Ang, -ant, -at, -ent, -eri, -ess, -ion, -ism, -ist, -log, -nom, -tris, -ur, -ör, -ös

Björn Engdahl’s Swedish Course

The Swedish language has got two kinds of phonetical accents - the acute and the grave accents. The acute accent is the same as in many other languages. The tone is falling as in the English word speaker. This accent is employed in words of one syllable and in a few words of two or more syllables.

The grave accent is the one characteristic for the Swedish language, and it occurs in most words of more than one syllable. Here, the tone is falling too, on the first syllable, but the second syllable starts on a higher pitch than does the first, and a strong stress occurs. Most Swedish polysyllabic words have the main stress on the first syllable and the grave accent on one of the following syllables.

I will mark polysyllabic words employing the acute accent with an apostrophe (') behind the stressed syllable.

• ('segel = sail, the noun)

Words using the grave accent are marked with a star (*) on the main stress syllable, and if needed, an apostrophe behind the syllable with the higher pitch

The following curve illustrates the pitch of the grave accent with the Swedish word *tala = to speak.

Here are some a couple of endings, all of which use the acute accent, stressed on the last syllable. It's not important that you memorize these endings at the beginning. Just learn to recognize them as you come across them.

ang, -ant, -at, -ent, -eri, -ess, -ion, -ism, -ist, -log, -nom, -tris, -ur, -ör, -ös

Vowels: (all comparisons to English refer to the British pronunciation)

a	[a:] [a]	as in father - ta = to take as the the o in brother - katt = cat
o	[o:] [o]	no exact English counterpart, but somewhat like the u in German rufen - ko = cow like German u in und - hon = she
u	[u:] [u]	no English counterpart, tongue position as for y but lips even more rounded - hus = house somewhat like English er in letter, but lips rounded - brunn = a well
å	[å:] [å]	similar to English saw - båt = boat almost like English song - sång = song
e	[e:] [e]	like the first part of the English here - se = to see like English net - fett = fat
i	[i:] [i]	similar to English ee in see, mouth more straightened - fil = file almost like i in did - in = in
y	[y:] [y]	similar to French rue and German müde, but lips more rounded and protruded - sy = to sew the same but shorter, somewhat like German müssen and French lu - sytt = sewn
ä	[ä:] [ä]	before r similar to the first part of English hair - där = there. Else less open like French chaise - träd = tree before r like a in English carry - stjärt = bottom. Else like [e] - lätt = easy
ö	[ö:] [ö]	before r almost like i in bird - för = for. Else similar to French deux - söt = pretty before r like [ö:] befor r but shorter - dörr = door. Else like [ö:] but shorter - röst = voice

Consonants (I only write those whose pronunciation differs from the same letter in English)

d	[d]	as in English but put your tongue against the upper part of your teeth.
g	[g] [j]	as in great when preceeding a,o,u,å or unstressed e as English y in yes before e,i,y,ä,ö and after l and r
j	[j]	as y in English yes
k	[k] [k]	as in English k before a,o,u and å Somewhat like the ch in choose without the initial t-sound, or similar to German Ich
l	[l]	almost like English l, but with your tongue more to the front in your mouth
q	[k]	as English k
r	[r]	a roled r
t	[t]	similar to English t but with your tongue against the back of your teeth
w	[v]	as English v
x	[ks]	never [gz] as in English example, always [ks]
z, s	[s]	as English voiceless s

Certain combinations:

[s]	ch, sk (before e,i,y,ä,ö), sj, sch si and ti (before -on), skj, stj, -ge and rs	Either you could pronounce it as sh in shall, but you could also use another sound similar to German ch in nach but softer.
[j]	gj, lj, hj	as y in English yes
[k]	tj, ch (sometimes)	see k above
[g]	ng	as in English sing
[gn]	gn	as it says
[gk]	nk	as it says
[k]	ck	as ck in English sick
[n]	rn	as n but with the tongue slightly further back in the mouth
[t]	rt	as t but with the tongue slightly further back in the mouth

That's it, quite a lot to remember, wasn't it? But don't learn everything at once. Go back when you have finished a few lessons.

Lesson 1

Vocabulary

Hej [hej]	Hi
Hej då [hej då:]	Good bye
God morgon [go:d *mårån]	Good morning
Tack [tak]	Thank you/Please
Tack så mycket [tak så: *myket]	Thank you very much
Varsågod [vaså:'go:d]	You're welcome / Here you are
Ja [ja:]	Yes
Nej [nej]	No
Ursäkta [u:'säkta]	Excuse me / Pardon
Förlåt [fö:r'lå:t]	I'm sorry
Bra [bra:]	Good / Well
Jag [ja:g]	I
Du [du:]	You (sing.)
Han [han]	He
Hon [hon]	She
Den [den]	It (common gender)
Det [de:t]	It (neuter)
Vi [vi:]	We
Ni** [ni:]	You (plur.), formal you sing. and plur.
De [de:] / most common [dåm]	They

**Nowadays, ni isn't used very much as formal sing. We usually address everybody with du.
There is a Swedish pronoun man which is used in common aspects such as Man kan inte göra allt = One can't do everything.

