Ess E m- ¤

ALL ·n-aa GRAMMAR

REALLY Nzamam Fon
spazcu Am: c;c>Mpm=;»-namsnom
JULIAN GRANBEFQFQY 4
L LL A
Essential
SW6’&{l5/I 6l'£Il¢I/illlf
]U1s1AN GRANBERRY
Director, Multicultural Associates
Horseshoe Beach, Florida
Dover Publications, Iric., New York
Copyright © 1991 by I)over Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright
Conventions.
Exxerztial Swedish Grammar is a new work, first published by Dover Publica-
tions, Inc., in 1991.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 1 1501
Library of Congress Catal0girzg—irt—Pu/Jlication Data
Granberry, julian.
Essential Swedish grammar / julian Granberry.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-48626953-1
1. Swedish language—Grammar—195()— I. "1`itlc.
PD5112.5.G73 1991
439.782’421—-dc20 91-3707
(ZIP
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction .......... 1
How to Study Essential Swedish Grammar .... 1
Suggestions for Vocabulary Building ..... 4
List of Abbreviations ......... 6
Pronunciation .......... 7
The Alphabet .......... 7
Spelling ........... 9
Stress ........... 9
Principal Stress ......... 9
Strong Secondary Stress ....... 9
Weak Secondary Stress ....... 10
Long and Short Vowels ....... 10
Use of Capital Letters ........ 1(l
Punctuation .......... 10
Word Order .......... 12
Normal and Inverted Word Order ..... 12
Position of Adverbs ........ 13
Position of Indirect Objects ....... 14
How to Form Questions ........ 15
Interrogative Words ........ 15
Negation ........... 17
Nouns and Articles ......... 18
Gender and the Indefinite Article ..... 18
V
vi CONT ENTS
page
Common Nouns ......... 18
Neuter Nouns ......... 19
Noun Declensions ......... 19
First Declension ......... 19
Second Declension ........ 2()
Third Declension ........ 21
Fourth Declension ........ 22
Fifth Declension ......... 23
The Definite Article ........ 24
The Definite Article Singular ...... 24
The Definite Article Plural ...... 25
Use of the Definite Article ...... 27
The Genitive Case ......... 27
Table of Noun Forms ........ 28
Adjectives ........... 29
Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns ..... 29
The lndefinite Declension ...... 29
The Indefinite Neuter Form of Adjectives . . . 30
The Definite Declension ....... 30
The Plural and the Definite Forms of Adjectives. . 31
lndeclinable Adjectives ....... 32
Use of Adjectives ......... 32
Use of the lndefinite Form of Adjectives . . . 32
Use of the Definite Form of Adjectives .... 32
Comparison of Adjectives ....... 33
Declension of the Comparative and Superlative . . 34
Use of the Comparative ....... 35
Comparison of Equality ....... 36
Adverbs ........... 37
Adverbs Derived from Adjectives ..... 37
Other Adverbs ......... 37
Comparison of Adverbs ....... 38
Pronouns ........... 39
Personal Pronouns ......... 39
Use of Personal Pronouns ...... 39
(]()N'1`ENTS vii
page
Reflexive Pronouns ........ 40
Possessive Adjectives ........ 40
The Possessive Reflexive Adjective ..... 41
Relative Pronouns ......... 42
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives .... 43
Other Pronouns ......... 44
Prepositions .......... 46
Conjunctions .......... 48
Coordinating Conjunctions ....... 48
Subordinating Conjunctions ...... 49
Verbs ............ 51
Comparison of English and Swedish Verbs . . . 51
Principal Parts of the Verb ....... 51
The Four Conjugations ....... 51
First Conjugation ........ 52
Second Conjugation ........ 52
Third Conjugation ........ 53
Fourth Conjugation ........ 54
Principal Parts of Common Strong Verbs .... 54
"To Be" ........... 57
Auxiliary Verbs ...,..... 58
The Future Tense ......... 58
The Conditional ......... 59
The Perfect Tenses ........ 59
The Present Perfect and Past Perfect .... 59
The Future Perfect ........ 60
The Conditional Perfect ....... 60
The Imperative ......... 60
The Passive Voice ......... 60
Deponent Verbs ......... 61
The Infinitive .......... 62
Participles .......... 62
Present Participles ........ 62
Past Participles ......... 63
viii CONTENTS
page
Compound Verbs ......... 64
Inseparable Compound Verbs ...... 64
Separable Compound Verbs ...... 65
Tgble of Verb Forms ,....... 66
Telling Time .......... 68
Useful Expressions ......... 69
A Glossary of Grammatical Terms ...... 7()
The Parts of Speech ....,... 70
Words about Verbs ....,... 73
Words about Nouns ........ 76
Miscellaneous Terms ........ 78
The Parts ofthe Sentence ....... 78
lndex ............ 81
INTRODUCTION
Essential Swedish Grammar assumes that you have a limited
amount of time at your disposal to study Swedish and that your
objective is simple everyday communication, both spoken and
written. This book, therefore, does not attempt to offer a com-
plete outline of all aspects of Swedish grammar, even in a highly
condensed form. It does, however, offer a series of aids to help
you use more effectively phrases and words that you have al-
ready learned. This book will introduce you to the most common
structures and forms of Swedish and a selected number of the
most useful rules.
How to Study Essential Swedish Grammar
If you have already studied Swedish in a conventional manner,
this book will serve as a review, and you can use it by glancing
through all of it quickly and then selecting those areas on which
you wish to concentrate.
If, however, this is your first acquaintance with Swedish gram-
mar, the following suggestions may be of help:
1. Before beginning to work your way through this book, master
several hundred useful phrases and expressions such as you will
find in any good phrase book or in the Listen Es? Learn Swedish
course. The material in this book will be much more easily un-
derstood after you have achieved some simple working knowl-
edge of the language, This book’s purpose is to enable you to
gain greater fluency once you have learned phrases and expres-
sions, not to teach you to construct sentences from rules and vo-
cabulary.
2. Read through Essential Swedish Grammar at least once in its en-
tirety. Do not be concerned if some of the material is not imme-
l
2 INTRODUCTION
diately clear; what appears to be discouragingly complex on first
reading will become much simpler as you progress in your study.
The first reading is necessary to acquaint you with the terms and
concepts used from the beginning. Learning these will help you
improve your comprehension of Swedish and use more freely
the expressions and words you already know. As you use Swed-
ish and hear it spoken, many of its grammatical patterns will be-
come familiar to you. Essential Swedish Grammar helps you dis-
cover these patterns, and it will be helpful to you as you develop
your vocabulary and improve your comprehension.
3. Go back to this book periodically. Sections that at first seem
difficult or of doubtful benefit may prove extremely helpful as
you progress further.
4. For the most part, Essential Swedish Grammar follows a logical
order, taking up the main divisions of grammar in sequence.
You will do best to follow this order. However, you may be one of
those who learn best when they study to answer an immediate
question or need (e.g., how to form the comparative of adjec-
tives; how to conjugate “to be," etc.). If you are such a student,
turn to the section that interests you at the moment, but read
through the entire section and not just an isolated part. Individ-
ual remarks, taken out of context, are easily misunderstood and
may seriously mislead you.
5. Examples are given for every rule. It will be helpful if you
memorize them. If you learn all the examples in Essential Swedish
Grammar, you will have encountered the basic difficulties of
Swedish and studied models for their solution.
6. You cannot study Swedish or any other language systemati-
cally without an understanding of grammar, and the use and un-
derstanding of grammatical terms is as essential as a knowledge
of certain mechanical terms when you learn to drive a car. If
your knowledge of grammatical terms is a little hazy, read the
Glossary of Grammatical Terms (p. 70) and refer to it whenever
necessary.
In Swedish, as in any language, there are potentially many
ways to express a single idea. Some involve simple constructions,
others more difficult ones. Some of the more difficult construc-
IN°1`R()DU(J'l`l()N 3
tions may well be more sophisticated ways of conveying the
thought and ones that you will ultimately wish to master, but
during your first experiments in communication in Swedish, you
can achieve your aim by using a simple construction. Be satisfied
at first with the simplest.
You should not, however, be afraid of making mistakes. The
purpose of this book is not to teach you to speak like a native but
to allow you to communicate and be understood. If you pay at-
tention to what you’re doing, you will find that eventually you
will make fewer and fewer errors. Sooner or later you’ll be able to
review Essential Swedish Grammar or a more detailed book at a
time that is appropriate for polishing your speech.
As you begin to speak Swedish, you will be your own bestjudge
of those areas where you need most help. lf there is no one with
you, you can practice by speaking mentally to yourself. In the
course of the day see how many simple thoughts that you have
expressed in English you are able to turn into Swedish. This kind
of experimental self-testing will give direction to your study of
Swedish. Remember that your purpose in studying this course in
Swedish is not to pass an examination or receive a certificate, but
to communicate with others on a simple but useful level. Essenlial
Swedish Grammar should not be thought of as the equivalent of a
formal course of study at a university. Although it could serve as
a useful supplement to such a course, its primary aim is to help
adults study on their own. Of course, no self—study or academic
course, or even series of courses, will ever be ideally suited to all
students. You must rely on and be guided by your own rate of
learning and your own requirements and interests.
SUGGESTIONS FOR VOCABULARY
BUILDING
1. Study words and word lists that answer real and immediate
personal needs. If you are planning to travel in the near future,
your motivation and orientation are clear-cut, and Listen 66 Learn
Swedish or another good travel phrase book will provide you with
the material you need. Select material according to your personal
interests and requirements. Even if you do not plan to travel to
Sweden in the near future, you will probably learn more quickly
by imagining yourself in a travel situation.
2. Memorize by association. Phrase books usually give associated
word lists. If you use a dictionary, don’t memorize words at ran-
dom but words that are related in some fashion.
3. Study the specialized vocabulary of your profession, business
or hobby. If you are interested in real estate, learn the many
terms associated with property, buying, selling, leasing, etc. An
interest in mathematics could lead you to learn a wide vocabulary
in that discipline. You will quickly learn words in your own spe·
cialty and a surprising amount will be applicable or transferable
to other areas. Although specialized vocabularies may not always
be readily available, an active interest and a good dictionary will
help you get started.
