Hej allihopa! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n
This is the first part in a series of three (3) posts that will tell you all about how to say “this” and “that” in Swedish. In this first part, I will talk about how to say “this”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So, how do you say “this” in Swedish? There are two ways:\u00a0den h\u00e4r<\/strong><\/em> and\u00a0denna<\/strong><\/em>. Both have the same meaning but grammatically they are used slightly differently. In this first post, I will talk about\u00a0den h\u00e4r<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n When used before a noun, den h\u00e4r<\/em> must be accompanied by the definite form of the noun specified<\/strong>. For example:<\/p>\n den h\u00e4r<\/span> stolen<\/em> \u2013 this<\/span> chair<\/p>\n First, you have den h\u00e4r<\/em>, “this”, and then stolen<\/em>, which could be translated literally as “the chair”. “This the chair” may not make any sense in English, but that is exactly how you express “this chair” in Swedish. In other words, it would be incorrect<\/span> to say:<\/p>\n *den h\u00e4r stol<\/em><\/p>\n In this construction, the noun must be in definite form<\/strong>. It might help to think of the definite form not as literally the “the”-form, but as a form that confirms that it is a certain stol<\/em> you are referring to. In this way, it makes total sense to use the definite form with a pronoun such as “this”.<\/p>\n The form den h\u00e4r<\/em> is used with nouns of common gender, or \u201cn-gender\u201d. For nouns of neuter gender, or “t-gender”<\/strong>,\u00a0den h\u00e4r<\/em> must be substituted for\u00a0det h\u00e4r<\/em><\/strong>. As an example:<\/p>\n det h\u00e4r<\/span> pianot<\/em> \u2013 this<\/span> piano<\/p>\n Note that pianot<\/em>, like stolen<\/em>, is and must be in definite form.<\/p>\n Finally, for plural nouns, regardless of gender, the form you use is\u00a0de h\u00e4r<\/em><\/strong>, literally meaning “these”:<\/p>\n de h\u00e4r<\/span> stolarna<\/em> \u2013 these<\/span> chairs Since we are talking about several chairs and several pianos, and we are specifying which particular chairs and pianos, the plural definite form is used here. It\u2019s not just stol<\/em> (“chair”) or stolar<\/em> (“chairs”), but stolarna<\/em> “the chairs”. And it\u2019s not just piano<\/em> (“piano”) or pianon<\/em> (“pianos”), but pianona<\/em> (“the pianos”).<\/p>\n All three forms, den h\u00e4r<\/em>, det h\u00e4r<\/em> and de h\u00e4r<\/em>, can also be used independently<\/strong>. If you are referring to a specific thing of common gender, you can simply say den h\u00e4r<\/em>:<\/p>\n Jag vill ha den h\u00e4r<\/span>.<\/em> \u2013 I want this<\/span> (one).<\/p>\n If you are referring to something of neuter gender, you can simply say det h\u00e4r<\/em>. Imagine pointing at two different houses on the street:<\/p>\n Jag vill k\u00f6pa det h\u00e4r<\/span> huset, men han vill k\u00f6pa det h\u00e4r<\/span>.<\/em> \u2013 I want to buy this<\/span> house, but he wants to buy this one<\/span>.<\/p>\n The neuter det h\u00e4r<\/em> can also be used to refer to the current general state of affairs<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Jag \u00e4lskar det h\u00e4r<\/span>!<\/em> \u2013 I love this<\/span>! And, of course, de h\u00e4r<\/em> can also be used independently:<\/p>\n De h\u00e4r<\/span> kvinnorna sprang f\u00f6rbi tidigare.<\/em> \u2013 These<\/span> women ran by earlier.<\/p>\n Hope I was able to teach you something! Next time I will talk about how to use\u00a0denna<\/em>, another word meaning “this”. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hej allihopa! \ud83d\ude00 This is the first part in a series of three (3) posts that will tell you all about how to say “this” and “that” in Swedish. In this first part, I will talk about how to say “this”. So, how do you say “this” in Swedish? There are two ways:\u00a0den h\u00e4r and\u00a0denna…<\/p>\n
\nde h\u00e4r<\/span> pianona<\/em> \u2013 these<\/span> pianos<\/p>\n
\nDet h\u00e4r<\/span> suger!<\/em> \u2013 This<\/span> sucks!<\/p>\n