Numbers 0-10

noll [nål]
ett [et]
två [två:]
tre [tre:]
fyra [*fy:ra]
fem [fem]
sex [seks]
sju [su:]
åtta [*åta]
nio [*ni:o]
tio [*ti:o]

Nouns 1

The Swedish nouns are divided into two genders, neuters (n) and common genders (r). In most cases, you can't tell whether a noun is a neuter or a common gender. You'll simply have to memorize the gender for each noun you learn. However, there are a few rules, with help of which you'll easier remember it. One of them tells that all nouns having to do with people or professions are common gender.

Neuters use the indefinite article ett and common genders use en. The pronoun det (it) is similarly used for neuters and den (it too) is used for common genders.

Some nouns

ett barn [et ba:rn]	child
en flicka [en *flika]	girl
en pojke [*pojke]	boy
ett fönster ['fönster]	window
ett bord [bo:d]	table
en man [man]	man
en kvinna [*kvina]	woman
en bok [bo:k]	book
en telefon [tele'få:n]	telephone
en stol [sto:l]	chair
en dörr [dör]	door
ett vykort [*vy:kot]	postcard
en penna [*pena]	pen(cil)
ett rum [rum]	room
ett badrum [*ba:drum]	bathroom
ett hotell [ho'tel]	hotel
ett frimärke [*fri:märke]	stamp

That's it, what could you do now?
You could enter a shop saying

God morgon, en penna tack! Hej då

Not much but you would be perfectly understood! If you want to produce more advanced sentences, you have to learn some verbs.

Verbs 1(The infinitive and the present tense)

Verbs are the key to every language. Just by mentioning äta you will be understood. (You wouldn't be looked upon as a very intelligent person though.)

In Swedish, a verb employs the same form in all persons, whereas English for example uses different forms for different persons. Thus, the verb vara conjugates as follows in the present tense:

Jag	är (compared to English>	I	am
Du	är	You	are
Han	är	He	is
Hon	är	She	is
Den	är	It	is
Det	är	It	is
Vi	är	We	are
Ni	är	You	are
De	är	They	are

As you can see, this is very easy. Therefore you only have to learn one form for every verb in each tense.

Most Swedish verbs are regular, but the most frequently used are irregular.

Regular verbs, infinitive and present tense

All polysyllabic Swedish verbs end with an a in the infinitive. (Others, those of one syllable end with any vowel.) There are two conjugations of regular verbs - group 1 adding an r to the stem in the present tense and group two adding er to the stem. The Swedish word corresponding to the English to in to go for example is att.

Example:

Group 1:	Verb:	Tala (to speak)	Group 2:	Verb:	Köpa (to buy)
	Stem:	Tala-		Stem:	Köp-
	Present tense:	Talar		Present tense:	Köper
Group 1:	Verb:	Älska (to love)	Group 2:	Verb:	Hjälpa (to help)
	Stem:	Älska-		Stem:	Hjälp-
	Present tense:	Älskar		Present tense:	Hjälper

And as I said before, the verbs conjugate in the same way in all persons.

Almost all irregular verbs form their present tense as does groupe 2.

Example:

skriva (to write)
skriv- + er =
skriver
han skriver = He writes

• The verb vara (to be) and ha (to have) are irregular and have the forms är and har in the present tense.
  (Jag är = I am, Jag har = I have)

• Monosyllabic verbs are almost always irregular and form the present tense by adding an r.

Example:

se (to see)
se + r =
ser
hon ser = she sees

Pronunciation

• Now we're back to that pronunciation again! Two-syllabic verbs all have the grave accent in the infinitive. Verbs with three or more syllables often have the accute accent on the second last syllable.

• In the present tense, group 1 verbs with two syllables all have the grave accent and all others of two syllabels have the accute accent on the first syllable. Almost all verbs of more than two syllables stress the second-last syllable with an accute accent.

