Swedish

Ian Hinchliffe, a former lecturer in Swedish, is a freelance translator, copywriter and founder member of the Swedish Association of Professional Translators.Philip Holmes, Reader Emeritus in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Hull, UK, was for many years also a freelance language editor and translator.

• PrefaceSymbols and abbreviations used in the textIntroduction0.1 Some advice for the beginner0.2 Similarities between Swedish and English0.2.1 Vocabulary 0.2.2 Grammar Chapter 1 Pronunciation1.1 Vowels1.1.1 Stressed vowels and their pronunciation 1.1.2 Pronunciation of unstressed vowels 1.1.3 Vowel length 1.1.4 Syllable length 1.2 Consonants and consonant groups1.2.1 s, z, c, sc 1.2.2 j, gj, dj, hj, lj 1.2.3 r, t, l, x, w 1.2.4 g, k, sk 1.2.5 ng, gn, kn, mn 1.2.6 rs, rd, rt, rn, rl 1.2.7 Omitting -d, -g, -t, -k, -l 1.2.8 Omitting -e 1.2.9 Voiced consonants pronounced unvoiced before -s, -t 1.2.10 Complete assimilation of -t-1.2.11 Written and spoken forms of some common words 1.2.12 Assimilation Chapter 2 Stress and accent2.1 Sentence stress2.2 Word stress2.3 Accent2.4 Functions of accent 1 and accent 22.5 Rules for accent 1 and accent 2Chapter 3 Nouns 3.1 Gender and noun type3.1.1 Gender 3.1.2 Gender rules 3.1.3 Types of noun 3.2 Indefinite declension3.2.1 Indefinite forms 3.2.2 Plurals 3.2.3 Plurals – predictability3.2.4 Rules for predicting plural forms 3.3 Plural forms 3.3.1 Plurals in -or (first declension) 3.3.2 Plurals in -ar (second declension) 3.3.3 Plurals in -er (third declension) 3.3.4 Plurals in -r (fourth declension) 3.3.5 Plurals in -n (fifth declension) 3.3.6 Zero plurals (no plural ending, sixth declension) 3.3.7 Plurals in -s (seventh declension) 3.3.8 Collective nouns 3.3.9 Nouns with no plural form or no singular form 3.4 Differences in number between Swedish and English3.4.1 Differences in number 3.5 Definite declension3.5.1 Forms with end article singular 3.5.2 Forms with end article plural 3.6 Article use3.6.1 End article in Swedish, no article in English 3.6.2 End article in Swedish, indefinite article in English 3.6.3 No article in Swedish, definite article in English 3.6.4 No article in Swedish, indefinite article in English 3.6.5 End article in Swedish, possessive pronoun in English 3.6.6 Article use with demonstrative pronouns 3.6.7 No article after the possessive 3.7 Genitives3.7.1 The genitive Chapter 4 Adjectives 4.1 Adjectives in outline 4.2 Indefinite declension 4.2.1 Indefinite forms – regular 4.2.2 Indefinite forms – variations 4.2.3 Indeclinable adjectives 4.2.4 Indefinite constructions 4.2.5 Agreement and lack of agreement 4.3 Definite declension 4.3.1 Definite form of the adjective: -e or -a? 4.3.2 Definite construction Type 1 – den nya bilen 4.3.3 Definite construction Type 2 – firmans nya bil 4.3.4 Definite construction Type 3 – svenska språket 4.3.5 Definite construction Type 4 – första klass 4.3.6 Definite constructions – summary chart 4.4 Adjectival nouns and nationality words 4.4.1 Adjectival nouns 4.4.2 Nationality words 4.5 Comparison of adjectives 4.5.1 Comparison with -are, -ast 4.5.2 Comparison with -re, -st 4.5.3 Irregular comparison 4.5.4 Comparison with mer, mest 4.5.5 Comparison – indefinite and definite with -are and -ast4.5.6 Use of comparatives and superlativesChapter 5 Pronouns 5.1 Personal and reflexive pronouns – form5.2 Use of personal pronouns5.3 Reflexive pronouns5.4 Själv5.5 Possessive pronouns5.6 Non-reflexive and reflexive possessives: hans or sin?5.6.1 Non-reflexive forms5.6.2 Reflexive forms5.6.3 Some special uses of sin, sitt, sina5.7 Forms of address5.8 Demonstrative pronouns5.9 Determinative pronouns5.10 Relative pronouns5.11 Interrogative pronouns 5.12 Indefinite pronouns Chapter 6 Numerals 6.1 Cardinal and ordinal numbers 6.2 Use of cardinal and ordinal numbers 6.3 Other numerical expressions6.4 Clock time Chapter 7 Verbs 7.1 