SVE 1 - Hej, vad heter du?

01 Apr 2025

Goal of the chapter: be able to greet somebody; use present tense; use correct word order and answer questions.

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Chapter 1: Hej, vad heter du?

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

A personal pronoun is a word that replaces a person/noun. They show who’s performing an action.

SINGULAR PRONOUNS

• Jag - I
• Du - You
• Han - He
• Hon - She
• Hen - Gender Neutral
• Den - It (en words)
• Det - It (ett words)
• Man - One (as in ‘oneself’)

PLURAL PRONOUNS

• Vi - We
• Ni - You (plural)
• De - They (spoken as ‘dom’)

Personal pronouns go before the verb that the subject is performing.

• Han bor i Solna. - He lives in Solna.
• De kommer från Stockholm. - They come from Stockholm.

PRESENT TENSE

• Used to say something is happening right now or in general.
• There is only one present tense ‘form’. No ‘-ing’ form like in English.
• The same form is used for all personal pronouns.

AR/ER/R & Irregular Verbs

• AR verbs - add r to the infinitive form

  • arbeta[to work] -> +r -> arbetar [work(s)]
  • tala [to speak] -> +r -> talar [speak (s)]

• ER verbs - drop the ending and add er to it

  • komma[to eat] -> -a -> komm -> +er -> kommer [eat(s)]
  • heta [to be called] -> -a -> het -> +r -> heter [is/are/am called]

• R verbs - add r to the infinitive form

  • bo[to live] -> +r -> bor [live(s)]
  • förstå [to understand] -> +r -> förstår [understand(s)]
  • må [to feel] -> +r -> mår [feel(s)]

• Irregular verbs have no set rules and must be memorized individually

  • vara (to be) -> är (am/is/are)
  • göra (to do) -> gör (do/does)

Word Order in Statements and Questions

Statements

• Many statements in Swedish follow the same word order as English.

• subject + verb + adjective/object, etc

  • John är här. -> John is here.
  • Han studerar engelska. -> He is studying English.

Yes/No Questions

• To ask a yes or no question, change the word order.

• verb + subject + adjective/object, etc

  • Är John här? -> Is John here?
  • Studerar han engelska? -> Is he studying English?
• Yes or no questions can be answered with ja (yes) or nej(no).

• If answering a negative question (uses inte) reply with jo.

• Är John här? -> Ja! Han är här!
• Är John inte här? -> Jo! Han är här!

Open Questions

Open questions start with a question word. They then follow the yes/no question order.

• Vad gör du i Sverige? -> What are you doing in Sweden?
• varifrån kommer du? -> Where do you come from?

• Question words:

  • Vad -> What
  • Var -> Where
  • Varifrån -> Where from
  • Hur -> How
  • Varför -> Why
  • När -> When
  • Vem -> Who
  • Vilka -> Who(plural)

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