Learn how to form the definite plural form of Swedish common gender nouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Elin: Hej allihopa! I’m Elin. |
| Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky. Welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 18 - Don’t Be Late in Sweden! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to change common gender nouns into their definite plural from. |
| Elin: The conversation takes place in Emma and David’s apartment. |
| Becky: It’s between Emma and her daughter Elsa. They’re using informal Swedish, since they are family. |
| Elin: Great! Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Emma: Elsa, vad gör du för något? Vi måste åka nu! |
| Elsa: Jag kommer! Jag hittar inte min ena sko. |
| Emma: Har du tappart bort din ena sko? |
| Elsa: Ja… |
| Emma: Elsa, vi har inte tid. |
| Elsa: Men jag vill verkligen ha på mig dom här skorna idag. |
| Emma: Vi kan leta efter dem när vi kommer hem. Vi måste gå nu annars kommer jag försent till jobbet. Ta på dig dom här skorna istället! |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Emma: Elsa, vad gör du för något? Vi måste åka nu! |
| Elsa: Jag kommer! Jag hittar inte min ena sko. |
| Emma: Har du tappart bort din ena sko? |
| Elsa: Ja… |
| Emma: Elsa, vi har inte tid. |
| Elsa: Men jag vill verkligen ha på mig dom här skorna idag. |
| Emma: Vi kan leta efter dem när vi kommer hem. Vi måste gå nu annars kommer jag försent till jobbet. Ta på dig dom här skorna istället! |
| Becky: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Emma: Elsa, vad gör du för något? Vi måste åka nu! |
| Emma: Elsa, what are you doing? We have to go now! |
| Elsa: Jag kommer! Jag hittar inte min ena sko. |
| Elsa: I'm coming! I can't find one of my shoes. |
| Emma: Har du tappart bort din ena sko? |
| Emma: Have you lost one of your shoes? |
| Elsa: Ja… |
| Elsa: Yes… |
| Emma: Elsa, vi har inte tid. |
| Emma: Elsa, we don’t have time. |
| Elsa: Men jag vill verkligen ha på mig dom här skorna idag. |
| Elsa: But I really wanted to wear these shoes today. |
| Emma: Vi kan leta efter dem när vi kommer hem. Vi måste gå nu annars kommer jag försent till jobbet. Ta på dig dom här skorna istället! |
| Emma: We can look for them when we get home. We have to go now or I’ll be late for work. Put on these shoes instead! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Wow, it really sounds like Emma is worried about being late for work. Is it very important to be on time in Sweden? |
| Elin: Yes, I would say that Swedes in general are very punctual, and most Swedes prefer to arrive 5 minutes early, rather than 5 minutes late. |
| Becky: I see. But is it always important to be on time? I mean I can understand if I need to be on time for work, but how about if I’m about to meet a friend? |
| Elin: That’s a good question, and you're right - it’s more important to be on time for work, or a formal event than when you’re meeting a friend. But I would still try to be on time, no matter who I’m meeting. |
| Becky: I see, but what should I do if I am running late? |
| Elin: Then it’s good to try to contact the person you're meeting. That way, you’ll show that you care, and that you don’t want to waste their time. |
| Becky: Great! Listeners, try to keep that in mind! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is... |
| Elin: att göra [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to do |
| Elin: att göra [slowly - broken down by syllable] att göra [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: nu [natural native speed] |
| Becky: now |
| Elin: nu [slowly - broken down by syllable] nu [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: att hitta [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to find |
| Elin: att hitta [slowly - broken down by syllable] att hitta [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: ena [natural native speed] |
| Becky: one |
| Elin: ena [slowly - broken down by syllable] ena [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: sko [natural native speed] |
| Becky: shoe |
| Elin: sko [slowly - broken down by syllable] sko [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: att tappa bort [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to lose |
| Elin: att tappa bort [slowly - broken down by syllable] att tappa bort [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: att ta på [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to put on |
| Elin: att ta på [slowly - broken down by syllable] att ta på [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last, |
| Elin: att leta efter [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to look for |
| Elin: att leta efter [slowly - broken down by syllable] att leta efter [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Elin: The first word is the verb “att sätta på”. |
| Becky: And that corresponds to the English verb “to put on”. |
