Lesson Four: Numbers 1-10 and Plurals

Vocabulary
Grammar
Exercises

Vocabulary

lite - a little
bara - only
vet/a - to know (present: jag vet, du vet, etc...)
många - many
se/ - to see
vän - a friend
ett rum (--) - a room
en dag (-ar) - a day
kosta/ - to cost
krona (-or) - "krona" (crown) Swedish unit of currency
läs/a - to read
en tidning (-ar) - a newspaper
en hund (-ar) - a dog
varje - each, every

Jag läser tidningen varje dag.
I read the newspaper every day.

Vill du se min hund?.
Do you want to see my dog?

Jag vet inte! Jag talar bara lite svenska.
I don't know! I speak only a little Swedish. (pretty useful)

Grammar:

Numbers 1-10

Here are the Swedish numbers 1 to 10. They will be used in example sentences in the following grammar section dealing with plurals:

one	en/ett
two	två
three	tre
four	fyra
five	fem
six	sex
seven	sju
eight	åtta
nine	nio
ten	tio

Note that the numbers 2-10 don't change for en- or ett-words. Also, in the words 'nio' and 'tio', they second syllable is weakened. They are usually pronounced 'nie' and 'tie'.

Noun Plurals

Forming the plural of Swedish nouns is not quite as simple as in English. You will see that the great majority of nouns have plurals ending in -r, however some get -or, some get -ar, and some get -er. But first lets start simple:

Ett-words

Most ett-words have no plural marker. That is, they are the same in the plural as in the singular:


Singular	Plural
barn	barn
bord	bord
hus	hus

But, when an ett-word ends in a vowel, the plural suffix is -n:

Singular	Plural
äpple	äpplen

En-words

En-words are a little trickier. But there are some general rules that account for the majority of words. Once you learn these rules, the only thing left to do is just practise and gain experience:

-or suffix: Words ending in -a, drop the final vowel and take this plural suffix. This is a pretty solid rule.

The final two suffixes have complex patterns. Since you know a very limited amount of words, I will just give a brief guide. In time you will develop a better sense of the rules. All nouns given in vocabulary lists will include the plural suffix.

-er suffix: Many foreign words fall in this category, as well as those words with irregular plurals (see below).

-ar suffix: Words ending in -e, -en, -el, -ing, monosyllabic words ending in a vowel (in this case the vowel does not drop).

flicka	flickor
krona	kronor
pojke	pojkar
dag	dagar
student	studenter

Some nouns double the final consonant (as when adding the definite article):


vän	vänner

Here are the nouns you know which have irregular plurals (involving a vowel change to the noun itself, with or without a suffix as well):

man	män
bok	böcker
stad	städer

Some example sentences:

Det kostar tio kronor.
This costs 10 kronor.

Jag har många böcker i mitt rum.
I have a lot of books in my room.

Mitt hus har sju rum.
My house has 7 rooms.

Åtta pojkar och fyra flickor äter lunch i staden idag.
8 boys and 4 girls are eating lunch in the city today.

Två studenter i min skola kommer från Sverige.
Two students in my school come from Sweden.

Don't worry if this seems like a lot. The next lesson will be a big review. You will get the hang of it!

Exercises

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Han läser fem tidningar varje dag.
2. Vet du inte var han bor?
3. Mitt hus har bara tre rum.
4. Många kvinnor i Sverige har hundar
5. Mannen vill ha tio kronor.

Translate the following into Swedish:

6. I speak only a little Swedish.
7. Many men don't eat lunch.
8. Every day Gunnar eats breakfast and reads two newspapers.
9. Do you want to see letters from my friend in Norway?
10. The book costs 8 "kronor".

11. Now count to ten!

Click here for the answers.

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