The three forms
Every Swedish adjective has (at least) three forms: the en-form, the ett-form, and the plural/definite form.
| Form | When to use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Base (en-form) | With indefinite en-words | en stor bil (a big car) |
| +t (ett-form) | With indefinite ett-words | ett stort hus (a big house) |
| +a (plural/definite) | With plurals or definite nouns | stora bilar / den stora bilen |
With indefinite nouns
Use the base form with en-words and the -t form with ett-words.
en vacker dag
a beautiful day
ett vackert landskap
a beautiful landscape
en dyr jacka
an expensive jacket
ett dyrt vin
an expensive wine
With definite nouns
With a definite noun (using den/det/de), the adjective always takes the -a ending. This is the definite form of the adjective.
den vackra dagen
the beautiful day
det vackra landskapet
the beautiful landscape
de stora bilarna
the big cars
Definite = always -a. It doesn't matter if the noun is en, ett, or plural — the adjective just takes -a.
Irregular adjectives
Some common adjectives have irregular forms, especially in the ett-form.
| en-form | ett-form | Plural/definite | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| liten | litet | små | small |
| gammal | gammalt | gamla | old |
| bra | bra | bra | good |
| blå | blått | blåa/blå | blue |
Practice
Test yourself — 6 quick exercises on this topic.
1 of 6
Fill in the blank:
en ___ bil (big)