En and Ett

I do think in many ways worrying too much about grammar too soon is not very helpful in the language journey. However, a general awareness of the things under the language is helpful, and this article will frame things in a way we can build on later.

In Swedish, there are two grammatical genders that impact how nouns work. They are ‘en’ and ‘ett’, or common and neuter. These in some ways can be likened to ‘a’ and ‘an’ in English, but they are more integrated into how Swedish actually works in a way English stopped doing centuries ago.

There are real emergent patterns in how words get categorized as an ‘en’ or an ‘ett’ word, and some of those go back to older forms of Swedish where there were three grammatical genders. However, the most practical advice I can give is to think about it more simply. Assume every word is an ‘en’ word, and only try and remember words that are ‘ett’ words. The majority of words are ‘en’ words, so if you need to guess, you will typically be right.

From our unit this term, here are 15 nouns you can practice to get started. One thing to note is there are some words in this list that are ‘uncountable’, like hair. These words, while ‘en’ or ‘ett’ words, rarely ever get paired with the indefinite article.

Pyssel – Memospel

Print and cut out the PDF. The first step to using these cards is simply playing the game Memory and matching the image to the word.

You may also pay attention to the colors. Yellow cards are ‘en’ words, and gold cards are ‘ett’ words. Pairing the concept with a color can help it stick, and we will be building upon this concept in future lessons.