Category Archives: Grammar

Partikelverb Part 1

29
Aug
2008

Adrienne asked a question about partikelverb, and because I’m such a good sport, I decided to blog about it today. Now say, I know it’s an impossible task to make partikelverb interesting, but hey, we can give it a shot, right?
So, what’s a partikelverb anyway? As the name suggests, it’s a verb and a particle [...]

By Anna | Comments (6)

A Little Bit About Adjectives

19
Aug
2008

It’s grammar time today, because we can’t have just fun and games all the time. I want you to learn something really useful here, even if only occasionally.
When talking about “jobbig” I briefly mentioned the rules regarding Swedish adjectives. That when an adjective describes an “ett” noun, it gets a “-t” ending. And [...]

By Anna | Comments (8)

Useful Words: Jobbig

29
Jul
2008

In every language there are words that you either just love or simply hate for whatever reason. Personally, I’m not a fan of words that are difficult to spell, and unfortunately the English language is full of them. Like “assassinate”. The only reason I remember how to spell it is because it has two of [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Vocabulary | Comments (12)

Plural Ett Words

26
Jul
2008

I have a foreign neighbor who reads this blog (hi neighbor!), and I think it’s very convenient that she does. She’s right under my nose, she’s learning Swedish, speaks passable English and is not afraid to ask questions. So I wasn’t surprised when she spied me out while I was taking my cats out for [...]

By Anna | Comments (7)

På And More På

21
Jul
2008

I went to the movies tonight with my friend and we saw “Hancock”, it was actually pretty good. Yes, I know, I know. This movie is old news in the US, but here it’s just opened and the theatre was packed. I didn’t even know there were that many people left in my town on [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Vocabulary | Comments (4)

Book Containing Nouns and Their Gender?

15
Jul
2008

One of the readers asked a question about a book containing nouns and their gender. And that’s a very good question indeed. Most, if not all English-Swedish dictionaries are useless when it comes to indicating whether a noun is an “en” or “ett” word. And why is that? Have their editors forgotten the pains of [...]

By Anna | Comments (14)

En or Ett Continued

4
Jul
2008

Remember when we talked about “ett” and “en” words? I think my post confused a couple of people, who were quick to point out that you can’t put an indefinite article in front of SOME nouns. Yes, that is correct. But even without that article in front of them, the nouns can still be distinguished [...]

By Anna | Comments (1)

En or Ett

23
Jun
2008

It’s time for a little bit of grammar today, don’t you agree? And this particular bit of grammar is always confusing for English speakers.
People, Swedish people naturally, will tell you that Swedish nouns are classed according to gender. And it’s all good, except when you try to find out exactly what gender those Swedish nouns [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Vocabulary | Comments (8)

The Basics: Swedish is Easy!

3
Jun
2008

I know some foreigners who’ve been living in Sweden for about 10 years, yet they still don’t know any Swedish. They say there’s no need for them to learn, because everyone here speaks English. Some even go as far as to complain that Swedish is difficult to learn.
Yeah? You think so? How much Absolut have [...]

By Anna | Comments (15)