The two genders
Every Swedish noun is either an en-word (common gender) or an ett-word (neuter gender). This affects which article you use, how you form the definite, and how adjectives agree. There's no shortcut to learning which is which — but there are patterns.
en bok
a book
ett hus
a house
en stol
a chair
ett bord
a table
Patterns that help
While you need to memorise the gender of each noun, these patterns cover many common words.
| Pattern | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| People & animals | en | en kvinna, en hund, en lärare |
| Words ending in -a | en (usually) | en flicka, en skola, en gata |
| Words ending in -ing | en | en tidning, en övning, en ändring |
| Words ending in -het | en | en frihet, en möjlighet, en svårighet |
| Words ending in -tion | en | en station, en nation, en lektion |
| Words ending in -ande/-ende | ett | ett möte (meeting) – but see tip |
| Verbal nouns (actions) | ett | ett arbete, ett försök, ett samtal |
The patterns aren't foolproof. 'En pojke' (a boy) ends in -e but is still an en-word. Always learn the article together with the noun.
Why it matters
Getting en/ett right affects the whole noun phrase: the definite form (-en vs -et), adjective agreement (stor/stort), and demonstratives (den/det). It's worth building the habit early.
en stor bok → den stora boken
a big book → the big book
ett stort hus → det stora huset
a big house → the big house
Practice
Test yourself — 6 quick exercises on this topic.
1 of 6
About what percentage of Swedish nouns are en-words?