind of fish
alla sorters mat
all kinds of food
ett slags fisk
a kind of fish
alla slags mat
all kinds of food
(c) In names:
Jag handlar alltid hos Olssons.
I always shop at Olsson’s.
Vi bor mitt emot Perssons.
We live opposite Persson’s.
(d) In some old genitive case endings which remain in a few set phrases
after till:
gå till fots/skogs/bords/sängs
go on foot/into the forest/to
table/to bed
gå till väga
set about (something)
vara till salu/till låns
be for sale/on loan
3
Nouns
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Adjectives in outline
Swedish adjectives inflect. In the indefinite declension they agree with the
noun in gender (singular only) and in number both attributively and
predicatively. They also add inflexional endings in the definite declension.
Indefinite forms
Non-neuter
Neuter
Plural
Attributive
en stor
⊗
⊗
bil
ett stort hus
stora bilar/hus
a big car
a big house
big cars/houses
god
⊗
⊗
mat
varmt vatten
raka vägar
good food
hot water
straight roads
Predicative
bilen är stor
⊗
⊗
huset är stort bilarna/husen är stora
the car is big
the house is big the cars/houses are big
Definite forms
den stora bilen
det stora huset
de stora bilarna/husen
the big car
the big house
the big cars/houses
Notes:
1 For the inflexion of adjectives and past participles, see 4.2.1 ff, 7.3.1.
2 An alternative form of the adjective, in -e, is sometimes found in the definite
singular before non-neuter nouns that clearly indicate a male person (cf. 4.3.1 (2)).
This form is more frequent in non-fiction and formal prose, and today occurs only
rarely in spoken Swedish except in southern Sweden:
den gamle mannen
the old man
den store ledaren Napoleon
the great leader Napoleon
4.1
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Chapter 4
Adjectives

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3 The definite ending in -e also occurs, as a compulsory form, on the adjective
ending in -ad, superlative in -ast (cf. 4.3.1 (2)):
den nymålade stugan
the newly painted cottage
det billigaste huset
the cheapest house
Indefinite declension
Indefinite forms – regular
Main rule: Most adjectives including all those that end in -(l)ig add -t in
the neuter form and -a in the plural (non-neuter and neuter):
Non-neuter
Neuter
Plural
+
⊗
(no ending)
+t
+a
en fin
⊗
⊗
tavla
ett fint hus
fina tavlor/hus
a fine picture
a fine house
fine pictures/houses
en rolig
⊗
⊗
film
ett roligt skämt
roliga filmer/skämt
a funny film
a funny joke
funny films/jokes
Indefinite forms – variations
Non-neuter
Neuter
Plural
Adjectives ending in:
1 long vowel
short vowel
long vowel
+tt
+a
fri
fritt
fria
free
rå
rått
råa
raw
Like fri: ny (new), slö (blunt)
Note that blå (blue) and grå (grey) have optional plural forms: blå/blåa, grå/gråa.
2 long vowel
short vowel
long vowel
+t
+tt
+t+a
vit
vitt
vita
white
Like vit: het (hot), fet (fat), våt (wet)
Note that many loanwords in long vowel +t do not add an extra -t in the neuter
form: akut, desperat, diskret, konkret, privat, separat, etc.
4.2.2
4.2.1
4.2
4
Adjectives
56

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3 short vowel
short vowel
short vowel
+tt
+tt
+tt+a
lätt
lätt
lätta
easy
Like lätt: rätt (right), trött (tired), mätt (replete)
4 consonant
consonant
consonant
+t
+t
+t+a
exakt
exakt
exakta
exact
Like exakt: abstrakt, elegant, intelligent, intressant, perfekt
This group also includes some indigenous monosyllabic adjectives: brant
(steep), fast (firm), kort (short), stolt (proud), tyst (silent).
5 long vowel
short vowel
long vowel
+d
+tt
+d+a
glad
glatt
glada
happy
Like glad: bred (wide), död (dead), god (good), röd (red)
6 consonant
consonant
consonant
+d
+t
+d+a
hård
hårt
hårda
hard
Like hård: ond (evil), vild (wild), mild (mild), värd (worth), and past
participles of second conjugation (IIa) verbs: stängd (closed), berömd
(famous), bestämd (definite)
7 -ad
-at
-ad+e
älskad
älskat
älskade
loved
Like älskad: all first conjugation past participles, e.g. kortfattad (concise),
koncentrerad (concentrated). See 7.3.2.
8 short vowel
short vowel
short vowel
+m
+m+t
+mm+a
dum
dumt
dumma
stupid
Like dum: tom (empty), grym (cruel), hjälpsam (helpful), långsam (slow),
våldsam (violent). See 14.2.
9 short vowel
short vowel
short vowel
+nn
+n+t
+nn+a
sann
sant
sanna
true
Like sann: grann (pretty), noggrann (careful), tunn (thin). See 14.2.
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Indefinite
declension
57

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