Scandinavian language challenge day 8

Today I worked through the second chapter of Swedish in three months, covering:

  • object pronouns
  • verbs: present tense
  • sentence building: questions and answers
  • negatives
  • question word: who, what
  • plural of the definitive article
  • the preposition på
  • numbers 11-20
  • other words

Object pronouns


Me
You (familiar)
You (polite)
Him
Her
It (common)
It (neuter)
Us
You (pl. fam)
You (pl. pol)
They

Danish
mig
dig
Dem
ham
hende
den
det
os
jer
Dem
dem

Swedish
mig
dig

honom
henne
den
Det
oss
er

dem

Verbs: present tense

There are 4 classes of verbs. Class 1 adds -ar to the stem, class 2 adds -er to the stem, class 3 adds -r to the stem and class 4 adds -er to a stem ending in a consonant and -r to a stem ending in a vowel. The stem is the infinitive minus the final -a (if there is one). Here is one verb from each class. Two verbs are included for class 4 (one each ending in a consonant and one ending in a vowel).

Class
1
2
3
4
4

Infinitive
jobba (work)
köpa (buy)
bo (live)
komma (come)
gå (go)

Present tense
jobbar
köper
bor
kommer
går

The same ending is used for all persons of the singular and plural.

A few verbs having a stem ending in -r add no ending in the present tense. For example, the present tense of hör (class 2, hear) is hör.


Åka and gå
Gå means to walk or attend. Examples:
gå i skolen = go to school;
gå på bio = go to the cinema

Åka means to go more generally. Example:
aka tåg = go by train


Some verbs (like English or German):

  • skriver (write); snöar (snow); talar (talk, speak); ser (see); dricker (drink); studera (study); stiger av (get off); tänker (think)

Some other verbs:

  • görer (do); får (get); tittar (look); stannar (stop, stay); tror (think, believe); väntar (wait)

Word order

In simple sentences:

  • the verb always comes second
  • if the subject does not come before the verb, it comes immediately after it.

Negation

The negative particle inte (compare Danish ikke) usually goes:

  • immediately after the verb it is negating.
  • after an object pronoun. Example: Vi ser henne inte
  • but immediately after the verb if the object pronoun follows a preposition. Example: Vi tittar inte på henne. We don’t look at her.
  • after the subject if the subject and verb are inverted. Example:
    Idag kommer han inte. Today he’s not coming.

Some other common adverbs (for example, aldrig = never) go in the same position as inte.

Icke or inte is sometimes used instead of inte, for example in notices prohibiting something.
Ej rökning. No smoking.

Question words: who, what

Question words include hur (how), när (when), var (where), vem (who), vad (what) varför (why), varifrån (where from, which can be split into: var … ifrån).

Vilken means which and inflects for gender and number: vilken (common gender nouns), vilket (neuter nouns), vilka (plural).

Vem (who) refera only to one person. Use vilka for more than one person:
Vem är hän? Who is he?
Vilka är de? Who are they?

In exclamations, vad is used:
Vad brav! How nice!
Vad duktig du är! How clever you are!

The preposition på

This preposition has many uses:

  • to express place, for example: på golvet (on the floor); på bordet (on the table); på väggen (on the wall); pa gatan (in/on the street); på torget (on/in the square); på kontoret (at the office)
  • to express time, for example: på söndag (on Sunday); på hösten (in the autumn); pa kvällen (in the evening)
  • with verbs, for example: se på (look at); titta på (look at); höra på (listen to); vänta på (wait for); tänka på (think of)
  • with adjectives, for example: säker på (sure of); trött på (tired of); bra på (good at)

Numbers 11 to 20

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

elva
tolv
tretton
fjorton
femton
sexton
sjutton
arton
nitton
tjugo

Plural of definite article

The plural definite article is the following suffix:

  • -na for most nouns (examples: flickorna (the girls); pojkarna (the boys); städerna (the towns
  • -a for neuter nouns that form their plural by adding -n. Example: äpplarna (the apples) from äpplen (apples)
  • -en for nouns that add no ending in the plural. Example: barnen (the children)
  • -na for -nouns that denote people and end in -are, -er, -ende, -ande in both singular and plural. (those ending in -are first delete the final -e). Examples: lärarna the teachers); belgierna (the Belgians); studerandena (the students).

The indefinite and definite plural of man (=man) are irregular: män, männen.

Some of the other words in this chapter

Nouns (like English or German):

  • båt (-en, -ar, boat); buss (-en, ar, bus); varuhus (department store); skola (-n, -r, school); tåg (-et, -, train); å (-et, -, year); studerande (student(s)); student (-en, er, student); lärare (teacher(s)); skida (-n, -or, ski)
  • skog (-en, -ar, forest); kväll (-en, -ar, evening)

Other nouns:

  • affär (-en, -er, shop); kontor (-t, -, office); tidning (-en, -ar, newspaper)

Adjectives: gammal (old); duktig (gifted, proficient, German tüchtig, English doughty); sä (sure)

Prepositions: från; til (to); mellan (between, Danish mellem); vid (at); fram til (up to: fram = forward);

Other words and phrases: imorgen (tomorrow); idag (today); nu (now); snart (soon); så (so); hele dagen (all day); ofta (often), för (too); eller (or); där (there); sedan (then, after that); hem (home); att (that)

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