Hi again!
Welcome to the fourth part of our “Learn Swedish” series. These posts serve as an introduction to our online Swedish courses. In this entry, we discuss adjectives – the words we use to describe beings or things, like in en bra kille (“a good guy”) or en bra soffa (“a good couch”). In Swedish, adjectives can denote stable properties (e.g. en hård stol – “a hard chair”) or temporary states (öppna ögon – “open eyes”). As we’ll see, Swedish contains clearly more nuance and detail than English when it comes to adjectives, so you’ll want to spend some time on this – ideally practicing with a teacher in a Swedish course.
Agreement and inflection
Adjectives in Swedish agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. The basic principle is that each adjective has a base form, which is used when describing an en-word: en rolig film (“a funny film”). The -t form is used with ett-words: ett roligt barn (“a funny child”), and the -a form is used for plural nouns: roliga barn (“funny children”).
However, there are variations – here are some common patterns, along with links where you can listen to the pronunciation and practice:
god – gott – goda: en god dag (a good day), ett gott bröd (a good bread), flera goda dagar (several good days)
intresserad – intresserat – intresserade: en intresserad elev (an interested student), ett intresserat barn (an interested child), många intresserade studenter (many interested students)
blå – blått – blåa: en blå penna (a blue pen), ett blått hav (a blue sea), många blåa pennor (many blue pens)
svart – svart – svarta: en svart katt (a black cat), ett svart hus (a black house), flera svarta katter (several black cats)
dum – dumt – dumma: en dum idé (a stupid idea), ett dumt fel (a stupid error), dumma misstag (stupid mistakes)
vacker – vackert – vackra: en vacker dag (a beautiful day), ett vackert brev (a beautiful letter), vackra minnen (beautiful memories)
liten – litet – små: en liten flicka (a small girl), ett litet barn (a small child), två små flickor (two small girls)
Note: Some adjectives do not change form. For example, bra (“good”), gratis (“free”), and fel (“wrong”) are indeclinable – you say en bra dag, ett bra hus, flera bra dagar.
Let’s listen and repeat:
Three combinations with nouns
When we combine an adjective with a noun, three main combinations occur.
1) Indefinite + indefinite.
This means the adjective is inflected for agreement and the noun is in the indefinite form. This pattern is used with the indefinite article, numbers and certain indefinite pronouns. Examples:
En snäll kompis — A kind friend
Något snällt barn — Some kind child
Två snälla kompisar — Two kind friends
2) Definite (adjective) + indefinite (noun).
We use this pattern with possessive pronouns (min, din, etc.) and the genitive (Carls, Jennys, etc.). In these cases we use the -a form on the adjective to mark that we are talking about something specific, while the noun itself remains in the indefinite form. Examples:
Min snälla kompis — My kind friend
Jennys snälla barn — Jenny’s kind child
Deras snälla kompisar — Their kind friends
This pattern can feel odd at first because we use the -a ending on the adjective even when we refer to more than one thing, while the noun is in indefinite form. A helpful way to think about it is that the possessive or genitive replaces the definite article (as it often does in English) — after all, we wouldn’t say “Jenny’s the car”; we say “Jenny’s car.”
3) Definite + definite.
This pattern is used with definite and demonstrative pronouns. Because we are talking about a particular thing, we mark it both with the -a adjective form and the noun’s definite form — something English handles differently. Examples:
Den snälla kompisen — The kind friend
Det snälla barnet — The kind child
De här snälla barnen — These kind children
Let’s listen and repeat:
Comparatives and superlatives
To compare qualities, Swedish usually adds -are for the comparative and -ast (or -aste in the definite form) for the superlative.
For example:
dyr – dyrare – dyrast (expensive – more expensive – most expensive).
Adjectives ending in -isk or longer participial forms (for example typisk, irriterad) use mer (more) and mest (most) instead:
mer typisk – mest typisk (more typical – most typical)
mer irriterad – mest irriterad (more annoyed – most annoyed).
There are also irregular comparatives, which you simply have to memorize. Some of the most common ones are:
stor – större – störst (big – bigger – biggest)
liten – mindre – minst (small – smaller – smallest)
gammal – äldre – äldst (old – older – oldest)
ung – yngre – yngst (young – younger – youngest)
hög – högre – högst (high – higher – highest)l
åg – lägre – lägst (low – lower – lowest)
lång – längre – längst (long – longer – longest)
bra – bättre – bäst (good – better – best)
dålig – sämre – sämst (bad – worse – worst)
These irregular forms are among the most frequent adjectives in Swedish, so it’s well worth taking the time to learn them early.
Lets listen and repeat:
Other notes
Adjectives can also stand on their own in Swedish. For example, Jag vill ha en ny means “I want a new one,” with ny (“new”) functioning as a noun.
Here’s another tip: Swedish adjectives often turn into adverbs by adding -t. For example, vacker (“beautiful”) → vackert (“beautifully”), snabb (“fast”) → snabbt (“quickly”), and so on. While adjectives describe people or things, adverbs describe actions. Compare: Han är vacker (“He is beautiful”) and Han spelar piano vackert (“He plays the piano beautifully”). But more on that in our next post.
Practice for Yourself!
- Pick three adjectives you use often (e.g. stor – big, ny – new, snabb – fast). For each, make an en-phrase, an ett-phrase, and plural.
- Write a short Swedish sentence using each adjective with an appropriate noun. Then turn the noun into plural and adjust the adjective.
- For one adjective, try the comparative and superlative forms (e.g. stor – större – störst).
Example:
stor – big
Jag kör en stor bil. (I drive a big car.)
Jag kör två stora bilar. (I drive two big cars.)
This way you practice the patterns in your own Swedish. Good luck, and keep building those sentences!