Example:

Tala (1) = [*ta:la], Talar = [*ta:lar]

Köpa (2) = [*kö:pa], Köper = ['kö:per]

Skriva (i) = [*skri:va], Skriver = ['skri:ver]

Diskutera (1) = [disku:'te:ra], Diskuterar = [disku:'te:rar] (diskutera = discuss)

Some verbs:

Tala (1) [*ta:la]	to speak
Prata (1) [*pra:ta]	to talk
Studera (1) [stu:'de:ra]	to study
Älska (1) [*älska]	to love
Köpa (2) [*kö:pa]	to buy
Hjälpa (2) [*hjälpa]	to help
Skriva (i) [*skri:va]	to write
Äta (i) [ä:ta]	to eat
Vara (i) [*va:ra] Present tense = är [ä:r]	to be
Heta (2) [*he:ta]	like "to have the name"
Ringa (2) [*riga]	to call
Se (i) [se:]	to see

Now that you know some verbs and nouns, you could construct more advanced sentences such as

Jag heter Björn Engdahl = My name is Björn Engdahl
Han köper en boll = He buys a ball

Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish

A boy writes a postcard
They help a woman
You (sing.) love a man
She studies Swedish (=svenska)
We buy a stamp
You (plur.) see it. (ref. to the table)

Lesson 2

Vocabulary

och [ok]	and
inte [*inte]	not
Sverige ['sverje]	Sweden
här [hä:r]	here
där [dä:r]	there
nu [nu:]	now
idag [i'da:g]	today
lite [*li:te]	a little
bara [*ba:ra]	only / just
mycket [*myke(t)]	a lot
svenska [*svenska]	Swedish
England ['egland]	England
engelska ['egelska]	English
Hur står det till? [hu:r stå:r de til]	How do you do?
pengar ['pegar]	money
eller ['eler]	or

Nouns 2

In English, German and French e.g., the definite form of a noun is constructed by a definite article. The definit form of the noun table for example, is obtained by adding the - the table, German - Der Tisch, French - La table etc.

In Swedish, the definite form is obtained by attaching a suffix (ending) to the noun. The suffixes are -(e)n for common genders and -(e)t for neuters. The e is often dropped when the noun ends in a vowel.

Example:

The noun	sg. indefinite	sg. definite
book	en bok	bok en
girl	en flicka	flicka n
boy	en pojke	pojke n
rose	en ros	ros en
house	ett hus	hus et
table	bord	bord et
eye	öga	öga t

• As you can see, you drop the e if the noun ends with a vowel. The same as to common gender nouns ending with an unstressed -r or -l.

Example:

en 'djungel - djungel n
en 'doktor - doktor n

• Some neuters ending with an unstressed -er or -el drop their e preceding the r or t.

Example:

ett 'fönster - fönstr et
ett 'kapitel - kapitl et (meaning chapter)

• Some nouns double their last consonant so as to keep their pronunciation.

Example:

ett rum - rumm et

I will write the full forms when we come across a noun that differs from the rule.

Pronunciation

Nouns normally keep their stress in the definite form.

Example:

*flicka - *flicka n
ho'tell - ho'tell et
'bok - 'bok en

Some more nouns

ett hus [hu:s]	house
en teve [*te:ve]	television
mat (c.g.) [ma:t]	food
vatten (neu.) ['vaten]	water
ett land [land]	country
en stad [sta:d]	city
en affär [a'fä:r]	shop
en station [sta'son]	station
ett huvud [*hu:vud]	head
en arm [arm]	arm
ett ben [be:n]	leg / bone
en bil [bi:l]	car
en båt [bå:t]	boat
ett tåg [tå:g]	train
ett flygplan [*fly:gpla:n]	plane

Some prepositions

på [på:]	on
i [i:]	in
från [frå:n]	from
av [a:v]	of / by
om [åm]	about
till [til]	to
med [me:d]	with

Some more verbs

gå (i) [gå:]	to go
göra (i) [*jö:ra] present tense gör	to do / to make
bo (2) [bo:]	to live
ligga (i) [*liga]	to lie, be situated
det finns (i) [de: fins] (present tense)	there is / are
svänga (2) [*sväga]	to turn
förstå (i) [fö'stå:]	to understand

Forming questions

In English, you often form a question by rewriting with do. That is NOT possible in Swedish. Instead, you reverse the word order (as in English Are you fine?). Often you use a question word as well.

Question words

vem [vem] vilka ['vi(l)ka]	who (sing.) who (plur.)
vad [va:d]	what
var [va:r]	where
vart [vat]	where (to)
hur [hu:r]	how
vilken / vilket ['vi(l)ken] / ['vi(l)ket]	what / which
varifrån [va:ri'frå:n]	where...from
varför ['varfö:r]	why

Examples:

Varifrån är du?	Where are you from?
Vad heter hon?	What is her name?
Vem är du?	Who are you?
Vilka är de?	Who are they?
Var bor du?	Where do you live?
Vart går du?	Where are you going (to)?
Varför gör vi så?	Why do we do like that?
Vilket land bor ni i?	What country do you live in?
Vilken stad bor ni i?	What city do you live in?
Köper du bollen?	Do you buy the ball?

Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish

Are you from Sweden?
Does he love food?.
Where is the house situated?
How do I go to the station?
Is there a shop here?
I am from England.