4. Swedish, like English, contains many compound words, and
this will make vocabulary building much simpler than it might
otherwise seem. If you can recognize the component parts of a
compound, you will be able in many instances to understand the
meaning of the new word. The following list gives examples of
such compound forms:
4
SUGGESTIONS FOR VOCABULARY BUILDING 5
swnmsu mvuiiisn
avtaga take off, remove [1.1’1·.: off
take]
handmalad hand painted [ur.: hand
painted]
inbjuda invite [ur.: in bid]
jéirnvag railway [ur.: iron way]
landsvag highway [ur.: land way]
LIST OE ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations used in Essential Sweclisli Grammar
An]. Adjective
com. Common
coxnrr. Conditional
nur. Definition
nvr. lnterrogative
rrr. Literally
Nun`. Neuter
PAM. Participle
rear. Perfect
rms. Person
vt. Plural
Ru. Relative
smc. Singular
Nora: Whenever the Swedish construction is basically different
from the construction in English, a literal translation enclosed in
square brackets is given to help you analyze and understand the
Swedish syntax. This literal translation is immediately followed
by a translation into idiomatic English.
6
PRONUNCIATION
The Alphabet
The Swedish alphabet consists of the following twenty-nine
letters:
swumsn vowr:1.
LE'I`I`ERS 1.r;Nt;’rH PRONUNCIATION
a (1.oN<;) as in father
(siioirr) like the u in much
bb
c like the s in sit when followed by e, i or y;
otherwise, like the k in sky
d as in day*
e (tom;) like the a in face
(suonr) between the 0 in bet and the a in hat
(Muir) as in happening
f
g like they in yes when followed by e, i, y, ii
or 6 in a stressed syllable;
otherwise, as in go
h as in hand
i (toiso) as in machine
(suoitr) as in bid
j like they in yes
k like the ch in German ich when followed
by 0, i, y, zi or ii in a stressed syllable;
otherwise, as in sky
l as in sleep
mm
n as in night*
*`I`his sound is formed with the tip ofthe tongue against the teeth. not against
the back of the gums (alveolar ridge).
7
8 PRONUNCIATION
SWEDISH VOWEL
LETTERS LENGTH PRONUNClA'1`ION
o (Lone) as in food
(SHORT) as in good
PP
q' like the k in sky
r like the rolled tongue-tip Spanish r*
s as in sing
t as in touch**
u (Loivo) a tightly pronounced long u-sound pecu-
liar to Swedish
(snoizr) between the oo in good and the u in hut
vv
w w or v
X as in relax
y (LONG) like the 12 in German mitde
(siioizr) a more clipped pronunciation of the
longy
2 like the s in sit
it (LONG) like the o in home
(sHoRT) like the o in German hoffen
(LONG) like the o in French mor
(si·ioRT) like the oi in French moison
o (LONG) like the eu in French peu
(siioar) a more clipped pronunciation of the
long 6
N()'l`1·ZZ The letters b, d, g,j, Z, m, n, r and v are voiced consonants;],
h, k, {2, s and t are voiceless consonants. The letters q and w occur
only in a few proper names in Swedish. The letter z is found only
in a few foreign words.
*When r precedes the consonants d, l, n or J, the resulting combination is pro-
nounced as a single consonant: the 1* is not heard, but the other consonant is
pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the back of the gums. The combi-
nation rs is pronounced sh as in ship.
**'I`his sound is formed with the tip ofthe tongue against the teeth, not against
the back of the gums (alveolar ridge).
STRESS 9
Spelling
As is the case in English, the correspondence between spelling
and pronunciation in Swedish is not exact. The same sounds can
be represented by different symbols:
1. dj
g.
gl : ·
y in yes
J.
U
2. rs
sch
sj = so/z in ship
skj
stj
Stress
ln Swedish (as in English), words have strong syllabic stress. ln
the majority of purely Swedish words, the principal stress falls on
the first syllable. The other syllables may have either no stress or
secondary stress. Secondary stress in Swedish is, however, often
much stronger than in English and can be divided into strong
and weak secondary stress.
Principal Stress
Although the principal stress falls generally on the first syllable
ofa word, there are a few important exceptions to this rule. The
principal stress falls: (l) on the second syllable of words begin-
ning with the prefix be- orfbr-; (2) on the -0- in verbs ending in
wm; (3) on the last syllable in words of French origin.
Strong Secondary Stress
Strong secondary stress falls: (1) on the second part of a com-
pound word; (2) on suffixes including —d0m, -hct, Jak, askap and
sam.
10 , PR()NUN(IlA'1`ION
Weak Secondary Stress
Weak secondary stress or no stress falls on the second syllable
of words of two or more syllables that are not compounds.
Long and Short Vowels
One important way in which Swedish vowels differ from En-
glish vowels is in sound length. Swedish has nine short vowels
and nine long vowels. A long vowel can occur only in a stressed
syllable. Vowels are always short in unstressed syllables. In a
stressed syllable the vowel is generally long if it is followed by
only one consonant or by no consonant at all, and short if fol-
lowed by more than one consonant:
1.oxc vowm. snoirr vowel.
tak (roof) tack (thanks)
mat (food) mast (mast)
A long vowel in the uninflected form of a word usually remains
long in inflected forms. However, the long vowel of a noun is
sometimes shortened before the genitive ending -s.
Use of Capital Letters
As in English, the names of countries and places are written
with capital letters in Swedish (e.g., Sverige, Sweden; Stockholm).
However, in distinction from English, nouns denoting national-
ity and languages, or adjectives derived from proper names are
written with small letters (e.g., engelska, English; jznrisiska, Pari-
sian). Names of days, months, festivals and titles are also written
with small letters (e.g., fredag, Friday; angusti, August; pcisk, Eas-
ter; ,hr0je.t.<0r Svensson).
Punctuation
In Swedish (unlike English), a comma is used to separate de-
pendent from independent clauses even when the conjunction
az! (that) is used:
PUNCTUATION ll
Han visste, attjag var hemma.
He knew that I was home.
A colon is used before a direct quotation in place of the English
comma:
jag sade: »]ag talar svenska.»
I said, "I speak Swedish."
Exclamation marks are used more widely in Swedish than in
English. They are used not only after imperatives and words of
warning (e.g., Skynda er! Hurry upl), but also after words of ad-
dress in a letter (eg., Kdre vim! Dear friend).
In the genitive case, no apostrophe is used before the -5 ending
(as in English "the boy’s dog"), but it is used in place of the -s
ending for the genitive of words ending in -s or -,2 (e.g., Nils’ rum,
Nils’s room).
WORD ORDER
Normal and Inverted Word Order
Swedish and English share the same two kinds of word order:
normal and inverted. In sentences in normal word order, the
subject precedes the verb. In sentences in inverted word order,
the subject comes after the verb:
Han ar min van. (NoRMA1.)
He is my friend.
Vem har min bil? (NoRMAL)
Who has my car?
Ar ni hemma? (INVERTED)
Are you home?
Inverted word order is rare in English except in questions, and,
as the second example above indicates, even in questions it is not
mandatory. In Swedish, however, inverted word order is very
frequent, and is often used in instances where the English equiv-
alent would have normal word order. Inverted word order is
used in independent clauses in the following constructions in
Swedish:
1. In interrogative sentences in which the subject is not an inter-
rogative pronoun:
Talar ni svenska?
Do you speak Swedish?
2. When the independent clause is preceded by a dependent
clause:
Sedan de hade gatt, gickjag hem.
After they had gone, I went home.
12
POSITION OF ADVERBS 13
3. When the independent clause begins with an adverb or an ad-
verbial phrase:
Nu arjag hemma.
Now I am home.
Nasta sommar skall jag resa till Sverige.
Next summer I shall go to Sweden.
4. When the object of the independent clause precedes the sub-
ject:
Den har boken har jag kopt i Stockholm.
This book I bought in Stockholm.
For the most part, dependent clauses have normal word order:
Han vet, attjag inte ar hemma.
He knows that I am not home.
Position of Adverbs
In clauses with normal word order, adverbs usually come im-
mediately after the verb (after the auxiliary verb in compound
tenses):
Vi var nu hemma.
We were now home.
Han hade redan gatt hem.
He had already gone home.
A few adverbs, however, precede the verb (the auxiliary verb
in compound tenses) in dependent clauses:
Han visste, att jag redan hade gatt.
He knew that I had already left.
The most important adverbs of this kind are:
aldrig (never) garna (gladly)
alltid (always) icke (not)
antagligen (probably) inte (not)
ej (not) kanske (perhaps)
14 W()Rl) ()Rl)l£R
mojligen (possibly) snart (soon)
ofta (often) séillan (seldom)
redan (already)
In, independent clauses in normal word order, however, even
these adverbs come after the verb. In independent clauses in in-
verted word order, they are placed immediately after the subject:
Ar han inte hemma?
Is he not home?
Position of Indirect Objects
Indirect objects, when used without a preposition, are placed
before the direct object:
jag gav honom det.
[I gave him it.]
I gave it to him.
16 HOW TO FORM QUESTIONS
Varfor? Why? Varfor gar ni?
Why are you going?
paoxvouws
Vem? Who? Whom? Vem ar det dar barnet?
Who is that child?
Vems? Whose? Vems glas ar det dar?
Whose glass is that?
Vad? What? Vad skalljag gora?
What shall I do?
Vilken? Who? What? Vilka ar de dar mannen?
(Vilket, Vilka) Which? Who are those men?
Anjizcrivizs
Vilken? What? Which? Vilket ar mitt glas?
(Vilket, Vilka) Which glass is mine?
Vilken (vilket, vilka) is used both as a pronoun and as an adjec·
tive. Vilka, the plural form of vilken, is used in place of the miss-
ing plural of vem. When used pronominally, the genitive of vilken
(vilket, vilka) is formed simply by adding the ending ~s.·
Vilkens glas ar det dar?
Whose glass is that?
When an interrogative pronoun serves as the subject of a ques·
tion in a dependent clause, it is always followed by the relative
pronoun som:
Vet ni, vem som har telefonerat?
Do you know who has telephoned?
NEGATION
Any Swedish sentence can be changed into its negative equiva-
lent simply by using the word inte (no, not) in one of the follow-
ing positions:
1. After the verb of an independent clause in normal word or-
der:
Han lagade inte min bil.
He did not repair my car.
2. Before the verb of a dependent clause:
_]ag vet, att han inte lagade min bil.
I know that he did not repair my ear.
3. After the subject of an independent clause in inverted word
order:
Ar du inte min van?
Are you not my friend?
The word for “no" is mj. The words for “yes” are ja, in re-
sponse to a question expressed affirmatively, and jo, in response
to a question expressed negatively, or in contradicting a negative
statement.
17
NOUNS AND ARTICLES
Gender and the Indefinite Article
All nouns in Swedish are either common or neuter in gender.
The indefinite article (English "a" or "an") has two forms, corre·
sponding to these two noun genders. The common form of the
indefinite article is en; the neuter form is ett. The best way to re-
member the gender of a noun is to memorize the appropriate
indefinite article with it. Furthermore, although there are no
hard and fast rules by which to determine noun gender accord-
ing to meaning or form, there are some helpful correspondences
between them.
