How it works
A Swedish statement normally names its subject. Jag means “I”; du addresses one person. Vi includes the speaker; ni addresses several people; de refers to other people or things in the plural. English “you” does not show number, so check whether one person or several are being addressed. Han, hon and gender-neutral hen refer to people; use the person’s pronoun. For a known thing, den replaces an en noun and det an ett noun: English “it” does not tell you which to use. Written de is often pronounced dom; this course uses de in neutral written Swedish.
jag · du · han · hon · hen · den · det · vi · ni · de
| Swedish | Function |
|---|---|
| jag | the speaker |
| du | you: one person |
| han | he |
| hon | she |
| hen | gender-neutral personal pronoun |
| den | a known en-noun |
| det | a known ett-noun |
| vi | the speaker and others |
| ni | you: several people |
| de | other people or things, plural |
See it in a sentence
Du är hemma.
You are at home.
Du addresses one person directly.
Vi är här.
We are here.
Vi includes the speaker in the group.
Put it into practice
Try it yourself
5 questions, with feedback after every answer. No account needed.
