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

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).

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 (shop, 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

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)