Common Nouns
About three-quarters of all Swedish nouns are common in
gender. To this category belong:
1. Most nouns denoting living things:
en man (a man) en hund (a dog)
en kvinna (a woman) en fisk (a fish)
en pojke (a boy) en ek (an oak)
2. Nouns denoting seasons and festivals:
var (spring) vinter (winter)
sommar (summer) jul (Christmas)
host (autumn) pask (Easter)
3. Nouns ending in —ad, -are, -d0m, -het, -ing, -i0n or —lek:
en manad (a month) en inbjudning (an invitation)
en lakare (a doctor) en diskussion (a discussion)
en sjukdom (an illness) en storlek (a size)
en nyhet (a novelty)
18
NOUN DECLENSIONS 19
Notice, however, that some nouns that might be expected to be
common in gender, since they refer to living things, are in fact
neuter (e.g., ett balm, a child, ett bi, a bee, ett lejrm, a lion, ett trdd, a
tree).
Neuter Nouns
Neuter nouns include:
1. The names of most inanimate things:
ett hus (a house) ett tak (a roof)
ett tecken (a sign) ett seg] (a sail)
ett fonster (a window) ett bibliotek (a library)
2. Nouns ending in -0m, -iv, —eum or -ium:
ett problem (a problem) ett museum (a museum)
ett motiv (a motive) ett laboratorium (a labora-
tory)
3. The names of countries, mountains, towns and the letters of
the alphabet:
Sverige (Sweden) Drottningholm
Stockholm Europa (Europe)
Noun Declensions
There are five noun declensions (ways to form the indefinite
plural of nouns) in Swedish.
First Declension
Approximately 10% of all Swedish nouns belong to the first
declension. They are all common nouns, and the majority end in
—a in the singular, which is dropped before the plural ending -0r:
siNc;uLAR PLURAL
en blomma (a flower) blommor (flowers)
en hylla (a shelf) hyllor (shelves)
en flicka (a girl) flickor (girls)
20 NOUNS AND ARTICLES
A few first declension nouns end in a consonant:
s1NouLAR PLURAL
f en ros (a rose) rosor (roses)
en vag (a wave) vigor (waves)
en svan (a swan) svanor (swans)
Second Declension
Second declension nouns account for almost 40% of all Swed-
ish nouns. With the exception offinger (finger), they are all com-
mon in gender. All take the plural ending -ar. The second de-
clension includes:
l. Most monosyllabic common nouns ending in a consonant:
SINGULAR PLURAL
en arm (an arm) armar (arms)
en hund (a dog) hundar (dogs)
en hast (a horse) hiistar (horses)
2. Some monosyllabic common nouns ending in a vowel:
SINGULAR 1>1,uRAL
en fru (a wife) fruar (wives)
en 6 (an island) oar (islands)
en sjo (a lake) sjoar (lakes)
3. Most common nouns of more than one syllable ending in un-
stressed —e, —el, —en or —er. Note that these nouns drop the —e— when
the plural ending is added:
SINGULAR PLURAL
en gosse (a boy) gossar (boys)
en fagel (a bird) faglar (birds)
en socken (a parish) socknar (parishes)
en syster (a sister) systrar (sisters)
NOUN DECLENSIONS 21
4. Common nouns ending in —d0m or —ing:
s1N<;utAR t>1.u1<A1.
en sjukdom (an illness) sjukdomar (illnesses)
en drottning (a queen) drottningar (queens)
5. There are a few second declension nouns that have irregular
plural forms. These include:
SINGULAR 1>tuRAi.
en afton (an evening) aftnar (evenings)
en morgon (a morning) morgnar (mornings)
en sommar (a summer) somrar (summers)
en dotter (a daughter) dottrar (daughters)
en moder (a mother) modrar (mothers)
Third Declension
Both common and neuter nouns are found in the third declen-
sion, which comprises about 20% of all Swedish nouns. The plu-
ral ending for this declension is —er. The main categories for third
declension nouns are:
1. Many monosyllabic nouns ending in a consonant:
SINGULAR PLURA1.
en dam (a lady) damer (ladies)
en park (a park) parker (parks)
2. All nouns ending in —eum or -ium. In the plural these nouns
drop the —um when the plural ending is added:
SINGULAR PLURAL
ett museum (a museum) museer (museums)
ett studium (a study) studier (studies)
3. Some common nouns ending in a vowel. The plural ending
for these nouns is -r instead of —er.·
22 NOUNS AND ARTICLES
sixcutma 1>14ui<AL
en hustru (a wife) hustrur (wives)
enjungfru (a maiden) jungfrur (maidens)
en ko (a cow) kor (cows)
{ en sko (a shoe) skor (shoes)
en ta (a toe) tar (toes)
en {iende (an enemy) liender (enemies)
4. Seventeen nouns, of which the most common are presented
here, that modify their stem vowels in the plural:
smoci.Ai< 1·i.uRAi,
en brand (a fire) brander (fires)
en hand (a hand) hander (hands)
ett land (a country) lander (countries)
en strand (a beach) strander (beaches)
en tand (a tooth) tander (teeth)
en bokstav (a letter bokstaver (letters of
ofthe alphabet) the alphabet)
en son (a son) soner (sons)
en stad (a town) stader (towns)
en natt (a night) natter (nights)
en bok (a book) bocker (books)
en fot (a foot) fotter (feet)
Fourth Declension
Fourth declension nouns are very few in number, accounting
for only about 5% of all Swedish nouns. They are all neuter
nouns ending in a vowel in the singular. The plural ending for
the fourth declension is —n:
SINGULAR PLURAL
ett naste (a nest) niisten (nests)
ett piano (a piano) pianon (pianos)
ett bi (a bee) bin (bees)
NOUN DECLENSIONS 23
Two nouns in the fourth declension have irregular plural
forms:
smoutma PLURAI,
ett oga (an eye) ogon (eyes)
ett ora (an ear) oron (ears)
Fifth Declension
Fifth declension nouns have no plural ending—the singular
and plural forms are mostly identical. About 25% of all Swedish
nouns fall within this declension. These include:
1. Most neuter nouns ending in a consonant:
s1Ncui.AR PLURAL
ett bad (a bath) bad (baths)
ett barn (a child) barn (children)
ett djur (an animal) djur (animals)
2. Common nouns ending in -are or -¢mde, and some nouns end-
ing in —er:
s1NouLAR PLURAI.
en lakare (a doctor) lakare (doctors)
en frammande (a stranger) frammande (strangers)
en musiker (a musician) musiker (musicians)
3. The following fifth declension common nouns are among
those that show a vowel change in the plural:
s1Nou1.AR PLURAL
en gas (a goose) gass (geese)
en mus (a mouse) moss (mice)
en fader (a father) fader (fathers)
en broder (a brother) broder (brothers)
en man (a man) man (men)
24 NOUNS AND ARTICLES
The Definite Article
The Definite Article Singular
All the nouns presented thus far have been in the indefinite
form, taking the indefinite articles en or ett in the singular. The
Swedish definite article singular (equivalent t0 English "the") is
very similar in form to the indefinite article and, like the indefi-
nite article, it must agree in gender with the noun it modifies. lt
is always, however, added to the indefinite singular form of the
noun as a suffix. In the singular, the definite article suffix for
common nouns is -en; for neuter nouns it is -et. If the noun ends
in a vowel, however, the two suffixes are shortened to -n and —t.·
SINGULAR
muisrmiri; nrrimru
en son (a son) sonen (the son)
en kvinna (a woman) kvinnan (the woman)
ett barn ( a child) barnet (the child)
ett apple (an apple) applet (the apple)
A number of slight variations on the basic rules for the forma-
tion of the definite article suffix in the singular should be noted:
1. Both common and neuter nouns ending in unstressed -en
drop the -e- when the definite article suffix is added:
smoutmz
INDEFINITE nizrmrrr
en sagen (a legend) sagnen (the legend)
ett vapen (a weapon) vapnet (the weapon)
2. Neuter nouns ending in -eum or -ium drop the -um when the
definite article suffix is added:
siwourma
uwizrinrrr nr12·1N1’rr
ett museum (a museum) museet (the museum)
ett laboratorium (a lab- laboratoriet (the lab-
oratory) oratory)
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE 25
3. Nouns ending in -0r drop the —e— of the definite article suffix:
s1Nou1.A1<
iiwmriivrrr niarmnr
en doktor (a doctor) doktorn (the doctor)
en professor (a professor) professorn (the professor)
4. Common nouns ending in unstressed —el or —er, and some
common nouns ending in weakly stressed —el or -e·r, drop the —e—
ofthe definite article suffix:
s1Nou1.A1<
inoerinrrr nrxrinrrrz
en fagel (a bird) fageln (the bird)
en spegel (a mirror) spegeln (the mirror)
en ijader (a feather) Qadern (the feather)
en moder (a mother) modern (the mother)
5. Neuter nouns ending in unstressed —el or —er drop the —e· whe11
the definite article suffix is added:
s1Nou1.AR
mniariivms Dxrinrriz
ett exempel (an example) exemplet (the example)
ett finger (a finger) fingret (the finger)
The Definite Article Plural
Unlike English, Swedish has not only two forms of the definite
article in the singular, but also special forms in the plural. These
forms are added as suffixes to the indefinite plural form of the
noun:
1. For all common nouns, the definite article plural suffix is ww:
PLURAL
mnrriwiria nrrmire
blommor (flowers) blommorna (the flowers)
armar (arms) armarna (the arms)
26 NOUNS AND ARTICLES
2. Fourth declension nouns, which are all neuter, take the defi-
nite article plural suffix —a (the -n— of the -na suffix is dropped):
i·1lui<Ai.
, iwiieriniri; nurmiru
applen (apples) éipplena (the apples)
bin (bees) bina (the bees)
3. Fifth declension neuter nouns take the definite article plural
suffix —en:
PLURAL
iivnxrixiru nurmrria
barn (children) barnen (the children)
djur (animals) djuren (the animals)
In the plural, as is the case in the singular, there are a few vari-
ations on the rules for the formation of the definite article suffix:
1. Neuter nouns ending in unstressed -el, —en or —er drop the -e—
when the definite article plural suffix is added:
imuimi,
innizrmrrn nmrmiris
exempel (examples) exemplen (the examples)
vatten (waters) vattnen (the waters)
fonster (windows) fonstren (the windows)
2. There are a few important irregular definite article plurals:
PLURAL
iwnxriisiru DEFINITE
man (men) mannen (the men)
gass (geese) gassen (the geese)
ogon (eyes) ogonen (the eyes)
oron (ears) oronen (the ears)
THE GENITIVE CASE 27
Use of the Definite Article
The Swedish definite article is used for the most part as is its
English equivalent. There are, however, some important excep-
tions to this rule. The names of days, seasons, festivals, streets
and other public places usually take the definite article suffix.