Lesson 3

Vocabulary

Jag skulle vilja... [ja:g *skule *vilja]	I would like to...
höger ['hö:ger]	right
vänster ['vänster]	left
rakt fram [ra:kt fram]	straight forward
norr [når]	north
söder ['sö:der]	south
öster ['öster]	east
väster ['väster]	west
flera ['fle:ra]	lots of
många [*måga]	many
den här / denna [den hä:r] / [*dena]	this (com.g.)
det här / detta [de: hä:r] / [*deta]	this (neu.)
de här / dessa [dom hä:r] / [*desa]	these
den där [den dä:r]	that (com.g.)
det där [de: dä:r]	that (neu.)
de där [dom dä:r]	those

Note that the definite form of the noun is to be used after den här / de där etc. and that the indefinite form is to be used after denna/detta and dessa.

Numbers 10-100

elva [*elva]
tolv [tålv]
tretton [*trettån]
fjorton [*fjotån]
femton [*femtån]
sexton [*sekstån]
sjutton [*sutån]
arton [*atån]
nitton [*nitån]
tjugo [*ku:go]
tjugoett [ku:'et]
tjugotvå [ku:'två:] etc.
trettio [*treti]
trettioett [treti'et] etc.
fyrtio [*föti]
femtio [*femti]
sextio [*seksti]
sjuttio [*suti]
åttio [*åti]
nittio [*niti]
hundra ['hundra]

Nouns 3 - Plural indefinite

The plural form of Swedish nouns isn't as easy as that of an English noun, where you just add an s. Swedish nouns are more like German nouns. We attach different suffixes for different nouns. In some cases, you could tell what suffix be added just by looking at the noun, and in some cases you just have to memorize the suffix for each noun.

Here are the endings:

Common genders -

• Almost all com.g. ending with an a and some others as well attach -or.

en flick|a - flera flick or
en gat|a - flera gat or (=street)
en ros - flera ros or (=rose)

• The majority of com.g. not ending with an a attach -ar.

en pojk|e - flera pojk ar
en dag - flera dag ar (=day)

• Quite a lot of com.g add -er.

en rad - flera rader (=row, not quarrel)
en doktor - flera doktorer (=doctor)

• A few com.g. are irregular and have umlaut (marked with a cross) a gets ä, o gets ö, ä gets å. Some just add an r

en bok - flera böcker
en stad - flera städer
en sko - flera sko r (=shoe)
en man - flera män

Neuters:

Those were the common genders, the neuters are much easier.

• Almost all neuters ending with a vowel add -n.

ett äpple - flera äpple n (=apple)

• Almost all neuters ending with a consonant don't add anything. (Not those ending with - um)

ett fönster - flera fönster
ett träd - flera träd

• A few add -r

ett fängelse - flera fängelse r (=prison)

• Those ending with - um substitute that for an a.

ett fakt|um - flera fakt a (=fact)

• Two common, irregular neuters are:

ett ög|a - flera ög on (=eye)
ett ör|a - flera ör on (=ear)

Plural definite

Well, that was the plural indefinite, and now we're coming to the plural definite! How do you think that is formed? You're right, by adding a suffix of course! But don't worry. It is not very complicated at all.

• All nouns attach -na except those having attached no plural indefinite suffix. They get - en. (Very few exceptions to this rule if any.

Example:

sing. indefinite	sing. definite	plur. indefinite	plur. definite
en flicka	flick an	flick or	flickor na
en pojke	pojk en	pojk ar	pojkar na
en sak	sak en	sak er	saker na
ett barn	barn et	barn	barn en
ett öga (irregular)	öga t	ög on	ögon en
ett äpple	äpple t	äpple n	äpple na
ett rum	rumm et	rum	rumm en

Pronunciation

The pronunciation could in some cases be more important than you think. For example such a small difference as *anden and 'anden completely changes the meaning of the word. *Anden means the spirit and 'anden means the duck. Quite embarrassing for a priest to say the holy duck instead of the holy spirit, isn't it?

The pronunciation of the plural isn't very difficult. All words having to syllables after having added the plural suffix employ the grave accent. (Not the irregular ones with umlaut - they employ the accute accent).

*flicka - *flickor
'dag - *dagar
'bok - 'böcker

All others, those with more than two syllables keep the stress as it is in the singular.

filoso'fi - filoso'fi er (=philosophy)

The definite suffixes -na and -en don't change the pronunciation.

Some more nouns:

en restaurang -er [restu:'rag]	restaurant
en not|a -or [*no:ta]	bill
en dryck -er [dryk]	drink
en frukost -er ['frukåst]	breakfast
en lunch -er [luns]	lunch
en middag -ar ['mida]	dinner
byxor (plural) [*byksor]	pants
en skjort|a -or [*sota]	shirt
en tröj|a -or [*tröja]	sweater
en hand -er+ [hand]	hand
en fot -ter+ [fo:t]	foot
ett mynt - [mynt]	coin
en biljett -er [bil'jet]	ticket
en tunnelban|a -or [*tunel'ba:na]	underground
en buss -ar [bus]	bus

Adjectives

As in German and French, the adjectives inflect depending on the number and gendrer of the noun they describe. There are also, as in German, a weak and strong inflection. The weak inflection is used after Denna / Det här etc. The strong inflection is used after en, ett and after words that don't tell the gender of the noun.

