Swedish nouns primarily decline for gender, number and definiteness. Nouns are divided into five groups according to their plural indefinite ending.
Group 1 -OR
All the nouns in this group take the article en and end with the letter a.
| Singular indefinite | Singular definite | Plural indefinite | Plural definite |
|---|---|---|---|
| en mÀnniska | mÀnniskan | mÀnniskor | mÀnniskorna |
| en hona | honan | honor | honorna |
| en skola | skolan | skolor | skolorna |
The following nouns decline irregularly:
en ros, rosen, rosor, rosorna = rose
en toffel, toffeln, tofflor, tofflorna = slipper
en vÄg, vÄgen, vÄgor, vÄgorna = wave
Group 2 -AR
All the nouns in this group take the article en. Included in this group are nouns that end with –ing, –dom, –el, –er, and –en.
| Singular indefinite | Singular definite | Plural indefinite | Plural definite |
|---|---|---|---|
| en tanke | tanken | tankar | tankarna |
| en Àlv | Àlven | Àlvar | Àlvarna |
| en tidning | tidningen | tidningar | tidningarna |
| en visdom | visdomen | visdomar | visdomarna |
| en spegel | spegeln | speglar | speglarna |
The following nouns decline irregularly:
en dotter, dottern, döttrar, döttrarna = daughter
ett finger, fingret, fingrar, fingrarna = finger
en mor/moder, modern, mödrar, mödrarna = mother
Group 3 -ER
Most of the nouns in this group take the article en. Included in this group are nouns that end with –het, –else, –ion, and –nĂ€r. In addition, nouns that take the article ett and end with –um, –eri or –ori are also included.
| Singular indefinite | Singular definite | Plural indefinite | Plural definite |
|---|---|---|---|
| en dam | damen | damer | damerna |
| en annons | annonsen | annonser | annonserna |
| en hemlighet | hemligheten | hemligheter | hemligheterna |
| en lektion | lektionen | lektioner | lektionerna |
| ett konditori | konditoriet | konditorier | konditorierna |
The following nouns decline irregularly:
en bok, boken, böcker, böckerna = book
en fot, foten, fötter, fötterna = foo
en nöt, nöten, nötter, nötterna = nut
en rot, roten, rötter, rötterna = root
en son, sonen, söner, sönerna = son
Group 4 -N
All the nouns in this group take the article ett and end with a vowel.
| Singular indefinite | Singular definite | Plural indefinite | Plural definite |
|---|---|---|---|
| ett stÀlle | stÀllet | stÀllen | stÀllena |
| ett spöke | spöket | spöken | spökena |
| ett knÀ | knÀet | knÀn | knÀna |
The following nouns decline irregularly:
ett huvud, huvudet, huvuden, huvudena = head
ett öga, ögat, ögon, ögonen = eye
ett öra, örat, öron, öronen = ear
Group 5 (no inflectional ending)
Nearly all the nouns in this group take the article ett and end with a consonant. Included are also those nouns that take the article en and end with –are, –er, or –ande (when the word refers to a person) or –are (when the word refers to an appliance or device).
| Singular indefinite | Singular definite | Plural indefinite | Plural definite |
|---|---|---|---|
| ett liv | livet | liv | liven |
| ett slott | slottet | slott | slotten |
| ett problem | problemet | problem | problemen |
| en spelare | spelaren | spelare | spelarna |
| en tekniker | teknikern | tekniker | teknikerna |
The following nouns decline irregularly:
en man, mannen, mÀn, mÀnnen = man
en mus, musen, mös, mössen = mouse