Nouns preceded by baida (both), vardem (either) or ingmdrm (nei-
ther) also take the definite article suffix.
The Genitive Case
In Swedish (as in English), nouns have two case forms: the
nominative and the genitive. Nouns that function as the subject,
` the object or the indirect object of a clause in Swedish fall within
the nominative case for which there are no special endings. To
form the genitive, which expresses possession (e.g., the man’s
house), the ending -s is added to the nominative form of the
noun. This ending, which is known as the s-genitive, is the same
for both common and neuter nouns, singular and plural, in the
indefinite and the definite declensions:
en mans hus a man’s house
mannens hus the man’s house
mans arbete men’s work
mannens arbete the men’s work
ett barns glas a child’s glass
barnets glas the child’s glass
barns glas children’s glasses
barnens glas the chi1dren’s glasses
Nora: A noun preceded by a noun in the s-genitive does not take
any definite article suffix.
The s-genitive is also used in a few common idiomatic expres-
sions with the prepositions i and till:
i sondags last Sunday
till bords at table
till sangs to bed
ADjECTIVES
Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns
The formation of adjectives in Swedish is quite simple and reg-
ular. Unlike its English equivalent, however, a Swedish adjective
must agree in declension, gender and number with the noun it
modifies. There are two declensions of adjectives in Swedish: (1)
the indefinite declension, used for the most part when the mod-
ified noun is in the indefinite form;* (2) the definite declension,
used when the modified noun takes the dehnite article suffix.
The Indefinite Declension
There are three adjectival endings for the indefinite declen-
sion, and these depend upon the gender and number of the
qualihed noun:
1. For singular common nouns, the uninflected form of the ad-
jective is used:
en kall vinter a cold winter
en gron fagel a green bird
2. For singular neuter nouns, -t is added to the uninflected form
of the adjective:
ett kallt bad a cold bath
ett gront blad a green leaf
3. For the plural of both common and neuter nouns, —a is added
to the uninflected form of the adjective:
kalla vintrar cold winters
grona blader green leaves
*All adjectives that are separated by a verb from the word they modify (eg.,
mrmnen {ir star, the man is large) take the indefinite declension.
29
30 AD]E(1TI\/ES
The Indefinite Neuter Form of Adjectives
There are a few important rules relating to the formation of
the indefinite neuter for1n of adjectives:
1., Adjectives ending in —d preceded by a consonant drop the -d
and add the normal —t ending in the neuter. Adjectives ending in
—d preceded by a long vowel drop the —d and add —tL:
en hard vinter a hard winter
ett héirt exempel a hard example
en rod sko a red shoe
ett rott apple a red apple
2. Adjectives ending in -t preceded by a consonant remain un-
changed in the neuter. Monosyllabic adjectives ending in —t pre-
ceded by a long vowel form the neuter normally:
en trott kvinna a tired woman
ett trott barn a tired child
en vit klanning a white dress
ett vitt hus a white house
3. Adjectives ending in unstressed -en drop the —n before the
normal —t ending in the neuter:
en formogen man a wealthy man
ett formoget hus a wealthy house
4. Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel add -tt in the neuter:
en ny soffa a new sofa
ett nytt hus a new house
5. Adjectives ending in wm drop an n when the —t ending is
added in the neuter:
en tunn pojke a thin boy
ett tunt barn a thin child
The Definite Declension
There is only one adjectival ending in the definite declension:
—a is added to the uninflected form of the adjective for both com-
mon and neuter nouns, singular and plural. In addition to this
AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES WITH NOUNS 31
adjectival ending, however, a special definite article form must
precede the adjective, while the modified noun retains its defi-
nite article suffix. The special definite article forms are: den
(com. sing.), det (neut. sing.) and de (pl.):
den stora mannen the big man
det stora barnet the big child
de stora mannen the big men
de stora barnen the big children
The Plural and the Definite Forms of Adjectives
1. Adjectives ending in unstressed -al, -el, -en or —er drop the —a-
or —e- when -a is added to form the indefinite plural and the def-
inite forms:
en enkel regel a simple rule
enkla regler simple rules
den enkla reglen the simple rule
de enkla reglerna the simple rules
2. The adjective liten (small) is irregular:
INDEFINITE
en liten flicka a small girl
ett litet barn a small child
smii flickor small girls
sma barn small children
DEFINITE
den lilla flickan the small girl
det lilla barnet the small child
de sm?1 flickorna the small girls
de sma barnen the small children
3. When an adjective refers to a male entity in the definite singu-
lar, it may end in the old masculine termination -e instead of the
usual —a. This form is normal in greetings, for which the definite
article is also dropped:
Kare (Kara) véinl Dear friend
32 ADjECT1VES
Indeclinable Adjectives
Adjectives that end in —a or -e are indeclinable, retaining the
same form in both genders, singular and plural.
, en bra bok a good book
ett bra barn a good child
bra bocker good books
bra barn good children
Some of the more important indeclinable adjectives are stilla
(quiet), gyllene (golden), udda (odd, as in "odd number") and dkta
(genuine).
Use of Adjectives
Use of the Indefinite Form of Adjectives
The indefinite form of adjectives is used not only predicatively
and after the indefinite articles en and ett, but also in the follow-
ing constructions:
1. After the indefinite adjectives mdngen (many a), négon (some,
any), mgm (no, not any) and varje (each, every):
mangen kall vinter many a cold winter
nagon gron fagel some green bird
inga grona blader no green leaves
varje vitt hus every white house
2. After vilken and seidcm in exclamations:
Vilken stor man! What a large man!
En sadan kall vinterl What a cold winter!
Use of the Definite Form of Adjectives
The definite form of adjectives is used (without the definite
article) in the following constructions:
1. After a possessive adjective:
min stora hund my large dog
mitt nya hus my new house
COMPARISON OF AD_]ECTIVES
2. After a demonstrative adjective:
denna stora hund this large dog
detta nya hus this new house
dessa stora hundar these large dogs
3. When the adjective qualifies a proper noun:
véinliga Maria kind Maria
gamla Fredrik old Frederick
4. In forms of direct address:
Kare van! Dear friend
Basta Herr Nilsson! Dear Mr. Nilsson
5. After a noun in the genitive case:
Nilssons stora hund Nilsson’s large dog
Fredriks nya hus F rederick’s new house
Comparison of Adjectives
The majority of Swedish adjectives form the comparative by
adding the ending —are, and the superlative by adding the ending
-ast, to the uninflected positive form ofthe adjective. Those ad-
jectives that end in unstressed —el, -011 or -27* in the positive, drop
the -e- before the comparative or superlative ending. If the posi-
tive ends in -a, this vowel is dropped before the ending:
Posrriva coMi>ARA’r1vr; su1>sRtA·r1vE
kall (cold) kallare kallast
enkel (simple) enklare enklast
mogen (ripe) mognare mognast
vacker (pretty) vackrare vackrast
ringa (humble) ringare ringast
Adjectives ending in -ad, —e or -isk, and all participles used as
adjectives form the comparative and superlative with mem
(more) and mast (most). These adjectives do not have compara-
tive or superlative endings:
34 AD_]E(j'l`lVES
Posrrivr; (Z()MPARA'l`l\/E SUPERLA'1`l\'l£
langlivad (long-lived) mera langlivad mest langlivad
ode (desolate) mera ode mest ode
, typisk (typical) mera typisk mest typisk
A few adjectives take the comparative and superlative endings
we and —sl (instead of —are and —ast). Most of these adjectives mod-
ify their stem vowels in the comparative and superlative forms:
vosnivr (I()M1’ARA'l`l\’li su1·rR14A’r1vi;
hog (high, tall) hiigre hogst
grov (coarse) grovre grovst
stor (large) storre storst
tung (heavy) tyngre tyngst
ung (young) yngre yngst
lag (low) léigre liigst
lang (long) langre langst
trang (narrow) trangre trangst
fa (few) farre
The following adjectives have irregular comparative and su-
perlative forms:
Posnivs <;oMt>ARAT1v12 su1>rR1.AT1v1a
dalig (bad, poor) siimre siimst
ond (bad, evil) varre varst
gammal (old) iildre aldst
god/bra (good) battre bast
liten (small) mindre minst
manga (many) flera de flesta
mycken (much) mera mest
nara (near) narmare narmast OR nast
Declension of the Comparative and Superlative
The comparative is indeclinable: it has only one form for both
genders, in the singular and plural, definite and indefinite:
USE OF '1`HE COMPARATIVE
1Nnur1N1·1·r nurinrru
en kallare vinter den kallare vintern
ett kallare bad det kallare badet
kallare vintrar de kallare vintrarna
The superlative, however, has an indefinite and a definite de-
elension. The form ending in —ast or —st is indeclinable in the in-
definite declension. This declension can only be used predica-
tively:
Den har studenten ar hogst. This student is tallest.
Det har barnet ar hogst. This child is tallest.
De har barnen ar hogst. 'These children are tallest.
The definite form of superlatives ending in -ast adds —e to the
superlative ending for both genders, singular and plural:
den kallaste vintern the coldest winter
det kallaste badet the coldest bath 4
de kallaste vintrarna the coldest winters
The definite form of superlatives ending in —st adds -a to the
superlative ending for both genders, singular and plural:
den storsta mannen the largest man
det storsta barnet the largest child
de storsta mannen the largest men
Use of the Comparative
The Swedish equivalent of English “than" is din. To form a
comparison between two items, dn is placed immediately after
the adjective in the comparative form:
Han ar yngre éinjag.
He is younger than I.
Stockholm ar storre an Lund.
Stockholm is larger than Lund.
36 AD]ECT1VES
Comparison of Equality
T0 express equality (English "as . . . as"), the words lika . . . som
are placed either side of the adjective in the positive form:
· 'Han ar lika trott som jag.
He is as tired as I.
