ADJECTIVES

ADJECTIVES

In English, adjectives never change their form. In Swedish however, they change all the time—in fact, they have to! Just like German, Spanish or French, adjectives in Swedish have to agree with the noun they modify.

This means, that Swedish adjectives have different forms depending on whether the noun is definite or indefinite, whether it’s singular or plural, and whether it’s an en or anett word.

Indefinite forms

When an adjective is used with an indefinite noun, such as en fisk or ett hus, it changes according to the form of the noun it modifies.

For singular en-words, the suffix is -Ø (i.e. nothing at all), meaning the adjective is identical to the basic form:
en stor fisk, en gul bil, en snäll hund.

For singular ett-words, the suffix -t is added to the basic form:
ett stort hus, ett gult bord, ett snällt meddelande.

For plural words, the ending is always -a, regardless of the gender of the word:
stora fiskar/hus, gula bilar/bord, snälla hundar/meddelanden.

Singular en	Singular ett	Plural en/ett
-Ø	-t	-a
stor	stort	stora
gul	gult	gula
snäll	snällt	snälla

Definite forms

If the noun is definite, the adjective takes the ending -a in all cases, no matter gender or number. What’s important to note, however, is that whenever a definite noun is used together with an adjective, an article is placed in front of the adjective. This article is denfor singular en-words, det for singular ett-words, and de for plural words (note that de is pronounced as ‘dom’).

en stor fisk → den stora fisken
ett gult bord → det gula bordet
snälla hundar → de snälla hundarna

This article is mandatory—the only time it isn’t used is in proper names and epithets:Svarta Havet ‘the Black Sea’, Röda Torget ‘the Red Square’, Vita Huset ‘the White House’.

The definite form of the adjective is also used with possessives, even though the noun itself is not definite:

min fisk → min stora fisk
ditt bord → ditt gula bord
Eriks hundar → Eriks snälla hundar

In addition to the definite -a form, there is also a definite form ending in -e. This form is used in the singular when the noun being referred to is male (and would be referred to as han as opposed to den):
den store mannen, den nye ministern, den kloke pappan.
It is common in epithets referring to men:
Lille Prinsen ‘the Little Prince’, Alexander den Store ‘Alexander the Great’.

It should be noted that this masculine form is optional in the written language, and usually absent in colloquial Swedish, the exception being in names and titles such as those mentioned above.

Singular en	Singular ett	Plural en/ett
(den) -a	(det) -a	(de) -a
(den) stora	(det) stora	(de) stora
(den) gula	(det) gula	(de) gula
(den) snälla	(det) snälla	(de) snälla

Alternative patterns

There are a number of adjectives not conforming to the pattern described above. Some of these are irregular, but most of them can be grouped together in the patterns shown below.

Singular en	Singular ett	Plural/Definite
egen, öppen	eget, öppet	egna, öppna
fri, ny	fritt, nytt	fria, nya
röd, glad	rött, glatt	röda, glada
hård, stängd	hårt, stängt	hårda, stängda
skalad, älskad	skalat, älskat	skalade, älskade
trött, rätt	trött, rätt	trötta, rätta
tyst, exakt	tyst, exakt	tysta, exakta
sann, tunn	sant, tunt	sanna, tunna
dum, långsam (short vowel)	dumt, långsamt	dumma, långsamma
enkel, vacker	enkelt, vackert	enkla, vackra

Irregular adjectives

Some adjectives simply do not change at all, just like in English. These generally end in -s, -e or -a:

en bra film, ett bra hus, bra personer
den bra filmen, det bra huset, de bra personerna

en främmande film, ett främmande hus, främmande personer
den främmande filmen, det främmande huset, de främmande personerna

A couple of adjectives have irregular forms:

en liten pojke, ett litet hus, små katter
den lille/lilla pojken, det lilla huset, de små katterna

en gammal man, ett gammalt hus, gamla katter
den gamle/gamla mannen, det gamla huset, de gamla katterna