{"id":5908,"date":"2012-09-24T12:36:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=5908"},"modified":"2012-09-25T13:07:54","modified_gmt":"2012-09-25T13:07:54","slug":"adjectives-and-specificness-in-swedish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/adjectives-and-specificness-in-swedish\/","title":{"rendered":"Adjectives and specificness in Swedish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adjectives can come either within nominal phrases<\/strong> (for example, en stor<\/span> hund<\/em>, ‘a large<\/span> dog’) or in the predicate<\/strong> (for example, hunden \u00e4r stor<\/span><\/em>, ‘the dog is large<\/span>‘). Depending on where in the syntax of a Swedish sentence the adjective comes, it must be conjugated according to different rules. Here are the rules for uncountable nouns<\/strong>, nouns that you cannot pluralize.<\/p>\n

If you’re describing an uncountable noun<\/strong> such as mj\u00f6lk<\/em> (‘milk’) or vatten<\/em> (‘water’) within a nominal phrase, you conjugate the adjective based on the gender of the noun it describes. For example:<\/p>\n

billig_ mj\u00f6lk<\/em> – mj\u00f6lk<\/em> is of the common or ‘-n’-gender, so billig<\/em> remains billig<\/em>.<\/p>\n

billigt<\/span> vatten<\/em> – vatten<\/em> is of the neuter or ‘-t’-gender, so billig<\/em> must be conjugated to billigt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you are talking about specific<\/strong> milk, the definite form requires the definite conjugation of the adjective, regardless of the gender of the noun it describes:<\/p>\n

den billiga<\/span> mj\u00f6lken<\/em> – the inexpensive milk<\/p>\n

det billiga<\/span> vattnet<\/em> – the inexpensive water<\/p>\n

In the predicate, however, one usually uses the neuter or ‘-t’-conjugation of the adjective when describing an unspecific<\/strong> instance of an uncountable noun, regardless of the noun’s gender:<\/p>\n

Mj\u00f6lk \u00e4r billigt<\/span>.<\/em> – Milk is inexpensive.<\/p>\n

Vatten \u00e4r billigt<\/span>.<\/em><\/em> – Water is inexpensive.<\/p>\n

Mj\u00f6lk och vatten \u00e4r billigt<\/span>.<\/em> – Milk and water are inexpensive.<\/p>\n

However, again, if you are referring to specific<\/strong> milk or water, you conjugate adjectives in the predicate according to the gender of the nouns they describe:<\/p>\n

Den mj\u00f6lken \u00e4r billig_.<\/em> – That milk is inexpensive.<\/p>\n

Det vattnet \u00e4r billigt<\/span><\/em>. – That water is inexpensive.<\/p>\n

Den mj\u00f6lken och det vattnet \u00e4r billiga<\/span>.<\/em> – That milk and that water are inexpensive.<\/p>\n

It may seem very complicated, but remember, \u00f6vning ger f\u00e4rdighet<\/em> – practice makes perfect! That is the key to learning anything, especially languages, so don’t forget it! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adjectives can come either within nominal phrases (for example, en stor hund, ‘a large dog’) or in the predicate (for example, hunden \u00e4r stor, ‘the dog is large‘). Depending on where in the syntax of a Swedish sentence the adjective comes, it must be conjugated according to different rules. Here are the rules for uncountable…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,3079],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5908","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","category-swedish-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t