ADVERBS
Adverbs Derived from Adjectives
Many Swedish adverbs are derived from adjectives simply by
adding the ending —t to the common form of the adjective. Ad-
verbs formed in this way have the same form as the indefinite
neuter of the adjective:
Apjiaorivr Amvrius IN —t
kall (cold) kallt (coldly)
enkel (simple) enkelt (simply)
Other Adverbs
There are some important adverbs in Swedish that are not de-
rived from adjectives:
aldrig (never) nyss (just now)
alltid (always) nagonsin (ever, anytime)
da (then, at that moment) nar (when)
da och da (now and then) ofta (often)
forr (before) redan (already)
genast (at once) sedan (then, afterward)
ibland (sometimes) snart (soon)
igen (again) strax (immediately)
lange (a long time) sallan (seldom)
nu (now) annu (still, yet)
Some adverbs of place have two forms, one used with verbs
indicating motion and the other with verbs indicating rest:
37
38 ADVIQRBS
1r<i>1cAT1Nc Rrsr 1NDl(JA`l`IN(} Morrow
borta (away) bort
dar (there) dit
Y framme (ahead, there) fram
har (here) hit
hemma (home) hem
irme (in) in
HCYC (down) ner
uppe (up) upp
ute (out) ut
var (where) vart
Comparison of Adverbs
Adverbs derived from adectives form com aratives and su-
..J..P.
perlatives in the same way as the adjectives on which they are
based:
Aovrius (IOMPARA'l`lV1i or Anvizms SUPERLATIVE or Auvmus
kallt kallare kallast
enkelt enklare enklast
hogt hogre hogst
A few adverbs that are not derived from adjectives also have
comparative and superlative forms:
Auvrks coM1>ARA’r1vE or Aoviaius sU1¤E1z1.A‘r1vE or Aovmzis
val (well) battre bast
garna (gladly) hellrc helst
illa (badly) varre varst
mycket (very) mera mest
nara (near) narmare narmast
PRONOUNS
Personal Pronouns
Swedish personal pronouns have different forms according to
their use and position in a sentence. The object form of a per-
sonal pronoun is used for both direct and indirect objects (i.e.,
after prepositions):
SUB_]E(1'l` roum tisjizcr roam
lsr runs. sim:. jag (I) mig (me)
2ND rms. sim;. du (you) dig (you)
ni (you) er (you)
31m runs. sim;. han (he) honom (him)
hon (she) henne (her)
den [com.] (it) den (it)
det [m~;ur.] (it) det (it)
lsi vans. i·i.. vi (we) oss (us)
2m) P1-ins. vi., ni (you) er (you)
Sku i>i;1<s. PL. de (they) dem (them)
Use of Personal Pronouns
The second person singular du is used when addressing rela-
tives, close friends or children. The second person plural ni is
used in the singular when addressing strangers. For polite ad-
dress, however, the person’s full name or title is normally used:
Vad onskar fru Svensson?
What do you want, Mrs. Svensson?
The third person singular forms den and det refer to common
and neuter nouns respectively. ln impersonal constructions (En-
glish "It is" or "there are"), det is used:
39
DEM()NS'1`RA'I`IVE PRONOUNS AND AD_]ECTIV1£S 43
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives
In English, the words "this," "that," “these" and "those" may
function either as demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative ad-
jectives. Swedish demonstratives may likewise be used adjec-
tivally or pronominally. These demonstratives, which must agree
in gender and number with the noun they modify, are declined
as follows:
coMMoN NEUTER PLURAL
denna (this) detta dessa
den har (this) det har de har
den (that) det de
den dar (that) det dar de dar
Derma (dettd, dessa), when used adjectivally, is followed by the
noun in the indefinite declension. The other demonstrative ad-
jectives, however, are followed by the noun in the definite de·
clension:
Denna flicka ar vanlig. This girl is friendly.
Den har flickan ar vanlig. This girl is friendly.
Den flickan ar vanlig. That girl is friendly.
Den dar flickan ar vanlig. That girl is friendly.
Detta barn ar vanligt. This child is friendly.
Det har barnet ar vanligt. This child is friendly.
Det barnet ar vanligt. That child is friendly.
Det dar barnet ar vanligt. That child is friendly.
Dessa man ar vanliga. These men are friendly.
De har mannen ar viinliga. These men are friendly.
De mannen ar vanliga. Those men are friendly.
De dar mannen ar vanliga. Those men are friendly.
Although the demonstrative forms denna (delta, dessa) and den
(det, de) are grammatically correct, the forms using hdr and ddr
are considered to be more appropriate in conversation.
’ PREPOSITIONS
Although Swedish prepositions are often very similar in form
to English prepositions, their meanings and use can differ con·
siderably. Some 0f the more important prepositions are pre-
sented here along with examples of their usage:
av of, by jag har en ring av guld.
I have a ring (made) of
gold.
Hon koper en roman av
Strindberg.
She is buying a novel by
Strindberg.
efter after De gick efter en halvtimme.
They went after half an
hour.
framfor before, in _]ag stod framfor dorren.
front of I stood in front ofthe door.
fran from Han kom fran Goteborg.
He came from Gothenburg.
for for Vi kopte det for Qugo kro-
nor.
We bought it for twenty
kronor.
genom, through _]ag korde genom Malmo.
igenom I drove through Malmo.
hos with, at jag bor hos min van.
I am living with my friend.
i in, on Vi bor i Amerika.
We live in America.
46
PREPOSITIONS 47
med with _]ag talade med honom i
telefon.
I spoke with him on the
telephone.
pi on, in, at De gick hem pil onsdag.
They went home on
Wednesday.
Vi stod pil gatan.
We were standing in the
street.
Vi bor pa Hilton.
We are staying at the Hil·
ton.
till to Taget gar till Stockholm.
The train is going to Stock-
holm.
under under Han stod under bron.
He stood under the bridge.
vid beside, at De vantade vid buset.
They waited beside the
house.
at to Sag at honom, attjag ar
hemma.
[Say to him that I am
home.]
Tell him that I am home.
over over, Fageln {log over traden.
above, The bird flew over the
across trees.
Vi gick over torget.
We walked across the
square.
{ CONJUNCTIONS
Swedish, like English, has two major kinds of conjunction: co-
ordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions (e.g., “and,” “or" and “but” in En-
glish) usually link together two or more independent clauses.
The principal conjunctions of this type in Swedish are preser1ted
here along with examples of their usage:
och and jag gick hem och skrev ett
brev.
I went home and wrote a let-
ter.
bade . . . both . . . Jag dricker bade te och
och and kaffe.
I drink both tea and coffee.
eller or Vill ni ha mjolk eller vatten?
Would you like milk or wa-
ter?
antingen either Jag gar antingen till Stock—
. . . eller . . . or holm eller till Malmo nasta
sommar.
I shall be going either to
Stockholm or to Malmo
next summer.
varken neither Nar han kom, var han
. . . eller . . . nor varken trott eller kall.
When he arrived, he was nei-
ther tired nor cold.
48
SUBORI)INA'l"1NG C()N_]UN(]'I`I()NS 49
men but Han hade garna velat komma,
men han var sjuk.
He would have liked to come,
but he was sick.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses
(e.g., “that," “because" and “if" in English). Some of the more
important conjunctions of this type are presented here along
with examples of their usage:
att that jag sade, attjag kunda resa.
I said that I could go.
da as, since Da vi var trotta, stannade vi
hemma.
Since we were tired, we
stayed at home.
darfor att because Hon larde sig svenska,
darior att hon maste upp-
soka Sverige.
She learned Swedish because
she had to visit Sweden.
fast although Fast han hade forandrat sig
mycket, kande genastjag
igen honom.
Although he had changed a
great deal, I recognized
him at once.
forran, before Vi skulle ga hem, forran det
innan regnar.
We should go home before it
rains.
50 C()N_]UN(I'l`l()NS
om if jug skulle inte ga, om jag
vore som du.
I should not go ifl were
you.
’ medan while Medan vi stod dar, sag vi en
kvinna gfi in i en affiir.
While we stood there, we
saw a woman go into 21
shop.
sedan after Sedanjag hade talat med
herr Andersson, gick han
pil biograf.
After I had spoken to Mr.
Andersson, he went to the
movies.
VERBS
Comparison of English and Swedish Verbs
To English speakers, Swedish verbs appear remarkably simple
in construction. In Swedish, there is generally only one verbal
lorm for the active indicative of each tense, regardless of person
or number (e.g., jug har, l have; han har, he has; de har, they
have). Moreover, in Swedish, the simple present tense is equiva-
lent to the English simple present and progressive present.
Principal Parts of the Verb
The Swedish verb has five principal parts: infinitive, present,
past, supine and past participle:
lNFlNI'I`I\'E PRESENT 1»As’r suvmr msr 1>Au’1·.
komma (come) kommer kom kommit kommen
The principal parts ofthe Swedish verb are used in the same
way as their English equivalents except for the following impor-
tant differences. In Swedish, the supine, not the past participle,
is used with the auxiliary verb ha (have) in the formation ofthe
compound tenses (e.g.,ja.g liar kommit, I have (Q()l'I]ۤj(lg bade kom-
mit, l had come). The Swedish past participle is used only as an
adjective after the auxiliary verbs nam (be) and bl? (become), and
in the periphrastic construction of the passive voice (see pp. 60-
61).
The Four Conjugations
There are four conjugations in Swedish and these are distin-
guished by the four supine endings: —at, -l, -tt and -it.
51
52 VERBS
First Conjugation
The majority of Swedish verbs belong to the first conjugation,
including all verbs of foreign derivation ending in ~em. The
present tense ending for regular first conjugation verbs is —ar, the
su ine endin is —a.l, the ast endin is -ade and the ast artici le
P_ _ g P S P P P
ending is -ad:
1NP1N1T1vE PRESENT PAST SUPINE PAST PART.
tala (speak) talar talade talat talad
kalla (call) kallar kallade kallat kallad
There are some important irregular verbs in the first conjuga-
tion. None of these irregular first conjugation verbs has a past
participle form:
INFINITIVE PRESENT PAST SUPll\2E
heta (be called) heter hette hetat
kunna (be able) kan kunde kunnat
leva (live) lever levde levat
veta (know) vet visste vetat
vilja (be willing) vill ville velat
Second Conjugation
The supine ending for all second conjugation verbs is -2. Sec-
ond conjugation verbs that have roots ending in a voiced conso-
nant (see p. 8) take the present tense ending —er, the past tense
ending -de· and the past participle ending —d:
INFINITIVE PRESENT PAST SUPTNE PAST PART.
stalla (put) staller stallde Stallt stalld
sanda (Send) Sander sande Sant sand*
Verbs with roots ending in —r that belong to this class do not take
the present tense ending -er:
lN}·`lNlTl\’E PRESENT PAsT SUPINE PAST PART.
hora (hear) hor horde hort hord
lara (teach, learn) lar larde lart lard
*ll`the root ends in -1], no further -11 is added.
