swedish an essential grammar

[...]... These translations have been kept fairly literal in order to help the learner see contrasts and correlations between Swedish and English We would like to thank Olle Kjellin for his invaluable help in preparing the sections on pronunciation, stress and accent, and Claes Christian Elert for permission to use ideas and examples from his Ljud och ord i svenskan 2 (Stockholm, 1981) Many other students and colleagues,... son, two, three, we 2 Many English and American-English words have been borrowed into Swedish: baby, bestseller, check, cykel, deodorant, jeans, jobb, match, potatis, reporter, service 0.2.2 Grammar 1 In both languages only nominative and genitive cases are found for nouns: skepparen i båten the skipper in the boat skepparens katt the skipper’s cat Both languages have subject and object forms of pronouns:... 2.3 ff Word order and sentence structure are the basic building blocks of the language, a sure foundation that cannot be ignored if the learner wishes to speak and write understandable Swedish beyond a very basic level Swedish main clause word order, for example, is much more flexible than English order: the sentence more often begins with a word (or words) other than the subject, and sentence elements... 5 6 7 8 9 40 41111 Consonants p, t and k are usually pronounced [p], [t], [k] (but see also 1.2.4 below), though they may also be strongly aspirated (with an exhalation of breath): pappa [phapa] ta [tha:] kasta [khasta] Consonants and consonant groups Remember: Vowels are short before a long consonant (double consonant or consonant group): hal – hall 1.2.1 s, z, c, sc s [s] Swedish s is like ‘s’ in... most typical 4 Both languages have weak verbs with a dental ending (incorporating -d/-t) in the past tense: Vi cyklade We cycled De kysste mig They kissed me 5 Both languages have strong verbs with a vowel change in the past tense: Vi sitter We sit Vi satt We sat 6 The languages have similar modal auxiliary verbs: kan, ska, måste can, shall, must De kan komma They can come 7 The languages have a similar... hemskt CVCCCC Many words have two syllables: poj-ke CVC-CV å-ker V-CVC kal-la CVC-CV Some words have many syllables: parkera: par -ke CVC -CV -ra -CV industriarbetare: in -du -stri -ar -be -ta -re VC -CV -CCCV -VC -CV -CV -CV 2 All stressed syllables in Swedish are long, and contain: EITHER a long vowel and single consonant: al a short vowel + a long consonant: (double consonant or consonant group) all... learners of Swedish with a concise description of the structure of the language, as well as some account of spelling, punctuation, word formation and the differences between spoken and written Swedish; and second, to describe in greater detail those areas of Swedish that in our experience may pose a challenge for English-language learners The book is largely traditional in its approach and terminology... några) [no:ra] (long vowel!) sådan sådant sådana [sɔn], [sɔnt], [sɔna] (short vowel) (sån, sånt, såna) sedan (sen) [sεn] någonsin, någonstans [nɔnsin], [nɔnstans] (short vowel) (nånsin, nånstans) 17 1 Pronunciation The omission of -d + vowel has been accepted in the singular indefinite form of three very common nouns and a number of less common ones: fader pronounced and often written far [fɑ:r] (But:... written far [fɑ:r] (But: definite form fadern in written and spoken Swedish! ) moder pronounced and often written mor [m :r] (But: definite form modern in written and spoken Swedish! ) broder pronounced and often written bror [br :r] (But: definite form brodern in written and spoken Swedish! ) Note: farbrorn, farmorn are sometimes encountered in written Swedish Cf also ladugård pronounced [lɑ:go: ] Third conjugation... Many other students and colleagues, including Brita Green, Jyrki Pietarinen and Vera Croghan, have provided valuable suggestions Learners who have progressed to an intermediate level or simply seek more thorough explanations of points of grammar and usage may wish to refer to our much more detailed Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge, second edition 2003) xiii Preface Second edition The first . Reader in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Hull and is now a freelance translator. Ian Hinchliffe is a freelance translator, living in Sweden. Routledge Essential Grammars Essential Grammars. Data Holmes, Philip Swedish: an essential grammar/ Philip Holmes and Ian Hinchliffe. – 2nd ed. p. cm. – (Routledge essential grammars) 1. Swedish language – Grammar. I. Hinchliffe, Ian. II. Title. PD5112.H67. y0 w0 h0" alt="" Swedish An Essential Grammar 2nd edition This fully revised second edition of Swedish: An Essential Grammar incorporates a large number of changes of detail and examples throughout, all