Verb forms in outline 7.2 The four conjugations 7.2.1 First conjugation 7.2.2 Irregular verbs of the first conjugation 7.2.3 Second conjugation 7.2.4 Irregular verbs of the second conjugation 7.2.5 Third conjugation 7.2.6 Irregular verbs of the third conjugation 7.2.7 Fourth conjugation: introduction 7.2.8 Fourth conjugation: gradation series i – e – i 7.2.9 Fourth conjugation: gradation series y/(j)u – ö – u 7.2.10 Fourth conjugation: gradation series i – a – u 7.2.11 Fourth conjugation: gradation series a – o – a 7.2.12 Fourth conjugation: gradation series ä – a – u 7.2.13 Fourth conjugation: minor gradation series (mixed) 7.3 Form and function7.4 The infinitive7.4.1 Infinitive – verbal use7.4.2 Infinitive – nominal use7.4.3 Use of the infinitive in English and Swedish7.4.4 Translating ‘-ing’ forms7.5 Present tense7.6 Past tense7.7 Perfect tense7.8 Pluperfect tense7.9 Future tense7.10 Participles and supine7.10.1 Supine and past participle forms7.10.2 Use of the supine and past participle7.10.3 Present participle7.11 Mood and modal verbs7.11.1 Use of modal verbs7.11.2 Subjunctive7.11.3 Imperative7.12 Transitive, intransitive and reflexive verbs7.12.1 Transitive and intransitive verbs7.12.2 Reflexive verbs7.13 -s forms7.13.1 Use of -s forms7.13.2 Passive7.14 Translating verbs7.14.1 Some problems in translating English verbs7.14.2 Translating the English verb ‘to be’7.15 Compound verbs7.15.1 Inseparable and separable compound verbs7.15.2 Stylistic and semantic differences between separable and inseparable compoundsChapter 8 Adverbs8.1 Forms of adverbs8.2 Use of adverbs8.3 Adverbs indicating location and motion8.4 Some problematic adverbs8.5 Discourse particlesChapter 9 Interjections 9.1 Interjections Chapter 10 Prepositions 10.1 Prepositions – introduction10.2 The most common Swedish prepositions10.2.1 Av 10.2.2 Från 10.2.3 För 10.2.4 I 10.2.5 Med 10.2.6 Om 10.2.7 På 10.2.8 Till 10.2.9 Under 10.2.10 Vid 10.3 Translating prepositions10.3.1 Some common English prepositions and their Swedish equivalents 10.3.2 Translating ‘in, on, at’, etc. in expressions of time 10.3.3 Prepositions in expressions of time – summary 10.3.4 Translating ‘in, on, at’ in expressions of place10.3.5 Translating ‘of’ Chapter 11 Conjunctions11.1 Coordinating conjunctions11.2 Subordinating conjunctions11.3 Other subordinators11.4 Some problematic conjunctionsChapter 12 Word order and sentence structure12.1 Word classes and sentence elements12.2 Simplified introduction: Four basic rules12.3 Sentence types12.4 Main clause structure12.5 Link position12.6 Extra positions12.7 Main clause positions (sentence elements)12.7.1 Subject and formal subject 12.7.2 Finite verb 12.7.3 Non-finite verb 12.7.4 Clausal adverbial 12.7.5 Other adverbials12.7.6 Objects and complements 12.7.7 Verb particle 12.7.8 Passive agent 12.7.9 Main clause structure – extended positional scheme with examples 12.8 Moving elements within the main clause12.8.1 Topicalization 12.8.2 Weight principle 12.8.3 Adverbial shift 12.8.4 Unstressed objects 12.8.5 Position of inte 12.8.6 Passive transformation 12.8.7 Existential sentence 12.8.8 Cleft sentence 12.9 Subordinate clauses12.9.1 Subordinate clause as an element in the main clause sentence 12.9.2 Subordinate clause structure 12.9.3 Three types of subordinate clause with main clause structure Chapter 13 Word formation13.1 Compounding13.2 Affixation13.3 AbbreviationChapter 14 Orthography14.1 Upper-case or lower-case letters?14.2 Spelling of words ending in -m, -nChapter 15 Punctuation15.1 Comma15.2 Full stop15.3 Colon15.4 Exclamation mark15.5 Apostrophe15.6 Direct speech conventions15.7 HyphenChapter 16 Written and spoken Swedish16.1 Words frequently omitted in spoken Swedish16.2 Words and constructions frequently found in spoken Swedish 16.3 Words usually found only in written SwedishLinguistic termsA note on Finland-SwedishShort bibliographyIndex