Next to an en-word (Utrum) the adjective is used in its basic form, like you would find it in a dictionary, and stays that way:
en stor bil | a big car |
With ett-words (Neuter) the basic form of the adjective gets a -t at the end:
ett stort hus | a big house |
In plural both genders look the same:
två stora bilar | two big cars |
två stora hus | two big houses |
This construction, when the adjective preceeds the noun, is called the predicative form. However in this lesson we also talked about the attributive construction. The adjective is placed after the noun and there is also a verb in there:
>Bilen är stor. | The car is big. |
Huset är stort. | The house is big. |
Bilarna är stora. | The cars are big. |
Husen är stora. | The houses are big. |
All regular adjectives are also changed in this manner:
N-word | T-word | Plural |
– (basic form) | -t | -a |
stor | stort | stora |
We do, however, have a lot of irregular adjectives too. To know, how these are declined, we’ve collected a few important rules for you:
Adjectives with one syllable, ending on a long vowel:
ny | nytt | nya | new |
Adjectives with one syllable, ending on a long voewl + d:
god | gott | goda | good/delicious |
Adjectives ending on a consonant + d:
hård | hårt | hårda | hard |
Adjective ending on a vowel + m:
dum | dumt | dumma | dumb |
Adjective ending on a consonant + t:
intressant | intressant | intressanta | interesting |
Adjectives ending on -nn:
sann | sant | sanna | true |
Adjective ending on a vowel + tt:
trött | trött | trött | tired |
Unchangable adjectives:
bra | bra | bra | good |
Other words in this group are words like extra, fel, kul, gratis and a couple of colours.
Adjective ending on -er, -el, -en drop the -e- in plural:
vacker | vackert | vackra | beautiful |
enkel | enkelt | enkla | easy |
vuxen | vuxet | vuxna | grown up |
here three important adjectives:
liten | litet | små | small |
gammal | gammalt | gamla | old |
rädd | -* | rädda | afraid |
And hier a list of the most important colours:
röd | rött | röda | red |
blå | blått | blå(a) | blue |
grön | grönt | gröna | green |
gul | gult | gula | yellow |
orange | orange | orange | orange |
vit | vitt | vita | white |
svart | svart | svart | black |
grå | grått | grå(a) | grey |
brun | brunt | bruna | brown |
lila | lila | lila | purple |
rosa | rosa | rosa | pink |
ljusblå* | ljusblått | ljusblå(a) | light blue |
mörkblå* | mörkblått | mörkblå(a) | dark blue |