Grammar 1: Adjectives in Swedish – Adjektivens värld

Lesson 1: Introduction to Adjectives – Adjektivens värld

Lesson Objectives:

• Understand what adjectives are in Swedish.
• Learn how to describe people, objects, and places using adjectives.
• Practice adjective + noun word order.
• Understand gender and agreement for adjectives with “en” and “ett” words.

What is an Adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun. In Swedish, adjectives come before the noun, just like in English — but they must agree with the gender and number of the noun.

Common Adjectives in Swedish:

English	Swedish
big	stor
small	liten
beautiful	vacker
ugly	ful
red	röd
green	grön
old	gammal
young	ung
happy	glad
sad	ledsen

Structure: Adjective + Noun

The adjective comes before the noun, and changes slightly based on whether the noun is an “en” or “ett” word:

✅ For en-words:

• en stor bil – a big car
• en grön stol – a green chair

✅ For ett-words:

• ett stort hus – a big house
• ett rött äpple – a red apple

💡 Rule: Many adjectives take a -t ending in the ett-word form.

✅ For plurals:

• två stora bilar – two big cars
• flera röda äpplen – several red apples

Tips on Agreement:

Noun Type	Adjective Form	Example
en-word	base form	en liten hund (a small dog)
ett-word	+t ending	ett litet barn (a small child)
plural	+a ending (often)	små hus (small houses)

Practice Sentences:

Jag har en blå cykel.            (I have a blue bike.)

Vi bor i ett stort hus.         (We live in a big house.)

Hon köpte en söt katt.       (She bought a cute cat.)

De har två gamla bilar.    (They have two old cars.)

---

Mini Quiz: Choose the correct form of the adjective!

1. en ____ bok (red)
a) röd
b) rött
c) röda

2. ett ____ bord (small)
a) liten
b) litet
c) lilla

3. två ____ hundar (happy)
a) glad
b) glada
c) gladt

4. ett ____ hus (green)
a) grön
b) gröna
c) grönt

✅ Answers:

1. a) röd

2. b) litet

3. b) glada

4. c) grönt