THE FOLTR C()N_]lT(}A'l`IONS 53
Second conjugation verbs that have roots ending in a voiceless
consonant (see p. 8) take the present. tense ending —me, the past
tense ending —/0 and the past participle ending —l:
mrmi rivr PR£sPx’r PAs’r strmu PAST PART.
kopa (buy) koper kopte kopt kopt
lasa (read) laser laste last last
Some of the more important irregular verbs of the second conju-
gation are:
mrmrriviz PRESENT PAST stirmu PAST PAR'1`.
bora (ought to) bor borde bort —*
ora make or `orde 'ort `ord
g S gl gl H}
lagga (lay) lagger lade lagt lagd
sporja (ask) sporjer sporde sport spord
saga (say) sager sade sagt sagd
(choose) valjer valde valt vald
Third Conjugation
Verbs of the third conjugation are very few in number. The
infinitive of these verbs does not end in —a. The present tense
ending is —r, the supine ending is -!l, t.he past participle ending is
—drI and the past tense ending is —dd0:
mrmrrivu PRESENT PAST SUPINE PAST PART.
gro (grow) gror grodde grott grodd
tro (believe) tror trodde trott trodd
Some of the more important irregular verbs ofthe third conju-
gation are:
mrmrrivr PR1;sP1<T PAST SUPINE PAST PART.
be (ask) ber bad bett bedd
do (die) dor dog dott —-
*Some Swedish verbs do not have past participle forms.
54 vER1ss
INFIXITIYE PRESENT I’.·\Sl" st‘P11vE PAsT PART.
fa (get, be allowed) far iick fatt /and/fadd*
ga (go) gar gick gatt gangen
se (see) ser sag sett sedd
st.5 (stand) star stod statt /for/stadd
Fourth Conjugation
The supine ending for fourth conjugation verbs is -1t, the
present tense ending is —z»r or -r and the past participle ending is
—m1. The past tense, however, is not formed by adding an ending,
but by an alteration ofthe stem vowel. Verbs that undergo vowel
changes of this kind are known as strong verbs; they are subdi-
vided into four classes according to the type of vowel change that
takes place:
INFINITIVE PRESENT PAsT suPiNE PAST PART.
<;1.Ass 1 springa (run, springer sprang sprungit sprungen
burst)
t:LAss 1I skriva (write) skriyer skrev skrevit skriven
t;1.Ass 111 bjuda (offer) bjuder bjod bjudit bjuden
<:LAss 1v bara (bear, bar bar burit buren
carry)
Principal Parts of Common Strong Verbs
The following list contains the principal parts of the more
common strong verbs in Swedish.
1Nr11v1T1vE PRESENT PAST sUP11vE PAST PART.
binda (bind) binder band bundit bunden
bita (bite) biter bet bitit biten
*The most common compound form has been given in cases where the past
participle is used for the most part only in compounds. Since the meaning of a
compound form can differ considerably from that of the basic verb, a dictionary
should be consulted.
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF COMMON STRONG VERBS 55
INFINITIVE PRESENT PAST SUPINE PAs’1‘ PART.
brinna (burn) brinner brann brunnit brunnen
brista (burst) brister brast brustit brusten
bryta (break) bryter brot brutit bruten
bara (bear) bar bar burit buren
dra/ga/* dra/ge/r drog dragit dragen
(draw, pull)
dricka (drink) dricker drack druckit drucken
driva (drive) driver drev drivit driven
falla (fall) faller foll fallit fallen
{ara (go) far for {arit /hadan/
f`aren**
{inna (find) Hnner fann funnit funnen
ilyga (fly) flyger {log flugit /bort/ilugen
Hyta (float) flyter Hot {lutit iluten
frysa (freeze) fryser fros frusit frusen
torsvinna forsvinner forsvann forsvunnit forsvunnen
(disappear)
gala (crow) gal gol galit ——
ge OR giva ger ox gav gett OR givit given
(give) giver
gjuda (cast) gjuter got gjutit gjuten
glida (glide) glider gled glidit ———
gnida (rub) gnider gned gnidit gniden
gripa (seize) griper grep gripit gripen
grata (weep) grater grat gratit /be/graten
hinna (have hinner hann hunnit hunnen
time)
hugga (cut) hugger hogg huggit huggen
halla (hold) haller holl hiillit hallen
kliva (stride) kliver klev klivit /upp/kliven
klyva (cleave) klyver klov kluvit kluven
knipa (pinch) kniper knep knipit knipen
knyta (tie) knyter knot knutit knuten
komma (come) kommer kom kommit kommen
krypa (creep) kryper krop krupit krupen
*The full forms of infinitives given in this list are used only in the written lan-
guage and usually to indicate an elevated style.
**The most common compound form has been given in cases where the past
participle is used for the most part only in compounds. A dictionary should be
consulted for the meaning of these compounds.
56 VERBS
INFINITIVE PRESENT 1>As’1‘ SUPINE PAST PART.
lida (suffer) lider led lidit liden
ligga (lie down) ligger lag legat /for/legad
Uuda (sound) ljuder ljod Qudit ———
Uuga (tell a lie) Unger ljog Uugit /be/ljugen
lata (allow, later lat lfitit /over/laten
sound)
niga (curtsy) niger neg nigit —
njuta (enjoy) njuter njot njutit njuten
pipa (pipe) piper pep pipit ——
rida (ride) rider red ridit riden
rinna (run, rinner rann runnit runnen
flow)
riva (tear) river rev rivit riven
ryta (roar) ryter rot rutit ruten
sitta (sit) sitter satt suttit /for/sutten
sjuda (seethe) sjuder sjod sjudit sjuden
sjunga (sing) sjunger sjong sjungit sjungen
sjunka (sink) sjunker sjonk sjunkit sjunken
skina (shine) skiner sken skinit ——
skjuta (shoot) skjuter skot skjutit skjuten
skrida (glide, skrider skred skridit /over/
proceed) skriden
skrika (scream) skriker skrek skrikit /ut/skriken
skriva (write) skriver skrev skrivit skriven
skryta (boast) skryter skrot skrutit /om/
skruten
skéira (cut) skéir skar skurit skuren
slippa (escape) slipper slapp sluppit /upp/
sluppen
slita (tear) sliter slet slitit sliten
sluta (close) sluter slot slutit sluten
slit (strike) slar slog slagit slagen
smyga (slip) smyger smog smugit /in/smugen
snyta (blow snyter snot snutit /o/snuten
the nose)
sova (sleep) sover sov sovit ———
spinna (spin) spinner spann spunnit spunnen
spricka (burst) spricker sprack spruckit sprucken
sprida (spread) sprider spred OR spritt spridd
spridde
springa (run, springer sprang sprungit sprungen
burst)
58 VERBS
Auxiliary Verbs
The verb ha (have) is used in Swedish (as in English) as an aux-
iliary in the formation of compound tenses. The principal parts
of ha are:
mrryvrrivr vkesrtw 1•As’r SUPINE PAST PART.
ha har hade haft havd
Some of the other important auxiliary verbs are skola (be
obliged), viga (be willing), kunna (be able), brim (ought to) and trim
(may). None of these verbs has a past participle form, and Him
also lacks a supine form:
iwrmmvr riuzsmvr vAs’r surms
skola skall skulle skolat
vilja vill ville velat
kunna kan kunde kunnat
bora bor borde bort
tora tor torde L
The Future Tense
There are three common ways in which the future tense can be
formed in Swedish. In the case of verbs of motion and the verbs
vara and bli, tl1e present tense form is often used with a future
meaning. The context will make the meaning clear in instances
of this kind:
De kommer i morgon.
They will come tomorrow.
Ar du tillbaka till klockan tva?
Will you be back by two o’cl0ck?
THE PI~lRFECT TENSES 59
To express simple futurity without the sense of an intention,
the phrase kommer att and the infinitive of the verb are used:
Jag kommer att resa i kvall.
I shall leave tonight.
If, however, there is the sense ofan intention, the future tense
is formed by using the present tense form of the auxiliary verb
xlwla and the infinitive of the main verb:
Jag skall tala i kvall.
I shall speak tonight.
The Conditional
The conditional mood is used to express uncertainty or possi-
bility (in English, characterized by the use of “would"). The
present conditional is formed in Swedish by using the past form
(skulls) of the verb skola and the infinitive of the main verb:
De skulle komma.
They would come.
Vi visste inte, vad som skulle handa.
We did not know what would happen.
The Perfect Tenses
The Present Perfect and Past Perfect
The present perfect and past perfect tenses are formed by us-
ing the present or past form of the auxiliary verb ha and the su-
pine of the main verb:
_]ag har talat. I have spoken.
Vi har talat. We have spoken.
Jag hade talat. I had spoken.
Vi hade talat. We had spoken.
60 VERBS
The Future Perfect
The future perfect tense is formed by using the present tense
form (skall) of the auxiliary verb skola, the infinitive lm and the
supine of the main verb:
jag skall ha talat. I shall have spoken.
Vi skall ha talat. We shall have spoken.
The Conditional Perfect
The conditional perfect tense is formed by using the past form
(skulle) of the auxiliary verb skola, the infinitive ha and the supine
of the main verb:
De skulle ha kommit.
They would have come.
jag skulle ha skrivit.
I would have written.
The Imperative
The imperative (or command) form of first and third conjuga·
tion verbs is identical to the active infinitive (see p. 62). The im-
perative of second and fourth conjugation verbs is formed, how-
ever, simply by dropping the ending —a from the infinitive:
iurmrrivr 1M1>r1<A*1·1vr
lsr C()N]UGA’1`lON tala Tala mig! (Speak to me!)
2ND coNjuoAT1oN hora Hor migl (Listen to me!)
3RD CON]U(}ATlON tro Tro mig! (Believe mel)
4TH C()N_]UGATlON finna Finn migl (Find mel)
The Passive Voice
Transitive verbs in Swedish may be active (as in the paradigms
given so far) or passive. In a passive construction, the subject of
the verb is acted upon (eg., "I am asked"). In Swedish, the pas-
sive can be formed in one of two ways:
THE PASSIVE VOICE 61
1. With the auxiliary verb bli and the past participle of the main
verb. This construction is the most frequently used. Generally it
refers to a single action or event rather than to a habitual or re-
peated action. The past participle is declined as an adjective in
this construction and must agree in gender and number with the
subject of the clause (see pp. 63-64 for the declension of the past
participle):
Bilen blev kopt av en ung man.
The car was bought by a young man.
Huset blev brunnet av den unga mannen.
The house was burned by the young man.
2. By adding the ending -s to the active form ofthe verb. In the
first conjugation, if the active form of the verb ends in -r, the -r is
dropped when the —s ending is added. In the other conjugations,
if the active form of the verb ends in -er, the -e- is usually dropped
in the spoken language. The —s form of the passive is used to de-
note habitual or repeated action:
Biblioteket oppnas klockan nio.
The library opens at nine o’clocl<.
One of the most common uses of the 5-passive is to express recip-
rocal action:
Vi traffas p5 gatan i morgon.
