Around the House with Swedish Nouns! Posted by Chelsea B on Apr 14, 2020 in Culture, Grammar, Swedish Language, Vocabulary
People all around the world have been spending a lot more time in their homes. For better or for worse, I thought that we take advantage of this time to review some nouns associated with the home. We’ll cover some basics, as well as touch on a few låneord, borrowed words, from other languages.
For my students who love to drill themselves on vocabulary, I direct them to Bildetema’s vocabulary module. It’s a little old school, but they have loads of categories and their interactive platform means you can click on an illustration, see the vocabulary word, and hear it pronounced. I’ll highlight a few words from their bostad och möbler, housing and furniture list, and will add some of my own. You ready?!
Now before you skip over the basics – have you mastered all of the singular and plural forms of these words?
ett rum a room
-> rummet -> rum -> rummen
ett vardagsrum a living room
-> vardagsrummet -> vardagsrum -> vardagsrummen
ett sovrum a bedroom
-> rummet, and so on, as conjugated as above
en hall a hall
-> hallen -> hallar -> hallarna
ett kök a kitchen
-> köket -> kök -> köken
ett golv a floor
-> golvet -> golv -> golven
en vägg a wall
-> väggen -> väggar -> väggarna
ett tak a roof
-> taket -> tak -> taken
Swedish has many borrowed words from other languages. These word groups pay homage (see what I did there?) to a time in history where Sweden was particularly influenced by another culture. For example, in the 1700’s the Swedish upper-class thought that French culture and their way of living was all the mode, or fashion. Thus, we see many words borrowed from French to describe things around the home.
ett fönster a window
-> fönstret -> fönster -> fönstren
en fåtölj an armchair
->fåtöljen -> fåtöljer -> fåtöljerna
en terass a terrace / deck
-> terassen -> terasser -> terasserna
en byrå a bureau
-> byrån -> byråer -> byråerna
en garderob a closet
-> garderoben -> garderober -> garderoberna
ett paraply an umbrella
->paraplyet -> paraply -> paraplyer -> paraplyer
*OBS – this noun is irregular, and sometimes can be assigned an “en” in singular
en möbel a piece of furniture
-> möbeln -> möbler -> möblerna
Today though, we see most borrowed words come from English, especially related to business, and technology. A few simple ones found around the house are:
en teve a T.V.
-> teven *for the plural of this word you’ll often see -apparat attached to teve,
-> teve-apparater -> teve-apparaterna
en radio a radio
-> radion *same thing here for plural, attach -apparat to radio
-> radio-apparater -> radio-apparaterna
en mobil a mobile phone
-> mobilen -> mobiler -> mobilerna
And some other quite useful words around the house:
en tavla a painting / hanging art
-> tavlan -> tavlor -> tavlorna
en gardin a curtain
-> gardinen -> gardiner -> gardinerna
*add rull- to the front of any of these forms of gardin for “rolling curtains”
en krukväxt a potted plant
-> krukväxten -> krukväxter -> krukväxterna
en bokhylla a book shelf
->bokhyllan -> bokhyllor -> bokhyllorna
* en hylla by itself is shelf
en papperskorg a waste basket
-> papperskorgen -> papperskorgar -> papperskorgarna
en galge a hanger
-> galgen -> galgar -> galgarna
ett skohorn a shoe horn
-> skohornet -> skohorn -> skohornen
ett eluttag an electrical outlet
-> eluttaget -> eluttag -> eluttagen
en bänk a bench
-> bänken -> bänkar -> bänkarna
ett soffbord a coffee table
-> soffbordet -> soffbord -> soffborden
*bord on its own means table and is an ett-word
Did you know some or all of these words? Some students like to make sticky notes and label objects around the house. What other strategies do you have for memorizing vocab?
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Comments:
Corinne:
tack så mycket ,jag gillar att lära svenska med din blog.
Chelsea B:
@Corinne Underbart, Corinne! Tack själv!
Liz S:
I didn’t know about Bildetema! Tack för this resource!
Chelsea B:
@Liz S Åh vad bra! Like I said, a little old school, but still pretty fantastisk!