Weak inflection:

stor(=big)	Singular:	Plural:
com.g:	Den här stor a bollen	De här stor a bollarna
neuter:	Det här stor a huset	De här stor a husen

Very easy! You just add an a after the adjective and pronounce it with the grave accent on the syllable preceding the a. Note that you have to use the pronoun den / det / de if you want to put a noun in the definite form which is preceded by an adjective.

The big boy = Den stora pojken (Not juststora pojken)
The big house = Det stora huset (Not just stora huset)

Strong inflection:

stor(=big)	Singular:	Plural:
com.g:	en stor boll.	två stor a bollar
neuter:	ett stor t hus	två stor a hus

Not very difficult either. You add a t on neu. sing. and a on all plurals. A few irregular forms do exist however.

• Adjectives ending with -d or -dd substitute these letters for -tt in the neuter form, unstressed -n is substituted for -t.

en röd boll - ett rött hus(röd=red)
en liten boll - ett litet hus

• Adjectives ending with -ad attach an e instead of an a.

en intresserad kvinna - den intresserade kvinnan - två intresserade kvinnor (intresserad=interesting)

• The adjective bra (=good / well) doesn't inflect at all

en bra bok - ett bra hus

Some adjectives

stor [sto:r]	big
liten [*li:ten]	small
vacker ['vaker]	beautiful
trevlig [*tre:vlig]	nice
ful [fu:l]	ugly
snäll [snäl]	kind
röd [rö:d]	red
gul [gu:l]	yellow
blå [blå:]	blue
grön [grö:n]	green
rosa ['råsa] (doesn't inflect)	pink
vit [vi:t]	white
svart [svat]	black
ren [re:n]	clean
smutsig [*smutsi(g)]	dirty

Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish

He has a big head.
I see many yellow shirts.
We live in a red house.
Why do you have 52 blue hands.
The nice girls are very beautiful.
I would like to pay for this nice dinner.

Lesson 4

Vocabulary

detsamma [de'sama]	you too
också ['åkså]	also
därför ['därför]	that's why...
vilka ['vi(l)ka]	what, which (plur.)
vems [vems]	whose
hit [hi:t]	here (direction, hither)
dit [di:t]	there (direction, thither)
nästa [*nästa]	next
i morgon [i*mårån]	tomorrow
igår [i'gå:r]	yesterday
efter ['efter]	after

Nouns

en klock|a -or [*klåka]	watch, clock
en timm|e -ar [*time]	hour
en minut -er [mi'nu:t]	minute
en sekund -er [se'kund]	second
en mamm|a -or [*mama]	mum
en papp|a -or [*papa]	dad
en mor -mödrar [mo:r]	mother
en far -fäder [*fa:r]	father
en bro|r -der+ [bro:r]	brother
en syst|er -rar [*syster]	sister
ett syskon - [*syskon]	sibling
ett språk - [språ:k]	language
ett bröd - [brö:d]	bread
en morfar [*morfar]	grandfather (mother's side)
en mormor [*mormor]	grandmother (mother's side)
en farfar [*farfar]	grandfather (father's side)
en farmor [*farmor]	grandmother (father's side)
en somm|ar -rar [*såmar]	summer
en höst -ar [höst]	autumn
en vint|er -rar ['vinter]	winter
en vår -ar [vå:r]	spring

Verbs

gilla (1) [*jila]	to like
springa (i) [*spriga]	to run
ge (i) [je:]	to give
beställa (2) [be'stäla]	to order (food etc.)
betala (1) [be'ta:la]	to pay
veta (i) [*ve:ta] present tense: vet	to know
resa (2) [*re:sa]	to travel
åka (2) [*å:ka]	to go
bli (i) [bli:]	to become, be
komma (i) [*kåma]	to come

Adjectives

lång [låg]	long
kort [kåt]	short
snabb [snab]	fast
långsam [*lågsam]	slow
dyr [dy:r]	expensive
billig [*bilig]	cheap
rolig [*ro:lig]	funny
tråkig [*trå:kig]	boring
dålig [*då:lig]	bad
brun [bru:n]	brown
grå [grå:]	grey
halv [halv]	half

Negations

Making a statement negative in Swedish is very simple. You just insert the word inte (=not). Where should you insert it then? Well, it depends on what you want to emphasize in the sentence, but the following rule is quite general, and should work in almost all cases.

• If the word order is straight (subject + verb), inte is to be inserted after the conjugated verb.

Jag äter - Jag äter inte
Jag skulle vilja äta här - Jag skulle inte vilja äta här

• If the word order is reversed, (verb + subject) in qustions for example, inte is to be inserted after the subject. You could insert it before the the subject as well, if you want to emphasize that inte refers to that particular subject.

