What you will learn
You can name a bus by its number, as in Jag tar sexan, and understand which bus someone means.
Number words for buses
| Number | Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ettan | number one |
| 2 | tvåan | number two |
| 3 | trean | number three |
| 4 | fyran | number four |
| 5 | femman | number five |
| 6 | sexan | number six |
| 7 | sjuan | number seven |
| 8 | åttan | number eight |
| 9 | nian | number nine |
| 10 | tian | number ten |
| 11 | elvan | number eleven |
| 12 | tolvan | number twelve |
People often name a bus or a line by its number, with the ending that means the. Most of these words add -an to the number, as in tre and trean. When the number ends in a, only -n is added, as in fyran. Femman has two m, and nio and tio lose their o, so nian and tian.
Taking a bus
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Jag tar sexan till jobbet. | I take the number six to work. |
| Ta fyran till sjukhuset. | Take the number four to the hospital. |
| Vilken buss tar du? Jag tar elvan. | Which bus do you take? I take the number eleven. |
| Vi åker trean till centrum. | We take the number three to the town center. |
Jag tar buss sex is also correct. Without buss, use the word with -an. It already means the, so no en or ett comes before it.
Good to know
The same kind of word can name other things. En tvåa is a flat with two rooms and a kitchen, and en trea has three rooms and a kitchen. You will hear these words when people talk about where they live.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Jag tar sex. | Jag tar sexan. | Without buss, the bus is sexan. |
| Jag tar en sexan. | Jag tar sexan. | Sexan already means the, so no en. |
| Ta feman. | Ta femman. | Femman has two m. |