Introduction to Swedish/Nouns and pronouns

Nouns
There are two grammatical genders in Swedish, common and neuter.

Common - en
en telefon (a telephone)

telefonen (the telephone)

en klocka (a clock)

klockan (the clock)

en bil (a car)

bilen (the car)

en dag (a day)

dagen (the day)

en kvinna (a woman)

kvinnan (the woman)

en pojke (a boy)

pojken (the boy)

Neuter - ett
ett rum (a room)

rummet (the room)

ett skrivbord (a desk)

skrivbordet (the desk)

ett hus (a house)

huset (the house)

ett öra (an ear)

örat (the ear)

Personal Pronouns


Note that the form of the verb never changes with personal pronouns.

Examples of den and det

When referring to a new object in the text you should use "det". But once it is mentioned you must follow the gender of the object. Note that both the pronoun and adjective follows the gender of noun.

Examples of du and ni

but a waiter may say even though he is only asking one person:

"Vad vill ni ha att dricka?" (What would you like to drink?) to be more polite. Ni is the formal version of you. However it is often looked upon oddly when used to address a single person, such usage is usually only used for members of the royal family or dignitaries.

Example text
Familjen Vi ska hälsa på en familj. Hon är lärare. Han är ingenjör. De har två barn. Vill ni se dem? Det yngsta barnet är två år och heter Sven. Han är snäll. Det äldsta heter Lisa. Hon är duktig i skolan. Båda tycker om glass. Det får de ofta av sin pappa. Han gillar jordgubbsglass bäst. Mamma säger att man inte ska äta glass. Hon tycker att det är dålig mat. "Man blir vad man äter", brukar hon säga.

The Family ''We will visit a family. She is a teacher. He is an engineer. They have two children. Would you like to see them?'' ''The youngest child is two years old and called Sven. He is kind. The oldest is called Lisa. She is good at school.'' ''Both like ice cream. They get it often by their daddy. He likes strawberry ice cream best. Mummy says you should not eat ice cream. She thinks that it is bad food. "You will become what you eat", she usually says.''

Exercises
Please translate into English:

1. Han brukar säga hej till Lisa.

2. Hon är ett barn.

3. De är yngst i skolan.

4. Vad vill du äta?

5. Ni är två familjer.

Please translate into Swedish:

6. You shouldn't eat food in the car.

7. Icecream is cheap.

8. I want an ice cream.

9. It's a child.

10. I will visit Sven.

../Answers to exercises/

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