{"id":8764,"date":"2020-09-24T18:05:59","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T18:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=8764"},"modified":"2020-09-24T18:05:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T18:05:59","slug":"transforming-words-with-swedish-suffix-het","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/transforming-words-with-swedish-suffix-het\/","title":{"rendered":"Transforming Words with Swedish Suffix -het"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

International Women’s Day, 2017, G\u00f6teborg. Credits: Sofia Sabel\/imagebank.sweden.se<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00c4rlighet, \u00f6ppenhet, verklighet<\/em>\u2026 Honesty, openness, reality. These dynamic words are made possible by the Swedish suffix -het. Its English equivalents are -ty, -ity, and -ness, making it a noun-forming suffix. The three-letter addition of -het transforms simple adjectives into big-concept nouns. Words ending in -het are excellent additions to your intermediate and advanced vocabulary lists.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Old Swedish suffix, –<\/span>het<\/span><\/i> was adopted from German\u2019s <\/span>-heid<\/span><\/i> and English\u2019s <\/span>-hood. <\/span><\/i>Because -het<\/em> is a<\/span> noun-forming suffix, it is able to shift the word\u2019s meaning and part of speech. For example, the adjective <\/span>vilsen<\/span><\/i> means lost. Adding the suffix <\/span>-het<\/span><\/i> changes the word to <\/span>vilsenhet, <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>forlornness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most common endings associated with <\/b>-het<\/i><\/b> is -ity or -ty<\/b><\/p>\n

n\u00f6dv\u00e4ndig<\/span><\/i> \u2192 n\u00f6dv\u00e4ndighet
\n<\/span><\/i>necessary \u2192 necessity <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/i>\u00e4rlig \u2192 \u00e4rlighet
\n<\/span><\/i>honest \u2192 honesty<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the noun has been created, it takes the Swedish article en<\/em> and is declined in this way:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

stillhet \u2192 stillheten \u2192 stillheter \u2192 stillheterna
\n<\/span><\/i>stillness \u2192 the stillness \u2192 stillnesses \u2192 the stillnesses
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Overarching vocabulary<\/strong> pertaining to society, systems, politics, and philosophy, sort of “big picture” nouns, use the -het<\/i> suffix. Many of them are also collective nouns:<\/span><\/p>\n

allm\u00e4nhet <\/span><\/i>\u2192 general public<\/span><\/p>\n

j\u00e4mlikhet <\/span><\/i>\u2192 equality
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>j\u00e4mst\u00e4lldhet <\/span><\/i>\u2192 equality, often refers to gender equality specifically<\/span><\/p>\n

m\u00e4nsklighet<\/span><\/i> \u2192 humanity
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>svenskhet<\/span><\/i> \u2192 Swedishness<\/p>\n

myndighet<\/em> \u2192 authority
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>medvetenhet <\/span><\/i>\u2192 consciousness\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

enhet <\/span><\/i>\u00a0\u2192 unit \/ entity part of a bigger system, can <\/span>also be used for “unity”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

helhet <\/span><\/i>\u2192 in its entirety, wholeness<\/p>\n

<\/span>E<\/em><\/strong>genskaper<\/i> (characteristics) can be transformed into virtues or vices using <\/span>-het<\/span><\/i>. When doing this, the base form of the adjective is used (the form associated with en<\/em>-category nouns), before adding the suffix. For example, the Swedish adjective independent, <\/span>sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndig,<\/span><\/i> has a form for en, ett,<\/em> and plural nouns: <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>en-category\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0ett-category nouns\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 plural nouns\u00a0<\/strong>
\n<\/span>sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndig\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndigt\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndiga <\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>We take the base form <\/span>sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndig, <\/span><\/i>add -het<\/em>, and pang<\/em>, we’ve got<\/span> sj\u00e4lvst\u00e4ndighet<\/span><\/i> (independence)<\/span>.<\/span> As the Swedes would say, <\/span>“l<\/span>\u00e4tt som en pl\u00e4tt”<\/em>, “easy as pancakes.” \ud83d\ude09\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>More examples are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

dum \u2192 dumhet
\n<\/span><\/i>dumb \u2192 <\/i>stupidity<\/p>\n

<\/span>fientlig \u2192 fientlighet
\n<\/span><\/i>hostile \u2192 hostility<\/span><\/p>\n

f\u00f6rsiktig \u2192 f\u00f6rsiktighet
\n<\/span><\/i>careful \u2192 caution<\/span><\/p>\n

girig \u2192 girighet<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span>greedy \u2192 greed<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00f6dmjuk \u2192 \u00f6dmjukhet
\n<\/span><\/i>humble \u2192 humility<\/span><\/p>\n

god\u00a0 \u2192 godhet
\n<\/span><\/i>good \u2192 benevolence<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you having fun shifting parts of speech with -het<\/em>? Oftentimes, -het<\/em> nouns are associated with both a verb and a noun, <\/b>like these:
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
ADJEKTIV\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/td>\nVERB<\/b><\/em><\/td>\n-HET<\/b> NOUN<\/b><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
stor<\/em> \u2192 large<\/span><\/td>\nf\u00f6rstora<\/em> \u2192 to increase size<\/span><\/td>\nstorhet<\/em> \u2192 magnitude<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
blek<\/em> \u2192 pale<\/span><\/td>\nblekna<\/em> \u2192 to fade\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nblekhet<\/em> \u2192 pale\/blandness<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
verklig \u2192 real\/actual<\/em><\/span><\/td>\nf\u00f6rverkliga<\/em> \u2192 to materialize<\/span><\/td>\nverklighet<\/em> \u2192 reality<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
s\u00e4ker<\/em> \u2192 certain<\/span><\/td>\nf\u00f6rs\u00e4kra<\/em> \u2192 to assure<\/span><\/td>\ns\u00e4kerhet<\/em> \u2192 certainty\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\nNext week<\/strong> is the first post of the month, none other than the music blog! I won\u2019t tell you which song we\u2019re studying, but I will say that these three -het<\/em> words are in the first verse:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. bitterhet<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. verklighet\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u00e4ftlighet<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Hmm… which song will it be?! Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

    \u00c4rlighet, \u00f6ppenhet, verklighet\u2026 Honesty, openness, reality. These dynamic words are made possible by the Swedish suffix -het. Its English equivalents are -ty, -ity, and -ness, making it a noun-forming suffix. The three-letter addition of -het transforms simple adjectives into big-concept nouns. Words ending in -het are excellent additions to your intermediate and advanced vocabulary…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":8765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,3079,13],"tags":[364864,110,3442,3446,10125,7744,364872,34680,364865],"class_list":["post-8764","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-swedish-language","category-vocabulary","tag-grammar","tag-nouns","tag-sweden","tag-swedish","tag-swedish-blog","tag-swedish-grammar","tag-swedish-language","tag-swedish-vocabulary","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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