We shall meet each other on the street tomorrow.
Deponent Verbs
Deponent verbs are verbs that have a passive form but an ac-
tive meaning. There are a number of deponent verbs in Swedish,
and these have only passive forms with the -5 ending:
Han tycktes sova.
He seemed to be asleep.
De minns inte, vadjag sade.
They don’t remember what I said.
Other common deponent verbs include cmdas (breathe), hoppas
(hope) and lyckas (manage).
62 VERBS
The Infinitive
Swedish infinitives end in -a in the first, second and fourth
conjugations. Third conjugation infinitives lack the -u ending.
The passive of infinitives is formed simply by adding the ending
—s ’to the active infinitive. Infinitives are usually preceded by att
(equivalent to English “to”):
Acrivr PASSIVE
lsr (j()N_]U(}ATIOl\J att tala (to speak) att talas (to be spoken)
2Nu (Z()NjUGA'I'I()N att stalla (to put) att stallas (to be put)
31216 CON_]U(}A'I`ION att tro (to believe) att tros (to be believed)
4’1`1-1 (j()N»]UGATI()N att springa (to run, att springas (to be
to burst) run, to be burst)
There are, however, a few exceptions to the use of att before
the infinitive. When an infinitive is used to express an intention,
it is preceded byfiir att (in order to):
Vi gick till stationen for att hamta véirt bagage.
We went to the station to fetch our baggage.
The infinitive is also used without a preposition after auxiliary
verbs and after a few other verbs that include tdnka (contem-
plate), hoppas (hope), tyckas (seem), bmka (be in the habit of), be-
héva (need) and émka (wish).
Participles
Present Participles
In Swedish, present participles can be used either as adjectives
or as nouns. Unlike their English equivalents, however, Swedish
present participles are not used to form progressive tenses (e.g.,
English "I am walking”). In the first, second and fourth conjuga-
tions, present participles are formed by adding the ending —ande
to the verb stem. In the third conjugation, they are formed by
adding the ending —ende to the verb stem:
PARTICIPLES 63
INFINITIVE vizrsrur PAR'l`l(1lPLE
lsr (JONjUGATION tala (speak) talande (speaking)
2ND <:oN_]uoA’r1oN gomma (hide) gommande (hiding)
3RD c:oNju<:A’r1oN fly (flee) flyende (fleeing)
4*m coNjUoAT1oN springa (run, springande (running,
burst) bursting)
When used as adjectives, present participles are indeclinable:
jag sag den flyende mannen.
I saw the fleeing man.
_]ag sag de flyende mannen.
I saw the fleeing men.
When used as nouns, present participles are declined accord-
ing to the fifth declension:
De flyendena var oskyldiga.
Those fleeing were innocent.
Past Participles
Unlike their English equivalents, Swedish past participles are
not used in the formation of the perfect tenses (e.g., English "I
had spoken"). Swedish past participles are used as adjectives, af`·
ter the auxiliary verbs vara and bli and as nouns. Past participles
are declined like adjectives. The indefinite declension is as fol-
lows:
coMMoN Nuutruk 1-Luna/xi,
lstr CON_}UGATlON talad (spoken) talat talade
2ND coNju<;A’r1oN gommd (hidden) gommt gommda
kopt (bought) kopt kopta
3RD coN_]uoAT1oN trodd (believed) trott trodda
4TH coN_]UGA’r1oN biten (bitten) bitet bitna
ln the indefinite declension, past participles are used in the
same way as adjectives in the indefinite:
Vi fann ett gommt rum.
We found a hidden room.
64 VERBS
Vi fann gommda rum.
We found hidden rooms,
In the definite declension, the forms of past participles are
identical to those of the indefinite plural. First conjugation parti-
ciples, which end in —ad, add -e in the definite declension. All
other participles add —a in this declension:
Vi fann det gommda rumet.
We found the hidden room.
Vi fann de gommda rumen.
We found the hidden rooms.
Compound Verbs
In the majority of cases, compound verbs in Swedish are
formed by combining a simple verb form and a prefix. Such
compound verbs fall into one of two categories depending on
whether or not the prefix is detached from the verb in certain
constructions: inseparable and separable compound verbs.
Inseparable Compound Verbs
Compound verbs formed with one of the following prefixes
are inseparable:
tmsluta (join) missbruka (misuse)
betala (pay) samverka (cooperate)
bitrada (assist) umgas (associate)
ersatta (replace) undvika (avoid)
jbrklara (explain) vanvarda (neglect)
hdrleda (deduce) cistunda (desire)
Compound verbs formed with a noun or adjective are also in-
separable:
fullanda (complete) rddfréiga (consult)
godkanna (approve) quvtitta (peep at)
All these inseparable compound verbs are used in the same
way as other verbs:
COMPOUND VERBS 65
Forfatteren forklarade sin ny bok.
The author explained his new book.
Separable Compound Verbs
Compound verbs formed with an adverb or a preposition—
other than those listed in the preceding section, "Inseparable
Compound Verbs"—are generally separable:
igmkanna (recognize) omtycka (to like)
medfoha (accompany) tillga (happen)
nedlagga (put down) uppsoka (seek out)
The position of the separable prefix is determined in the fol-
lowing ways:
1. In the present and past participle forms of separable com-
pound verbs, the prefix is not detached (e.g., igenkéinmmde, ned-
lagd).
2. In compound tenses, the prefix is placed immediately after
the main verb:
jag skall kanna igen dig.
I shall recognize you.
Han har kant igen dig.
I-Ie has recognized you.
3. The adverbs bm, mycket and illa always come between the verb
and its separable prefix:
De tycker bra om henne.
They like her.
_]ag tycker mycket om dig.
I think a great deal of you.
Jag tycker illa om dem.
I dislike them.
4. In independent clauses with normal word order, the verb and
its separable prefix are split by the following adverbs:
aldrig (never) antagligen (probably)
alltid (always) ej (not)
66 VERBS
garna (gladly) ofta (often)
icke (mot) redan (already)
inte (not) smart (soon)
kanske (perhaps) sallam (seldom)
, mojligen (possibly)
5. In independent clauses with inverted word order, the subject
of the clause comes between the verb and its separable prefix:
Tycker de om henne?
D0 they like her?
Kande de igen honom?
Did they recognize him?
6. In dependent clauses, those adverbs that separate verb and
prefix in independent clauses with normal word order precede
the verb, which is followed immediately by its separable prefix:
Vi visste, att han alltid kande igen oss.
We knew that he always recognized us.
7. In all constructions other than those described above, the sep-
arable prefix is normally placed immediately after the verb.
Table of Verb Forms
The following table lists the verbal forms, active and passive,
for all four conjugations, and includes the auxiliary verbs used in
the formation of the compound tenses.
lsT CON_]UGATION 2ND c0N_]UsAT101w SRD s0Nju<;AT10N 4TH s0N_]u;AT101<
INFINITIVE ACTIVE {ala stiilla {r0 springa
PASSIVE {alas stallas {r0s springas
IMPERATIVE {ala stall {F0 spring
PRESENT A<;T1vE {alar stéillsr {r0r springsr
PAss1vE {alas stallss {ros springss *1
PAST Ac·1‘1vE {alads stallds {rodds sprang E
PASSIVE taladss stalldss {r0ddss sprangs [—
_ rn
FUTURE ACTIVE skall {ala skall stalla skall {F0 skall sprxnga C
PASSIVE skall {alas skall stallas skall {ros skall springas
CONDITI()I\IAL Ac:>1‘1vE skulls {ala skulls stiilla skulls {ro skulls springa {7:1
PASSIVE skulls {alas skulls stéillas skulls {ros skulls springas ss
I’RESl·QN`I` PERF. ACTIVE har {ala{ har stallt har {r0{{ har sprungit
PASSIVE har {ala{s har s{éill{s har {r0{{s har sprungits §
PAST PERF. A<;T1vE hads {ala{ hads stéillt hads {r0{{ hads sprungi{ °"
PASSIVE hads talats hads stallts hads {r0{{s hads sprungits
FU'l`L`Rl£ PERF. A(fI`lVI£ skall ha {ala{ skall ha stallt skall ha {r0{{ skall ha sprungit
PAss1vE skall ha {ala{s skall ha stéillts skall ha {r0{{s skall ha sprungi{s
soxnrr. PERF. ACTIVE skulls ha talat skulls ha stéillt skulls ha {r0{{ skulls ha sprungit
PASSIVE skulls ha {ala{s skulls ha stallts skulls ha {r0{{s skulls ha sprungits
3
i TELLING TIME
There are two ways in which to ask the time in Swedish: Hur
mycket dr klackan? or Vad (ir klockan? (What time is it?). The an-
swer, too, may be expressed in one of two ways:
Klockan ar tva. It is two o’clock.
Klockan ar tolv. It is twelve o’clock.
OR
Hon ar tvfi. It is two (o’clock).
Hon ar tolv. It is twelve (o’clock).
Half hours are halv tre (half—past two), halv ett (half-past twelve).
Fractional hours after the hour are expressed with 611er, and
those before the hour with is
en kvart over tva a quarter past two
en kvart i tva a quarter to two
fem over tolv five past twelve
fem i tolv five to twelve
68
USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
Listed below are some useful expressions that have not ap-
peared in the main body of this grammar:
Var sa god. Please.
Tack. Thanks.
God dag. Hello.
God morgon. Good morning.
God eftermiddag. Good afternoon.
God kvall. Good evening.
God natt. Good night.
Gratulerar! Congratulations!
F orlat. Excuse me.
Se upp! Look out!
Bra. All right.
Hur star det till? How are you?
Tack bra, och ni sjalv? Fine, thanks, and you?
Vad heter ni? What is your name?
jag heter .... My name is ....
Talar ni engelska? Do you speak English?
Jag talar inte mycket sven- I don’t speak much Swedish.
ska.
Kan ni tala lite langsammare, Could you speak a little
tack? slower, please?
Vad heter det pa svenska? How do you say that in
Swedish?
Vad onskar ni? What would you like?
Vem ar det? Who is that?
_]ag forstar. I understand.
jag forstar inte. I don’t understand.
Skulle ni kunna hjalpa mig? Could you help me?
Hur langt ar det till . . .? How far is it to . . .?
69
A GLOSSARY OF GRAMMATICAL
TERMS
E. F. BLEILER
This section is intended to refresh your memory of grammati-
cal terms or to clear up difficulties you may have had in under-
standing them. Before you work through the grammar, you
should have a reasonably clear idea what the parts of speech and
parts of a sentence are. This is not for reasons of pedantry, but
simply because it is easier to talk about grammar if we agree
upon terms. Grammatical terminology is as necessary to the
study of grammar as the names of automobile parts are to ga~
ragemen.
