← Back

Nouns, Articles & Gender

Two genders (en/ett), indefinite/definite articles and the definite article as a suffix
en-ord vs ett-ord
two genders: common (en) and neuter (ett)
-
Every Swedish noun is either an en-word or an ett-word
en bok
a book (en-word, indefinite)
en book
Indefinite article en for common-gender nouns
ett hus
a house (ett-word, indefinite)
et hoos
Indefinite article ett for neuter nouns
bok → boken
book → the book (definite article as a SUFFIX)
BOO-ken
Swedish attaches "the" to the end of the noun, not before it
hus → huset
house → the house
HOO-set
Same suffixing pattern for ett-words
böcker / hus
books / houses (indefinite plural)
-
böcker is irregular; hus stays identical to the singular
böckerna / husen
the books / the houses (definite plural)
-
Definite plural also uses a suffix
Genus går inte att gissa från betydelsen
Gender usually can't be guessed from meaning
-
Gender must simply be learned with each noun
~75-80% av substantiven är en-ord
About 75-80% of nouns are en-words
-
en is the more common default gender
en/ett bara för obestämd form
en/ett are used only for the indefinite form
-
Definiteness is shown by the suffix, not by these words