What you will learn
You can name the rooms of a home and the things in it, and use the definite form, as in bilen and huset.
The at the end
English puts the before a noun. Swedish adds it to the end of the noun. This is called the definite form.
| A | The |
|---|---|
| en bil (a car) | bilen (the car) |
| en lampa (a lamp) | lampan (the lamp) |
| ett hus (a house) | huset (the house) |
| ett foto (a photo) | fotot (the photo) |
An en-word adds en, or only n when it ends in a vowel. An ett-word adds et, or only t when it ends in a vowel. The definite form has no en or ett in front of it.
Rooms
| A | The | English |
|---|---|---|
| en lägenhet | lägenheten | flat |
| ett hus | huset | house |
| ett kök | köket | kitchen |
| ett sovrum | sovrummet | bedroom |
| ett badrum | badrummet | bathroom |
| ett vardagsrum | vardagsrummet | living room |
| en hall | hallen | hall |
| en balkong | balkongen | balcony |
| en dörr | dörren | door |
| ett fönster | fönstret | window |
Things
| A | The | English |
|---|---|---|
| ett bord | bordet | table |
| en stol | stolen | chair |
| en säng | sängen | bed |
| en soffa | soffan | sofa |
| en bok | boken | book |
| en väska | väskan | bag |
| en mobil | mobilen | mobile phone |
| en jacka | jackan | jacket |
Words that change a little
| What the word is like | A | The |
|---|---|---|
| an en-word that ends in el, er or or | en nyckel, en cykel, en syster, en dator | nyckeln, cykeln, systern, datorn |
| an ett-word that ends in er | ett fönster | fönstret |
| a short vowel before m or n | ett rum, en man, en vän | rummet, mannen, vännen |
En-words that end in el, er or or add only n. The ett-word fönster loses the e before r. After a short vowel, m and n are written twice, and this also happens in sovrummet, badrummet and vardagsrummet.
Family words follow the same rules, as in mamman, sonen, dottern and grannen. The definite form of bror is not taught in A1. Say min bror or en bror.
Words from chapter 1
| A | The |
|---|---|
| en kursledare | kursledaren |
| en lärare | läraren |
| en student | studenten |
| en kurs | kursen |
| ett nummer | numret |
| en kod | koden |
Nummer loses one m and the e, so the number is numret.
When to use the definite form
Use the definite form for a thing that both people already know about. Often it has just been named, or there is only one of it, such as the kitchen in a flat.
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Elin har en cykel. Cykeln är i hallen. | Elin has a bike. The bike is in the hall. |
| Lägenheten har ett kök och ett badrum. | The flat has a kitchen and a bathroom. |
| Var är köket? | Where is the kitchen? |
| Huset har tre sovrum. | The house has three bedrooms. |
| Kursledaren heter Elin. | The course leader is called Elin. |
In the first example, the bike is new in the first sentence, so it is en cykel. In the second sentence both people know which bike, so it is cykeln.
Sovrum and the other rum words keep the same form after a number, like barn. So the house has tre sovrum.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| en bilen | bilen | The definite form has no en in front of it. |
| fönsteret | fönstret | Fönster loses the e before r. |
| nyckelen | nyckeln | Nyckel ends in el, so it adds only n. |
| rumet | rummet | After the short vowel, write two m. |