This list is not exhaustive, and the definitions do not pretend
to be complete, or to settle points of interpretation that gram-
marians have been disputing for the past several hundred years.
lt is a working analysis rather than a scholarly investigation. The
definitions given, however, represent most typical American us-
age, and should serve for basic use.
The Parts of Speech
English words can be divided into eight important groups:
nouns, adjectives, articles, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, preposi-
tions and conjunctions. The boundaries between one group of
words and another are sometimes vague and ill-felt in English,
but a good dictionary, like the Webster Collegiate, can help you
make decisions in questionable cases. Always bear in mind, how-
ever, that the way a word is used in a sentence may be just as
important as the nature of the word itself in deciding what part
of speech the word is.
Nouns. Nouns are the words for things of all sorts, whether these
things are real objects that you can see, or ideas, or places, or quali-
70
72 GLOSSARY
Pronouns. Pronouns are related to nouns, and take their place.
(Some grammars and dictionaries group pronouns and nouns
together as substantives.) They mention persons, or objects of any
sort without actually giving their names.
There are several different kinds of pronouns. ( 1) Personal
pronouns: by a grammatical convention I, we, me, mine, us, ours
are called first person pronouns, since they refer to the speaker;
you and yours are called second person pronouns, since they refer
to the person addressed; and he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them,
theirs are called third person pronouns, since they refer to the
things or persons discussed. (2) Demonstrative pronouns: this,
that, these, those. (3) lnterrogative, or question, pronouns: who,
whom, what, whose, which. (4) Relative pronouns, or pronouns that
refer back to something already mentioned: who, whom, that,
which. (5) Others: some, any, anyone, no one, other, whichever, none,
etc.
Pronouns are difficult for us, since our categories are not as
clear as in some other languages, and we use the same words for
what foreign-language speakers see as different situations. First,
our interrogative and relative pronouns overlap, and must be
separated in translation. The easiest way is to observe whether a
question is involved in the sentence. Examples: "Which [int.] do
you like?” ‘"I`he hotel, which [rel.] was not far from the airport,
had a restaurant." “Who [int.] is there?" “] don’t know who [int.]
was there." “'l`he porter who [rel.] took our bags was Number
2l32." This may seem to be a trivial difference to an English
speaker, but in some languages it is very important.
Secondly, there is an overlap between pronouns and adjec-
tives. In some cases the word “this," for example, is a pronoun; in
other cases it is an adjective. This also holds true for his, its, her,
any, none, other, some, that, these, those and many other words. Note
whether the word in question stands alone or is associated with
another word. Examples: “This [pronoun] is mine.” “'l`his [adj.]
taxi has no springs." Watch out for the word "that," which can be
a pronoun or an adjective or a conjunction. And remember that
“my," “your," “our” and “their”’ are always adjectives. [All pro-
nouns in this section are in italics.]
Prepositions. Prepositions are the little words that introduce
phrases that tell about condition, time, place, manner, associa-
WORDS ABOUT VERBS 73
tion, degree and similar topics. Such words as with, in, beside, un-
der, of, to, about, for and upon are prepositions. In English prepo-
sitions and adverbs overlap, but, as you will see by checking in
your dictionary, there are usually differences of meaning between
the two uses. [Prepositions in this paragraph are designated by
italics.]
Conjunctions. Conjunctions are joining-words. They enable
you to link words or groups of words into larger units, and to
build compound or complex sentences out of simple sentence
units. Such words as and, but, although, or, unless are typical con-
junctions. Although most conjunctions are easy enough to iden-
tify, the word "that" should be watched closely to see that it is not
a pronoun or an adjective. [Conjunctions italicized.]
Words about Verbs
Verbs are responsible for most of the terminology in this short
grammar. The basic terms are:
Conjugation. In many languages verbs fall into natural groups,
according to the way they make their forms. These groupings
are called conjugations, and are an aid to learning grammatical
structure. Though it may seem difficult at first to speak of First
and Second Conjugations, these are simply short ways of saying
that verbs belonging to these classes make their forms according
to certain consistent rules, which you can memorize.
Infinitive. This is the basic form that most dictionaries give for
verbs in most languages, and in most languages it serves as the
basis for classifying verbs. In English (with a very few exceptions)
it has no special form. To find the infinitive for any English verb,
just fill in this sentence: "l like to ........ (walk, run, jump,
swim, carry, disappear, etc.)." The infinitive in English is usually
preceded by the word “to."
Tense. This is simply a formal way of saying “time.” In English
we think of time as being broken into three great segments: past,
present and future. Our verbs are assigned forms to indicate this
division, and are further subdivided for shades of meaning. We
subdivide the present time into the present (I walk) and present
76 GLOSSARY
Words about Nouns
Declensions. In some languages nouns fall into natural groups
according to the way they make their forms. These groupings
are called declensions, and making the various forms for any
noun, pronoun or adjective is called declining it.
Declensions are simply an aid to learning grammatical struc-
ture. Although it may seem difficult to speak of First Declension,
I Second, Third and Fourth, these are simply short ways of saying
that nouns belonging to these classes make their forms according
to certain consistent rules, which you can memorize. In English
we do not have to worry about declensions, since almost all nouns
make their possessive and plural in the same way. In other lan-
guages, however, declensions may be much more complex.
Agreement. In some languages, where nouns or adjectives or
articles are declined, or have gender endings, it is necessary that
the adjective or article be in the same case or gender or number
as the noun it goes with (modifies). This is called agreement.
This may be illustrated from Spanish, where articles and adjec-
tives have to agree with nouns in gender and number:
una casa one white dos casas two white
blanca house blancas houses
un libro one white dos libros two white
blanco book blancos books
Here una is feminine singular and has the ending -a because it
agrees with the feminine singular noun casa; blanca has the end-
ing -a because it agrees with the feminine singular noun casa.
B lama, on the other hand, and un are masculine singular because
libro is masculine singular.
Gender. Gender should not be confused with actual sex. In
many languages nouns are arbitrarily assigned a gender (mascu-
line or feminine, or masculine or feminine or neuter), and this
need not correspond to sex. You simply have to learn the pattern
of the language you are studying in order to become familiar
with its use of gender.
Case. The idea of case is often very difficult for an English-
speaker to grasp, since we do not use case very much. Perhaps
THE PARTS OF THE SEN'I`EN(lE 79
In the following simple sentences subjects are in italics, predi-
cates in italics and underlined. “Green apples are bad [or your diges-
ti@." “When I go to Sweden, I always stop in Uppsala." “The man wit/i
the handbag is traveling to M alma. ”
Direct and Indirect Objects. Some verbs (called transitive
verbs) take direct and/or indirect objects in their predicates;
other verbs (called intransitive verbs) do not take objects of any
sort. In English, except for pronouns, objects do not have any
special forms, but in languages such as Greek, which have case
forms or more pronoun forms than English, objects can be trou-
blesome.
The direct object is the person, thing, quality or matter that
the verb directs its action upon. It can be a pronoun, or a noun,
perhaps accompanied by an article and/or adjectives. The direct
object always directly follows its verb, except when there is also an
indirect object present, which comes between the verb and the
object. Prepositions do not go before direct objects. Examples:
“The cook threw green onions into the stew." “T he border guards
will want to see your passport tomorrow." "Give it to me." "Please
give me a glass of red wine." [We have placed direct objeets in this
paragraph in italics.]
The indirect object, as grammars will tell you, is [ll(i‘ person or
thing for or to whom the action is taking place. It can be a pro-
noun or a noun with or without article and achectives. ln most
cases the words “to” or “for" can be inserted before it, il` not al-
ready there. Examples: “Please tell me the time." "I wrote ber a
letter from Norrkoping." "We sent Mr. Persson ten kronor." “We
gave the most energetic guide a large tip." [Indirect objects in this
paragraph are in italics.]
Clauses: Independent, Dependent, Relative. Clauses are the
largest components/that go to make up sentenees./ Each clause, in
classical grammar, is a combination of subject and preclicatie./
a sentence has one subject and one predicate,/it is a one—clause sen-
tence./ lfit has two or more subjects and predieates,/it is a sentence of
two or more clauses./
There are two kinds of clauses: independent (principal) and
dependent (subordinate) clauses./ An independent clause can
stand alone;/it can form a logical, complete sentence./ A depen-
INDEX
abbreviations 6 clauses
adjectives 29-36 de/Q 79-80
agreement 29-32, 34-35 commands 60
comparative 33-36 comparative
comparison 33-36 adjectives 33-36
def; 71 adverbs 38
demonstrative 43 def 78
forms of 29-36 compounds 4-5
interrogative 16 compound verbs 64-66
possessive 40-41 conditional 59
possessive reflexive 41 conditional perfect 60
superlative 33-35 conjugations 51-57
use 32-33, 35 def; 73
adverbs 37-38 conjunctions 48-50
comparative 38 def 73
comparison 38 continuous tenses
def 71 def 74
derived from adjectives 37
i¤¤€¤‘r<>s¤1iv€ 15-16 aeciemmm 19-23
3gf€€m€H[ def 76
def 76 demonstrative adjectives 43
31P_11¤1>€1 7_8 demonstrative pronouns 43
amclgs dependent clause
def- 71 (14 79-so
definite 24_27 deponent verbs 61
indefinite 18 direct object
“as . . . as,” how to express 36 dgf 79
auxiliary verbs 58
def 74-75 _
future perfect tense 60
abc) [0,, 57_58 future tense 58-59
capitals 10 genders 18-19
cases 27 def; 76
def 76-78 genitive case 27
81
FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES/SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES
,.Jui.iAN GRANBERRY
Designed for those with limited learning time, this book is not j
a condensed outline of all aspects of Swedish grammar. j
Rather, it focuses on simple everyday communication, helping j
students use previously learned phrases and vocabulary more
effectively and with great versatility.
After introductory discussions of vocabulary building, word l
order and the formation of negative sentences and questions,
the author offers concise, easy-to-follow coverage of the parts L
‘ of speech. Numerous examples are included to demonstrate
each rule of grammatical usage with the emphasis throughout
on simple constructions rather than complicated ones. A selec-
tion of useful expressions and a glossary of grammatical terms
round out this excellent, inexpensive guide, perfect for self—study
or as an adjunct to a language course.
Whether you are just beginning the study of Swedish or wish to
review the fundamentals, Essential Swedish Grammar enables
you to learn in a systematic way, at your own rate, guided by
your own requirements and interests.
Original Dover (1991) publication. lntroduction. Glossary of
grammatical terms. Index. 96pp. 53/a x 8. Paperbound.
See every Dover book in print at
www.doverpubIications.coni
$6.95 usA nnnman in me u.s.A.
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