Gör du det? - Gör du inte det? - Gör inte du det? (Emphasizing that you aren't doing it)
Skulle du vilja äta här? - Skulle du inte vilja äta här? - Skulle inte du vilja äta här?

Genetive - Possessive Pronouns

The Genitive is formed very easily in Swedish. You just add -s to the noun. Note that there shall be no genitive apostrophy as in English. If the noun already ends with -s or -z, no additional -s is added in the genitive.

Eriks bok - Eric's book
Anders bok - Anders' book
Bilens färg - The color of the car
Pojkarnas vänner - The friends of the boys

The possessive pronouns have, as in French and German, different forms depending on the the number and gender of the noun.

	sing. com.g.	sing. neu.	plural
Jag	Min [min]	Mitt [mit]	Mina [*mi:na]
Du	Din [din]	Ditt [dit]	Dina [*di:na]
Han	Hans [hans] Sin [sin]	Hans [hans] Sitt [sit]	Hans [hans] Sina [*si:na]
Hon	Hennes [*henes] Sin [sin]	Hennes [*henes] Sitt [sit]	Hennes [*henes] Sina [*si:na]
Den	Dess [des] Sin [sin]	Dess [des] Sitt [sit]	Dess [des] Sina [*si:na]
Det	Dess [des] Sin [sin]	Dess [des] Sitt [sit]	Dess [des] Sina [*si:na]
Vi	Vår [vå:r]	Vårt [vå:t]	Våra [*vå:ra]
Ni	Er [e:r]	Ert [e:t]	Era [*e:ra]
De	Deras [*de:ras] Sin [sin]	Deras [*de:ras] Sitt [sit]	Deras [*de:ras] Sina [*si:na]

• The forms sin, sitt and sina are when the noun is referring directly back to the subject of the same sentence. They can never be used as subjects themselves.

Carl och hans pappa bor i Sverige. - Carl and his dad live in Swden
Carl bor i Sverige med sin Pappa. - Carl lives in Sweden with his dad.
Lisa, Anne och deras pappor bor i Sverige. - Lisa, Anne and their dads live in Swden
Lisa och Anne bor i Sverige med sina pappor. - Lisa and Anne live in Sweden with their dads.

• Note that there are no such forms corresponding to the English mine or yours. In Swedish, we don't distinguish between whether the possessive pronoun is followed by a noun or not.

Det här är min bok - Boken är min = This is my book- The book is mine
Är det där vårt hus? - Ja, det är vårt = Is that our house? - Yes, it is ours.
Det här är dina saker - Dessa saker är dina = These are your things - These things are yours

Objective Pronouns

In the sentence The men love the cars, you can't tell whether it is the men or the cars who love by just studying the forms of the nouns. Though, this word order automatically makes clear that it is the men who love and the cars who are loved. Thus, "the men" are the subject and "the cars" are the direct object. Some languages, German for example, have different forms for the direct objects. (Der Mann sieht den Ball - Der Ball sieht den Mann) The only place where English uses an objective form is the pronouns. If I said Her I love, there would be no doubt what was meant, though you normally would say I love her. The Swedish objective pronouns are:

Subject	Object
Jag	Mig [mej]
Du	Dig [dej]
Han	Honom [*hånåm]
Hon	Henne [*hene]
Den	Den
Det	Det
Vi	Oss [ås]
Ni	Er [e:r]
De	Dem [dem] is almost always pronounced [dåm]

Telling the time

If you want to know what time it is, you ask:

Vad är klockan? = What time is it?

Or as a whole phrase:

Ursäkta mig, vet du vad klockan är? = Excuse me, do you know what time it is?

Then, if you're lucky you'll get a response like this:

	Den (klockan) är tolv.
	Den är fem över ett.
	Den är kvart över två.
	Den är fem i halv fyra.
	Den är halv fem.
	Den är fem över halv sex.
	Den är tjugo i sju.
	Den är kvart i åtta.

Note that in Swedish, it is "half to", and not as in English "half past".

Exercises

• Vad är klockan?

1 - 9:30
2 - 1:40
3 - 10:35
4 - 5:15
5 - 12:25
6 - 3:20

• Translate the following sentences into Swedish

1 - Don't you love me?
2 - Don't you love me either? (either = heller)
3 - Do you have our boring books in your big house?
4 - Is he coming to us next summer?
5 - I would like to reserve that nice table for the two of us.
6 - I wouldn't like to give him my money.

