A Little Bit About Adjectives Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 19, 2008 in Grammar
It’s grammar time today, because we can’t have just fun and games all the time. I want you to learn something really useful here, even if only occasionally. 🙂
When talking about “jobbig” I briefly mentioned the rules regarding Swedish adjectives. That when an adjective describes an “ett” noun, it gets a “-t” ending. And when it describes a plural noun, then the ending of that adjective gets an “-a”.
For example:
- grön = green, when used with “en” nouns, indefinite
- grönt = green, when used with “ett” nouns, indefinite
- gröna = green when used with plural nouns.
Seems simple enough. “But wait!” you may say. “It’s not that simple!”
And you are right. Unfortunately.
There are bunches and bunches of “irregular” adjectives, which do what they please. In some forms they change, or they don’t, or they change in a whole different way altogether.
Here are some examples:
- liten = small, with “en” words, indefinite
- litet = small, with “ett” words, indefinite
but get this:
- små = small, with plural words
Now, how’s that for funky, huh?
- kort = short, with “en” words, indefinite
- kort = short, with “ett” words, indefinite
and finally:
- korta = short, with plural nouns
Adjectives “lätt” and “trött” behave in the same way:
- lätt/ lätt/ lätta = easy, light
and
- trött/ trött/ trötta = tired
Among the most common nouns used every day, there is one serious oddity, and that is “bra” (good). Bra always stays the same, no matter the noun, like this:
- en bra film = a good film
- ett bra job = a good job
- bra bocker = good books
Then there are some adjectives that change like they’re supposed to, however they do it in a slightly offbeat way. Take a look:
- gammal = old (en nouns, indefinite)
- gammalt = old (ett nouns, indefinite)
but watch this:
- gamla = old (plural nouns)
Or this one:
- vacker = beautiful (en nouns, indefinite)
- vackert = beautiful (ett nouns, indefinite)
but something happens here:
- vackra = beautiful (plural)
To make it even more confusing, that “plural” adjective form is also used for definite nouns, both “en” and “ett”. But we’ll discuss it in another post.
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Comments:
ce:
hej anna! hur mar du?
yesterday i was on a swedish s class and i learnt “jättelätt” …i liked that word!
it is very clear your explanation here, and i think one may have a cup of strong coffee before to sit and learn swedish adjectives! heheh
take care, vi ses!
ceci
Adrienne:
Hejsan Anna!
I love your blog, it helps to clear up some things as I learn them. Could you explain a little about partikelverb? As it stands now, I’m doomed to misunderstanding people because of them.
Anna:
Hi Adrienne!
I’ll see what I can do for you!
Ce,
how’s your Swedish coming along? 😉
CE:
hej anna, jag talar svenska nu, ! hehehe very well, on november we ll try to pass SWEDEX EXAM ( i think is for the first level of SFI ) AND WE ARE LEARNING WITH A SWEDISH TEACHER NOW, BUT SHE LIVES IN BUENOS AIRES, AND WE ARE 4 HOURS FROM BUENOS AIRES! WE TRAVEL ONCE A MONTH, AND THEN WITH A BOOK, I THINK IT IS GREAT, SOM HETER RIVSTART DO YOU KNOW IT? IT IS USEFUL AND VERY ACTUAL. IT HAS CD TOO…THANKS FOR ASK! THE TRIP WE LL BE IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH! VI SKA FIKA1 DONT FORGET IT! HEHEHE KISSES, CECI
CE:
my god! what a long comment! hehe
Anna:
Ce!
Great! Good luck with your exam! 🙂
Lelia:
Hiya Anna,
I found this really interesting article abt Swedish archaelogy. Which email address do I use to post it to you. Great info on Swedish customer service. Is the turnover rate very high in Sweden for that service industry and also has that industry been outsourced abroad?
Anna:
Hi Lelia!
I sent you an email with my email address! Thanks!
When it comes to customer service I think it’s mostly indifference that’s to blame. Most people here are union members, so their jobs are more or less secure regardless of how efficiently they perform them. It’s slowly changing, though, I’m happy to report!
And when it comes to service industry being outsourced, it’s not to India, but to Eastern European call centers. Personally I must say that I prefer to deal with a help-desk person in Estonia or Slovakia than in Sweden. They are polite, kind and try very hard to solve whatever problem you might have.
hgvlgv:
Some really goods comments. Swedish must be hard to learn
Stevehilson1:
Wallace School of Transport are the most respected lorry bus coach driving training school in the country, Londons first choice for operator and driver training, with the most comprehensive training services in the South East.
Diana:
This clears up SO much confusion I had about genders. Small things make all the difference
Niroula:
Hi
I had a question if there are sentences like (Det är kallt på vintern) where we are not using bestämd and obestaämd form of noun how can we decide which form of adjective we should use?
Sulaiman:
Hej
Can you please tell me how to make all the three form of adjective in swedish