Learn Swedish A: Plurals in Swedish Lesson 5

Learn Swedish A: Plurals in Swedish Lesson 5

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Learn Swedish A: Plurals in Swedish Lesson 5! While, a language is more than just a collection of words; without a basic knowledge of the grammar, your linguistic proficiency will most likely be very limited. This introduction to Swedish presents a brief outline of Swedish grammar, with the emphasis on the spoken, everyday language.

Learn Swedish A1 Personal Pronouns & Verb conjugation

There is no natural language which does not require years of study to master completely, but you will soon acquire an impressive passive vocabulary. You will find that signs and headlines become more and more comprehensible and that you within short will be able to browse through a Swedish newspaper and get a good grasp of what is said.

So, in this lesson, we are going to discuss Plurals in Swedish! How can you make plurals?

To show that a noun is in the plural in English an ‘s’ is usually added to the noun: one house, but two houses.

While, The formation of nouns in the plural is more complex in Swedish. The Swedish nouns are usually divided into five groups, depending on their plural endings: -or, -ar, -(e)r, -n; the fifth group has not got any ending at all in the indefinite form, but looks the same both in the singular and in the plural.

Learn Swedish A1-level Lesson 2

As soon as you know to which group a noun belong, you can easily determine what the definite form!

Let’s Find out!

Four Nouns Forms in Swedish

Swedish nouns have four forms; singular indefinite, singular definite, plural indefinite and plural definite.

How are these four nouns are formed in Swedish, has been explained in Learn Swedish Lesson 3 !

So, Here is an example for four nouns in Swedish!

singular indefinite (en bil a car)

singular definite (bilen the car)

plural indefinite (biler cars)

plural definite (bilerna the cars)

Let’s go through the groups of plurals of Swedish.

Group 1

This group contains en words that in singular indefinite ends on an ‘a’. While, You replace the ‘a’ with ‘or’ in plural indefinite and also add ‘na’ in plural definite.

So, below are examples of nouns according to Group 1 rules. While, these are singular indefinite, plural indefinite and plural definite forms respectively.

en klócka (a clock, watch)
två klóckor (two clocks, watches)
klóckorna (the clocks, watches)

en människa (a human being)
två människor (two human beings)
människorna (the human beings)

en skola (a school)
två skolor (two schools)
skolorna (the schools)

en hona (a female)
två honor (two females)
honorna (the females)

Group 2

While this group has en words that end on -e, and monosyllabic ‘en words’ that end in a consonant. Included in this group are nouns that end with -ing, -dom, -el, -er, and -en. While, These nouns take ‘ar’ in plural indefinite and add ‘na’ for plural definite.

So, below are examples of nouns according to Group 2 rules. While, these are singular indefinite, plural indefinite and plural definite forms respectively.

en dag (a day)
två dágar (two days)
dágarna (the days)

en bil (a car)
två bílar (two cars)
bílarna (the cars)

en tanke (a thought)
två tankar (two thoughts)
tankarna (the thoughts)

en tidning (a newspaper)
två tidningar (two newspapers)
tidningarna (the newspapers)

en visdom (a wisdom)
två visdomar (two wisdoms)
visdomarna (the wisdoms)

en spegel (a mirror)
två speglar (two mirrors)
speglarna (the mirrors)

en älv (a river)
två älvar (two rivers)
älvarna (the rivers)

Group 3

Most of the nouns in this group take the article en. Included in this group are nouns that end with -het, -else, -ion, and -när. While, ‘en words’ with the stress on the last vowel are in this group.

In addition, nouns that take the article ett and end with -um, -eri or -ori are also included. While, These nouns take ‘er’ in plural indefinite and also add ‘na’ for plural definite.

So, below are examples of nouns according to Group 3 rules. While, these are singular indefinite, plural indefinite and plural definite forms respectively.

en telefón (a telephone)
två telefóner (two telephones)
telefónerna (the telephones)

en minút (a minute)
två minúter (two minutes)
minúterna (the minutes)

en lektion (a lesson)
två lektioner (two lessons)
lektionerna (the lessons)

en hemlighet (a secret)
två hemligheter (two secrets)
hemligheterna (the secrets)

ett konditori (a bakery)
konditorier (two bakeries)
konditorierna (the bakeries)

en dam (a lady)
damer (two ladies)
damerna (the ladies)

en annons (a advertisement)
annonser (two advertisements)
annonserna (the advertisements)

Group 4

In this Group, All the nouns take the article ett and end with a vowel. While, You can add ‘n’ in plural indefinite and add an ‘a’ for plural definite.

So, below are examples of nouns according to Group 4 rules. While, these are singular indefinite, plural indefinite and plural definite forms respectively.

ett stä´lle (a place, spot)
två stä´llen (two places, spots)
stä´llena (the places, spots)

ett árbéte (a job, work)
två árbéten (two jobs, works)
árbétena (the jobs, works)

ett knä (a knee)
två knän (two knees)
knäna (the knees)

ett spöke (a ghost)
två spöken (two ghosts)
spökena (the ghosts)

ett ställe (a place)
två ställen (two places)
ställena (the places)

Group 5

In this group, nouns contain ett words that end on a consonant and ‘en words’ ending in -are ,-er, or -ande (when the word refers to a person) or -are (when the word refers to an appliance or device). While, There is no inflectional ending in this group after converting into plural.

So, below are examples of nouns according to Group 5 rules. While, these are singular indefinite, plural indefinite and plural definite forms respectively.

ett barn (a child)
två barn (two children)
bárnen (the children)

ett år (a year)
två år (two years)
åren (the years)

ett problem (a problem)
två problem (two problems)
problemen (the problems)

en spelare (a player)
spelare (two players)
spelarna (the players)

ett liv (a life)
två liv (two lives)
liven (the lives)

en tekniker (a technician)
tekniker (two technicians)
teknikerna (the technicians)

There are also some irregular nouns in Swedish, like in English, which do not follow this model (e.g. ‘en man’ / ‘två män’, ‘en fot’ / ‘två fötter’, for ‘man’ and ‘foot’ respectively). Many of them are very common and will therefore be easy to remember.

Learn Swedish A1 Personal Pronouns & Verb conjugation

Grattis! (Congratulations!) So, You’re now prepared to tackle plurals in Swedish language.

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