Vilken, vilket or vilka? Swedish agreement words explained

The short answer

Vilken, vilket and vilka all mean "which" (or "what"). Use vilken with en words, vilket with ett words and vilka with plurals: Vilken buss? (Which bus?), Vilket hus? (Which house?), Vilka skor? (Which shoes?). The same three-way pattern runs through a whole family of small Swedish words: någon / något / några (some, any), ingen / inget / inga (no, none), annan / annat / andra (other) and min / mitt / mina (my). Learn the pattern once and you have them all. The one irregular member is all / allt / alla, where the en form is used only with uncountable nouns.

The pattern

The rule of thumb: ett words add -t (or change to -tt) and plurals add -a. That is exactly what adjectives do too: en stor bil, ett stort hus, stora bilar. See the guide to Swedish adjectives. If you are not sure whether a noun is en or ett, check it with the en or ett tool.

Vilken, vilket, vilka

Questions: which, what

Vilken agrees with the noun it goes with, not with the person you are asking. Vilket nummer har du? (What's your number?) uses vilket because nummer is an ett word.

Vilka alone, without a noun, means "who" about several people: Vilka kommer i kväll? (Who's coming tonight?).

Exclamations: what a…!

Vilken also works like English "what a…!" or "how…!":

• Vilken tur! (What luck!)
• Vilket väder! (What weather!)
• Vilka fina blommor! (What lovely flowers!)
• Vilken fin lägenhet du har! (What a nice flat you've got!)

In speech you will also hear vad in this role: Vad fint! (How nice!), Vad du är snäll! (How kind you are!).

Vilken or vad för?

Vilken asks "which one" from a set. Vad … för asks "what kind of":

• Vilken bil är din? (Which car is yours?)
• Vad har du för bil? (What kind of car do you have?)
• Vad är det för fågel? (What kind of bird is that?)

Vilket referring to a whole clause

In writing, vilket can refer back to a whole statement, like English ", which":

• Han kom inte, vilket var konstigt. (He didn't come, which was strange.)
• Tåget var sent, vilket gjorde att vi missade mötet. (The train was late, which meant we missed the meeting.)

In speech, people often use och det instead: Han kom inte, och det var konstigt.

Formal relative pronoun

In formal writing, vilken / vilket / vilka can replace som (who, which), especially after a preposition:

• Formal: staden i vilken hon föddes (the city in which she was born)
• Everyday: staden där hon föddes or staden som hon föddes i

In everyday Swedish, stick to som.

Någon, något, några

Någon, något, några mean "some" or "any". Swedish uses the same words for both, in questions, statements and negatives.

On their own, they also work as pronouns:

• någon = someone, anyone: Är det någon hemma? (Is anyone home?)
• något = something, anything: Vill du ha något? (Do you want anything?)
• några = some (people or things): Några av dem var trötta. (Some of them were tired.)

In speech, they are almost always nån, nåt, nåra, and nån and nåt are common in informal writing. More in spoken vs written Swedish.

Någonting and ingenting

Någonting (something) and ingenting (nothing) are alternatives to något and inget used as pronouns: Jag hörde någonting (I heard something). Det var ingenting (It was nothing).

Ingen, inget, inga

Ingen, inget, inga mean "no" or "none":

Ingen as a pronoun means "nobody": Ingen ringde (Nobody called). Inget or ingenting means "nothing".

When you can't use ingen

Here is a rule most textbooks skip. Ingen, inget, inga can only be used where inte could stand in the same position. In practice: you cannot use ingen after an auxiliary verb plus main verb, or in most subordinate clauses. Use inte någon / något / några instead.

But with a single verb, both work: Jag ser ingen and Jag ser inte någon (I don't see anyone) are both fine. In a subordinate clause, prefer inte någon: …eftersom jag inte har någon bil.

All, allt, alla

This set looks like the others, but the meanings are different.

The traps:

• "All day" is hela dagen, not all dagen. With countable singular nouns, Swedish uses hela: hela veckan (all week), hela huset (the whole house).
• Allt alone means "everything": Tack för allt! (Thanks for everything!). Allting is a synonym.
• Alla alone means "everyone": Hej allihop! or Hej alla! (Hi everyone!).

Annan, annat, andra

Two notes:

• After den, det, de and possessives, the form is always andra: den andra, min andra bil.
• Andra also means "second": den andra maj (the second of May), andra våningen (the second floor). Context makes it clear.

Words that never change

Some determiners stay the same whatever the gender. That makes life easier:

Note the definite noun after förra and båda, but not after nästa or samma.

Common mistakes

FAQ

When do I use vilken, vilket and vilka?

Vilken with en words (vilken bil), vilket with ett words (vilket hus) and vilka with plurals (vilka bilar). They all mean "which" or "what".

What is the difference between någon, något and några?

Någon goes with en words or means "someone", något with ett words or means "something", and några with plurals: någon bil, något hus, några bilar.

When can't I use "ingen" in Swedish?

When there are two verbs (like har sett or vill ha) or in most subordinate clauses. Then use inte någon: Jag har inte sett någon (I haven't seen anyone).

How do you say "all day" in Swedish?

Hela dagen. All is only used with uncountable en words like all mat (all the food).

What is the difference between "allt" and "alla"?

Allt means "everything" or goes with uncountable ett words (allt vatten). Alla means "everyone" or goes with plurals (alla barn).

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-07.

• Teleman, Ulf, Staffan Hellberg & Erik Andersson (1999). Svenska Akademiens grammatik, vol. 2 (pronouns and determiners, including ingen and inte någon). Svenska Akademien.
• Hultman, Tor G. (2003). Svenska Akademiens språklära. Svenska Akademien.
• Språkrådet's language advice on ingen versus inte någon, at isof.se.

Keep going

These small words appear in nearly every sentence, so they are learned best by hearing them in real speech. Our free Season 1 course uses natural spoken Swedish with synced transcripts and speaking practice. Start the free course. To drill the en/ett/plural pattern, try the adjective agreement tool.