Lesson 5

Vocabulary

mer(a) ['me:r(a)]	more
mest [mest]	most
än [än]	than
lika...som [li:ka] [såm]	as...as
för...sedan [fö:r] [sen]	ago
om [åm]	in (time)
i [i:]	for (time)
under ['under]	during
innan [*inan]	before
ett år - [å:r]	year
en väg -ar [vä:g]	way/road

Adjectives - Compare

The comparative forms of a Swedish adjective is formed in almost the same ways as is an English adjective. In English, you can either add - er and -est (high, high er, high est), or you can say more and most (boring, more boring, most boring). In Swedish, you add -are and -ast where possible, and otherwise, you say mer and mest.

• The adjective kort is thus compared like this:

kort- kort are - kort ast

• The adjective intressant = interesting is like in English compared with more and most:

intressant - mer intressant - mest intressant

• Adjectives ending with unstressed - en, -er or -el drop their e (like with the definite article).

vacker - vackr are - vackr ast
trogen - trogn are - trogn ast (=faithful)

• Some adjectives are irregular and some have umlaut:

liten - mindre - minst
dålig - sämre - sämst
bra - bättre - bäst
stor - större - störst
lång - längre - längst
hög - högre - högst
mycket - mer(a) - mest

• If you want to say the best car, you have to inflect the adjective, and here it's the weak pattern that is to be used. Regular adjectives attach - e, irregular ones attach - a. Adjectives in the second form never inflect.

den kort a bilen
den kortare bilen
den kortast e bilen

den vackr a bilen
den vackrare bilen
den vackrast e bilen

den dålig a bilen
den sämre bilen
den sämst a bilen

• The adjective liten has the first form lilla when it is inflected weakly.

ett litet barn
det lilla barnet

• The expression as...as is lika...som in Swedish

Mitt hus är lika stort som ditt. - My house is as big as yours.

Verbs - The Imperfect and the Perfect tense

Swedish is very similair to English in constructing the past tenses. And the tenses are also employed pretty much the same way in both languages. The perfect tense consists of the present tense of the verb ha (to have) + the supine form of the main verb. As in English, you get the past perfect by using the imperfect form of ha instead of the present tense. The imperfect is formed by attaching a suffix to the stem.

Group 1+2:

• The imperfect tense is formed by adding -de to the stem, unless the stem ends with a voiceless consonant (f, k, p, s, t etc.) then you attach -te.

• The supine is formed by attaching -t to the stem.

Ireggular verbs:

• As this group consists of irregular verbs, you can't give any rule what forms there are. But in the imperfect, most verbs get no suffix. They just change the stem-vowel. In the supine, most verbs change the stem-vowel again, and attach - it or -at.

Example:

Verb:	Stem:	Imperfect:	Supine:	Perfect:	Past perfect:
tala (1)	tala-	tala de	tala t	har tala t	hade tala t
ringa (2)	ring-	ring de	ring t	har ring t	hade ring t
köpa (2)	köp-	köp te	köp t	har köp t	hade köp t
vara (i)	var-	var	var it	har var it	hade var it
springa (i) (=to run)	spring-	spr a ng	spr u ng it	har spr u ng it	hade spr u ng it
komma (i)	komm-	kom	komm it	har komm it	hade komm it
ha (i)	ha-	ha de	ha ft	har ha ft	hade ha ft
göra (i)	gör-	gjorde	gjort	har gjort	hade gjort
bli (i)	bli-	bl ev	bli vit	har bli vit	hade bli vit
äta (i)	ät-	å t	ät it	har ät it	hade ät it
se (i)	se-	s åg	se tt	har se tt	hade se tt

You can take a look at my List of irregular Swedish verbs.

Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish

1 - I was in Sweden ten years ago.
2 - For how many years have you been here?
3 - What did you do before you came here?
4 - I had bought the ten biggest cars before they saw me.
5 - He ran the shortest way to the better of the two restaurants.

Lesson 6

Vocabulary - Numbers 101 -...

(ett) hundraett [hundra'et]
(ett) hundratvå [hundra'två:] etc.
två hundra
två hundraett etc.
tre hundra etc.
(ett) tusen ['tu:sen]	1.000
två tusen etc.	2.000
en miljon [mil'jo:n]	1.000.000
en miljard [mil'ja:d]	1.000.000.000
en biljon [bil'jo:n]	1.000.000.000.000
en biljard [bil'ja:d]	1.000.000.000.000.000
en triljon [tril'jo:n]	1.000.000.000.000.000.000
en triljard [tril'jad]	1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000

Note: When counting we always say ett, tjogoett, hundraett etc. But if the number is followed by a noun we use the en -form.

en bil - ett fönster = one car - one window
tjogo en bilar - tjugo en fönster = 21 cars - 21 window
År nittonhundra ett = In 1901

brinna (i) [*brina]	to burn
en eld -ar [eld]	fire
ta (i) [ta:]	to take
kosta (1) [*kåsta]	to cost
ett brev - [bre:v]	letter
någon(t), några [*nå:gån]	some
en gång -er [gåg]	time (four times e.g.)
tänka (2) [*tänka]	think
viktig [*viktig]	important
person [pe'so:n]	person
läsa (2) [*lä:sa]	to read

