Swedish adjective · noun· top 2,000 most common

van

used to/vɑːn/

van as an adjective

Meaning

used to

In Swedish: som fått vänja sig; tränad, erfaren

Forms

Forms of van
Basic form	van	with en-words
Neuter	vant	with ett-words
Plural and definite	vana	plural nouns, and after den / det / de
Comparative	vanare	“-er”, “more …”
Superlative	vanast	“-est”, “most …”

van as a noun(en van)

Meaning

a member of the Vanir

Forms

Forms of van
Singular, indefinite	en van
Singular, definite	vanen
Plural, indefinite	vaner
Plural, definite	vanerna

van is an en-word, so adjectives agree with it: en stor van, den stora vanen. Check another noun

Practise van

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What does van mean?

van in a sentence

med van hand
with a practised (deft) hand
jag är inte van vid den svenska maten
I am not used to Swedish food
Han är van vid att stiga upp klockan sju varje morgon.
He is used to getting up at seven every morning.
Hon är en van bilförare.
She is an experienced driver.

Questions

What does van mean in English?

van means “used to”.

Is it en van or ett van?

It is en van, and “the a member of the Vanir” is vanen.

What is the plural of van?

The plural of van is vaner, and the definite plural is vanerna.

Similar words

förfarenerfaren

Origin

From Old Norse vanr, from Proto-Germanic *wanaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, desire, love”).

Nearby common words

van is number 1,174 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

1,169inblandad involved
1,170gripa seize, grasp
1,172boken the book
1,173dessutom besides, moreover
1,175tecken sign, character
1,176gravid pregnant
1,177skrika scream, call out
1,178stiftsstad A see city, an episcopal see; a city that is the seat of a bishop.

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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary