Grammatik

Explanation Every Swedish noun is an en-word or an ett-word. About three in four nouns are en-words. The gender cannot be guessed from the meaning, so learn each noun with its article: en bil, ett hus.

Definite form: Swedish adds the article to the end of the noun. En-words take -en (or -n after a vowel): bil → bilen, flicka → flickan. Ett-words take -et (or -t after a vowel): hus → huset, äpple → äpplet.

Plural: there are five regular patterns. The ending depends on the noun's last sounds, so look at the table and learn the pattern with the word.

After a number the noun is always in the indefinite plural: två bilar, tre hus, fyra barn.

Explanation Swedish verbs do not change with the subject: jag är, du är, vi är. They change with tense. The way a verb forms its tenses depends on its group. Learn the five forms of each verb: infinitive, present, past, supine and imperative.

Group 1 ends in -a and is the most common: tala, talar, talade, talat. Group 2 has a consonant before the ending: -de after a voiced sound, -te after a voiceless one. Group 3 verbs end in a stressed vowel: bo, bor, bodde, bott. Group 4 are strong verbs that change their vowel: skriva, skrev, skrivit.

Perfect is har + supine: Jag har arbetat. Pluperfect is hade + supine: Jag hade arbetat. The perfect is not used with a finished time such as i går. Use the past tense instead.

Future is ska or kommer att + infinitive: Jag ska arbeta i morgon.

Modal verbs (kan, vill, ska, måste, får, bör) are followed by the infinitive without att: Jag måste gå.

Imperative is the stem of the verb: Kom hit! Stäng dörren! Passive with -s: Dörren stängs klockan sex.

Explanation An adjective agrees with its noun. It has one form for en-words, one for ett-words and one for plural nouns. After a definite article (den, det, de) the adjective takes -a, and the noun is definite as well.

En-word: the base form: en stor bil. Ett-word: add -t: ett stort hus. Plural and definite: add -a: stora bilar, den stora bilen.

Double definiteness: den stora bilen, det stora huset, de stora husen. After a possessive the noun is indefinite: min stora bil.

After vara the adjective agrees with the subject: Bilen är stor. Huset är stort. Bilarna är stora.

Comparison: add -are and -ast: billig, billigare, billigast. Use än for 'than' and lika ... som for 'as ... as'. Long adjectives use mer and mest: mer intressant, mest intressant.

Explanation English uses 'here', 'there' and 'home' both for a place and for movement. Swedish has two words. One tells you where something is (var?), the other where it is going (vart?). A third form tells you where it comes from (varifrån?).

Var asks about a place: Var bor du? Vart asks about a direction: Vart ska du?

Place: här, där, hemma, inne, ute, uppe, nere. Direction: hit, dit, hem, in, ut, upp, ner.

Origin: the ending -ifrån: härifrån, därifrån, hemifrån, inifrån, utifrån.

The place adverb usually stands after the verb: Jag bor här. In a question it can come first: Är han hemma?

Explanation A conjunction joins two main clauses. The word order after it does not change: the subject still comes first and the verb second. This differs from subordinators such as att, när and eftersom (see Bisatsledare), which change the order.

Och, men, eller, så, för join two main clauses with normal order: subject, verb: Jag är trött, men jag arbetar.

Utan means 'but' after a negation: Jag dricker inte kaffe, utan te. För as 'because' is mostly written.

Adverbs such as därför, sedan, då, ändå and dessutom are not conjunctions. They start the clause, so the verb must come next: Jag var trött. Därför gick jag hem.

A comma before och is usually left out, but it is usual before men, så and för when they join two clauses.