The present participle

• The present participle in English is formed by attaching -ing to the verb (a walk ing man). In Swedish it's almost as simple as that. You attach -nde to the infinitive of polysyllabic verbs, and -ende to the infinitive of monosyllabic verbs.

a burning fire - en brinna nde eld
a walking man - en gå ende man

• A few monosyllabic get a slightly irregular ending. This is because the original verb was longer.

bli - bli vande (The original verb was bliva and could be used today as well)
ha - ha vande (The original verb was hava)
ta - ta gande (The original verb was taga)

• Note that the Swedish present participle can't be used as in English I am helping you or He is eating. We use the present tense instead.

I am helping you - Jag hjälper dig.
He is eating food - Han äter mat.

The past participle

The past participle is used in phrases like I am seen, an interested woman etc. As you can see, in English form used to construct the past participle is the same as the form used in the perfect tense. That is not the case in Swedish. Here we used the supine to construct the perfect tense, and that is also the only time when the supine is used - for the perfect and the past perfect. The past participle, however, is formed like this, note that it has to be inflected as an adjective:

• Group 1 verbs add -d to the stem

Älska - Älska d - Jag är älska d - Barnet är älska t. - Vi är älska de.

• Group 2 verbs whose stem ends with a voiced consonant add -d too, the others add -t.

Ring|a - Ring d
Köp|a - Köp t - Sakerna är köp ta.

• Irregular polysyllabic verbs often attach - en to their supine stem. But for many verbs, you just have to memorize the form

Verb	Supine	Past participle
Skriva	- Skriv it	- Skriv en - Brevet är skriv et
Komma	- Komm it	- Komm en
Se	- Se tt	- Se dd - Vi är se dda

The passive form

• The passive form is used in sentences like The child is seen by the dad. The contrary is the active form, which would be The dad sees the cild. In Swedish, you can make the passive form in to ways - either by using the verb bli + past participle (inflected as an adjective):

The letter is being written by me - Brevet blir skrivet av mig
The letter was written by me - Brevet blev skrivet av mig.
The letter has been written by me - Brevet har blivit skrivet av mig.

• An easier and more frequently used way of expressing the passive form is by attaching an s to the end of the main verb:

The letter is being written by me - Brevet skriv s av mig.
The letter was written by me - Brevet skrev s av mig.
The letter has been written by me - Brevet har skrivit s av mig.

Expressing the future

• Swedish has got two ways of expressing the future. The first one is komma att + infinitive, which is like the English will. The second one is ska + infinitive, which is like the English to be going to + infinitive.

Jag kommer att hjälpa dig någon gång - I will help you some time.
Vad ska vi göra idag? - What are we going to do today?

• There is a third way of expressing the future which is formed by tänka + inf. or by ämna + inf. These forms are used like the English intend to.

Jag tänker/ämnar hjälpa dig - I intend to help you

Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish

1 - To be loved is very important.
2 - Whose book is read the most?
3 - This book will be written next summer.
4 - What are you going to do next spring?

How do you say these years in Swedish?

1 - 1765
2 - 1997
3 - 1588
4 - 1173
5 - 1021

Lesson 7

Vocabulary

kunna (i) [*kuna]	inf. of can - to be able to
vilja (i) [*vilja]	inf. of want to
få (i) [få:]	to be allowed to / get
skola (i) [*sko:la]	inf. of shall, will
måste [*måste] (present tense)	have to / must
mörk [mörk]	dark
ljus [ju:s]	light, bright
extrem [eks'tre:m]	extreme
titta på (1)	to look at
säga (i) [säja]	to say
alltid [*alti:d]	always
aldrig [*aldrig]	never
ingen(t,a) [*igen]	no
noggran [*no:gran]	careful
måndag ['månda]	Monday
tisdag ['ti:sda]	Tuesday
onsdag ['onsda]	Wednesday
torsdag ['tosda]	Thursday
fredag ['fre:da]	Friday
lördag ['löda]	Saturday
söndag ['sönda]	Sunday

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Modal verbs are verbs who tell in what way a certain action is carried out. Some examples of modal verbs are shall, must, want to. In Swedish, the modal verbs conjugate very irregularly:

Infinitive	Present tense	Imperfect	Supine
kunna	kan	kunde	kunnat
vilja	vill	ville	velat
skola	ska(ll)	skulle	skolat
få	får	fick	fått

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that tells in what way an action is performed. It can hence be an indicator to a verb, an adjective or another adverb. In English, adverbs have the suffix - ly. In Swedish, the suffix is -t.

She walks slow ly	- Hon går långsam t
She walks extreme ly slow ly	- Hon går extrem t långsam t
She is extreme ly beautiful	- Hon är extrem t vacker

Word order, advanced phrases

Some conjunctions:

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