"En", "Ett", "Den" and "Det"

The Swedish language doesn't have an equivalent for the English word "the". Instead, the name of the object of matter will be longer.

Example:
a dog - en hund
the dog - hunden
a glass - ett glas
the glass - glaset

As you can see, objects ends either with -en or -et in definite form (singular).
But, how does one know when to put -en or -et after a word? That's up to you to remember. It's one of the more difficult stages in learning Swedish, unfortunately.

All words ending with -en, like hunden, are using Den, when referred to.
All words ending with -et, like glaset, are using Det, when referred to.

Example:
"I bought a new skirt today. Do you like it?"
"Jag köpte en ny kjol idag. Gillar du den?"

Now we know that the word "kjol" means skirt, and that it should end with -en when referred to; kjolen.

When to use "en" or "ett" (which is the words for "a") is easy to know.
If "den" is being used, "en" is the correct word.
If "det" is being used, "ett" is the correct word.


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