Let’s talk about numbers today.

I know, I know, another boring topic. But unfortunately, an important topic. And judging from the number of mistakes I hear when it comes to numbers (yes, I’m trying to be clever here), also a necessary one.

You see, Swedish numbers appear to be deceptively similar to English. So similar, in fact, that some people think they can just follow the English pattern and all will be fine. Well, in reality, it’s not quite that simple – and I’m talking here about ordinal numbers, of course.

But since I’ve been asked to explain some of the terms I use on this blog as I go along, let’s cover the basics first.
Cardinal numbers (grundtal) are used for counting – they show quantity. In other words, they are your garden variety numbers you most likely learned first:

• 1-    ett, en
• 2-    två
• 3-    tre
• 4-    fyra

and so on.

And then come ordinal numbers (ordningstal)– they are those pesky little things that show the order of things, as in:

• 1st – första
• 2nd – andra
• 3rd – tredje
• 4th – fjärde
• 5th – femte
• 6th – sjätte
• 7th – sjunde
• 8th – åttonde
• 9th – nionde
• 10th – tionde

Seems very basic, isn’t it? But you need to look at them carefully. What’s a more or less regular ordinal number in English, such as 4th, is a goofy irregular-looking “fjärde” in Swedish. Now, how did they come up with this one from “fyra”, huh?

It gets even goofier when you reach 6 – “sex” in Swedish (get your mind out of the gutter, OK? This is numbers we’re talking about here). The ordinal version of “sex” is “sjätte” (sixth), NOT sexte.

Now you see that Swedish ordinals are a bit more irregular than their English equivalents – a fact that many beginning learners tend to forget. Add to that the sometimes difficult pronunciation of sjätte and sjunde (though that depends on the region) and you can understand why ordinal numbers can be a bit frustrating. But remember – the more you use them, the easier they become!