{"id":5600,"date":"2012-06-29T17:31:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T17:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=5600"},"modified":"2012-06-29T17:44:36","modified_gmt":"2012-06-29T17:44:36","slug":"countable-vs-uncountable-nouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/countable-vs-uncountable-nouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Countable vs. uncountable nouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

In English, there are countable nouns and uncountable nouns. An example of a countable noun in English is “cat”. It is considered a countable noun because there can be one or several instances of “cat”. Uncountable nouns, such as “music”, cannot have several instances – you cannot have *”one music” nor *”two musics”. It’s just called “music”. Some nouns can even be countable and uncountable at the same time, such as “[I bought] soda<\/span> [at the store]”, “[I bought] a soda<\/span> [at the store]”.<\/p>\n

In Swedish, the same rules apply. You can have en katt<\/em> or tv\u00e5 katter<\/em> without issue, while like in English, you cannot have *en musik<\/em> nor *tv\u00e5 musiker<\/em>. (Don’t get the made-up word *musiker<\/em> confused with the real word musiker<\/em>, which means “musician”.) The word for “soda”\/”pop”\/”soft drink” in Swedish is l\u00e4sk[en]<\/em>, and just like in English, this word can be either countable or uncountable: [Jag k\u00f6pte] l\u00e4sk<\/span> [i aff\u00e4ren]<\/em>, [Jag k\u00f6pte] en l\u00e4sk<\/span> [i aff\u00e4ren]<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Most of the words that are countable, uncountable, or both in English are also countable\/uncountable\/both in Swedish. One thing that Swedish has that English does not, however, is noun gender. And gender occasionally likes to be weird. Take for example the word \u00f6l<\/em>, or “beer”; in uncountable form it is a neuter word (\u00f6l[et]<\/em>), while in countable form it is a common word ([en] \u00f6l<\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00d6let<\/span> vi drack hos Mange ig\u00e5r smakade \u00e4ckligt.<\/em> – The beer<\/span> we drank at Mange’s [place] yesterday tasted gross.<\/p>\n

Jag tog en \u00f6l<\/span> hos Mange ig\u00e5r.<\/em> – I took a beer<\/span> at Mange’s [place] yesterday.<\/p>\n

A similar case is the word godis<\/em>, or “candy”, “sweets”:<\/p>\n

Vi \u00e5t godis[et]<\/span> n\u00e4r vi var p\u00e5 bio.<\/em> – We ate [the] candy<\/span> when we were at the cinema.<\/p>\n

Ta en godis<\/span><\/em>\/n\u00e5gra godisar<\/span> fr\u00e5n godisp\u00e5sen.<\/em> – Take a candy<\/span>\/some candies<\/span> from the candy bag.<\/p>\n

But this is far from always the case – l\u00e4sk<\/em>, as shown earlier, retains its common gender in both countable and uncountable form ([en] l\u00e4sk<\/em>; l\u00e4sken<\/em>).<\/p>\n

(Please note that countable and uncountable form are not<\/span> the same as indefinite and definite form, respectively. Countable means that the object can be counted – “one cat”, “two cats”, “the cat”, “the cats”. Uncountable means that the object (often abstract) cannot be counted – *”one music”, *”two musics” but “the music”. Indefinite vs. definite form, on the other hand, make up the difference between “a cat” and “the cat”; “two cats” and “the cats”; “music” and “the music”.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In English, there are countable nouns and uncountable nouns. An example of a countable noun in English is “cat”. It is considered a countable noun because there can be one or several instances of “cat”. Uncountable nouns, such as “music”, cannot have several instances – you cannot have *”one music” nor *”two musics”. It’s just…<\/p>\n

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