Swedish adjectives: agreement, definite form and comparison

The short answer

Swedish adjectives change their ending to agree with the noun. With an en word the adjective has no ending (en stor bil, a big car), with an ett word it adds -t (ett stort hus, a big house), and in the plural and all definite forms it adds -a (stora bilar, den stora bilen). The definite form uses a "double definite": a front article den, det or de plus the noun's definite ending: den stora bilen (the big car). Comparison works with -are and -ast: snabb, snabbare, snabbast (fast, faster, fastest), with a handful of irregulars like bra, bättre, bäst.

That is most of it. The rest of this guide covers the spelling rules, the irregular adjectives and the common traps.

The three forms

Every regular adjective has three forms. Here is stor (big):

The pattern in words:

• Base form (no ending): indefinite en words.
• -t form: indefinite ett words.
• -a form: plural, and every definite form.

Notice that the adjective agrees even after the verb: Huset är stort, Bilarna är stora. English never does this, so it is easy to forget. Use the adjective agreement tool to drill it, and the en or ett tool to check a noun's gender.

More examples

General statements use the -t form

When an adjective describes a situation rather than a specific noun, Swedish uses the -t form:

• Det är kallt ute. (It's cold outside.)
• Det var roligt! (That was fun!)
• Att lära sig svenska är svårt. (Learning Swedish is hard.)

The definite form and the double definite

When the noun is definite and has an adjective in front of it, Swedish marks definiteness twice: a front article and the noun's own ending.

So "the new car" is den nya bilen: den + nya + bilen. Leaving out either part is a common learner mistake:

• Wrong: den ny bil, nya bilen, den nya bil
• Right: den nya bilen

(Leaving out den is common in fixed expressions and some styles; see below.)

Norwegian works the same way. Danish does not: Danish says det store hus, with no ending on the noun. If you know Danish, watch out.

After possessives and genitives: -a form, no suffix

After min, din, hans, Annas and other possessives, the adjective takes the -a form, but the noun stays indefinite:

• min nya bil (my new car), not min nya bilen
• vårt stora hus (our big house)
• Annas gamla cykel (Anna's old bike)
• Sveriges största stad (Sweden's largest city)

After denna, detta, dessa

In formal writing, denna, detta, dessa (this, these) take the -a form with an indefinite noun: denna nya bok. In speech, people say den här nya boken with the definite ending.

Fixed expressions without den

Many names and set phrases drop the front article:

• Vita huset (the White House), Gamla stan (the Old Town), Svenska Akademien
• första gången (the first time), hela dagen (the whole day), förra veckan (last week)
• högra handen (the right hand), norra Sverige (northern Sweden)

The -e ending for male persons

With a noun referring to a man, the definite adjective can end in -e instead of -a: den gamle mannen (the old man), min käre bror (my dear brother). This is optional and sounds slightly formal or old-fashioned; den gamla mannen is also correct.

Spelling rules for the -t form

The basic rule is "add -t", but the spelling adjusts in predictable ways.

And for the -a form, adjectives in -en, -el, -er drop the e:

Adjectives ending in -m after a short vowel double the m in the -a form: dum, dumt, dumma (stupid), tom, tomt, tomma (empty).

Irregular adjectives

A few very common adjectives have irregular forms:

Liten is the odd one: en liten bil, ett litet hus, små bilar, but den lilla bilen and de små bilarna.

Adjectives that never change

Some adjectives take no endings at all:

Comparison: -are, -ast

Most adjectives compare with -are (comparative) and -ast (superlative):

Än means "than", and lika … som means "as … as":

• Tåget är snabbare än bussen. (The train is faster than the bus.)
• Hon är lika lång som sin pappa. (She's as tall as her father.)
• Det här är billigast. (This one is the cheapest.)

Umlaut group: -re, -st

A small group changes its vowel and takes -re and -st:

Irregular comparison

Färst is rare in practice; people usually rephrase, for example minst antal (the smallest number).

Sämre and värre both mean "worse": sämre for lower quality (en sämre film, a worse film), värre for something bad getting worse (Förkylningen blev värre, the cold got worse).

Mer and mest

Some adjectives use mer and mest instead of endings: participles, adjectives in -isk, and many long words.

• mer intresserad, mest intresserad (more interested, most interested)
• mer praktisk, mest praktisk (more practical)
• mer känd (more famous); kändare is also heard, but mer känd is the safer choice

Many adjectives allow both: intressantare and mer intressant are both correct.

Superlative forms

The superlative has an indefinite form, used after the verb, and a definite form before a noun:

• Hon är snabbast. (She is the fastest.)
• Det var den bästa dagen i mitt liv. (It was the best day of my life.)
• Vem är äldst i familjen? (Who is the oldest in the family?)
• den största staden (the largest city), det minsta huset (the smallest house)

Adjectives as nouns

Swedish can use an adjective without a noun where English needs "one":

• Jag tar den röda. (I'll take the red one.)
• Vill du ha en ny? (Do you want a new one?)
• de gamla och de unga (the old and the young)

The adjective still agrees: den röda (en word), det röda (ett word), de röda (plural).

Common mistakes

FAQ

How do Swedish adjectives agree?

No ending with indefinite en words (en stor bil), -t with indefinite ett words (ett stort hus) and -a in the plural and all definite forms (stora bilar, den stora bilen).

What is the double definite in Swedish?

When a definite noun has an adjective, Swedish uses both a front article and the definite ending: den stora bilen (the big car), det nya huset (the new house).

How do you compare adjectives in Swedish?

Usually with -are and -ast: snabb, snabbare, snabbast. A few take -re and -st with a vowel change (stor, större, störst), and some are irregular (bra, bättre, bäst).

What are the forms of "liten" in Swedish?

Liten (en word), litet (ett word), små (plural) and lilla (definite singular): en liten bil, ett litet hus, små barn, den lilla flickan.

Does "bra" change in Swedish?

No. Bra is the same in every form: en bra film, ett bra jobb, bra böcker. Its comparison is irregular: bättre, bäst.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-07.

• Teleman, Ulf, Staffan Hellberg & Erik Andersson (1999). Svenska Akademiens grammatik, vol. 2 (adjective inflection, definiteness and comparison). Svenska Akademien.
• Hultman, Tor G. (2003). Svenska Akademiens språklära. Svenska Akademien.
• Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL), at svenska.se, for inflected forms.

Keep going

Adjective endings become automatic only through hearing and saying them in real sentences. Our free Season 1 course is built on natural spoken Swedish with synced transcripts and speaking practice. Start the free course. For the whole grammar picture, see the Swedish grammar overview.