| Elin: That’s right, but this verb is used slightly differently in Swedish. |
| Becky: How? |
| Elin: The verb “att sätta på” is used together with a reflexive pronoun. |
| Becky: I see, so how would you for example say, “Johanna is putting on her clothes” in Swedish? |
| Elin: “Johanna sätter på sig sina kläder”. |
| Becky: What about, “Put on your glasses, so you can see what you’re reading”? |
| Elin: Then you would say, “Sätt på dig glasögonen, så du kan se vad du läser”. |
| Becky: Okay, let’s do one last one. How would you say, “I’ll be right there. I’m just going to put on a jacket”? |
| Elin: “Jag kommer strax. Jag ska bara sätta på mig en jacka”. |
| Becky: Great! Now, let’s move on to the next word. |
| Elin: The next word that we’re going to look at is the adverb “nu”, meaning “now. |
| Becky: But this word can also be a noun right? |
| Elin: That’s right, “nu” is also a noun, and usually appears in its definite form, which is “nuet”. |
| Becky: and it means “present”. |
| Elin: That’s right. So if I wanted to say, “it’s important to live in the present”, then I would say, “det är viktigt att leva i nuet”. |
| Becky: Ok, now, let’s move on to the grammar! |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| (taken from Grammar section in lesson notes) |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to change common gender nouns into their definite plural from. This shouldn’t be too difficult, because you can change nouns into their definite plural form, if you know the indefinite plural form, which is something that we have already covered in a previous lesson. Also, the rules for changing common gender nouns into their definite plural form are very easy - you simply add the ending “n, a” –na to the indefinite plural form of the common gender noun. |
| Elin: Let’s look at one of the common gender nouns that appears in this lesson’s dialog. |
| Becky: You must mean the Swedish noun for “a shoe”. |
| Elin: Precisely! “A shoe” in Swedish is “en sko”, and the indefinite plural form is “skor” meaning “shoes”. |
| Becky: To make it into the definite plural form, so “the shoes” we just add the ending –na. |
| Elin: Yes! So “skor” meaning “shoes” becomes “skorna” meaning “the shoes”. |
| Becky: Great! Let’s have our listeners practice that one. |
| Elin: Of course! Listeners, repeat after me please! |
| Elin: “Skor” [pause], “skorna”[pause]. |
| Becky: Do you have any other examples of common gender nouns that we can practice changing into their definite plural form? |
| Elin: I do! We also have the common gender nouns “en bank” meaning “a bank”, “en blomma” meaning “a flower” and “en familj” meaning “a family”. |
| Becky: Great! Let’s start with the noun for “a bank”. |
| Elin: Ok! The indefinite plural form of the noun “en bank” meaning “a bank” is “banker” meaning “banks”. |
| Becky: What does it become after adding the definite plural ending –na? |
| Elin: Then “banker” meaning “banks” becomes “bankerna” meaning “the banks”. Listeners, repeat after me! |
| Elin: “Banker”[pause], “bankerna”[pause]. |
| Becky: What about the noun for “a flower”? |
| Elin: The indefinite plural form of the noun “en blomma” meaning “a flower” is “blommor” meaning “flowers”. With the definite plural ending –na, “blommor” (flowers) becomes “blommorna” (the flowers). |
| Becky: Listeners, repeat after Elin! |
| Elin: “Blommor”[pause], “blommorna”[pause]. |
| Becky: Finally, what about the noun for “a family”? |
| Elin: That’s “En familj”. The indefinite form is “familjer”, meaning “families”. |
| Becky: How about the definite plural form? |
| Elin: Then we add the ending –na, so “familjer” (families) becomes “familjerna” (the families). Listeners, repeat after me please. |
| Elin: “Familjer”[pause], “familjerna”[pause]. |
| Becky: Great! Is there anything else we need to know? |
| Elin: Well actually, there is one exception to this rule. |
| Becky: Okay, what’s that? |
| Elin: The common gender nouns, like “en arbetare” meaning “a worker”, that end in –are (“a, r, e”), will drop the final “-e” when the plural ending -na is added, in their indefinite plural form. For example, “arbetarna” meaning “workers”. |
| Becky: Okay, so what is the definite plural form of “workers”? |
| Elin: “Arbetare” therefore becomes, “arbetarna” meaning “the workers” |
| Becky: I guess that the Swedish nouns for “doctor” and “teacher” also follow this pattern then? |
| Elin: That’s right, “läkare” meaning “doctors” changes to “läkarna” meaning “the doctors”. And “lärare” meaning “teachers” changes into “lärarna” meaning “the teachers”. |
| Becky: Listeners, repeat after Elin! |
| Elin: “Läkare”[pause], “läkarna”[pause]. |
| Elin: “Lärare”, “lärarna”. |
| Becky: Ok listeners, make sure to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. |
Outro |
|---|
| Becky: Okay that’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Elin: Hej då! |
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