Table Of ContentSwedish
A Comprehensive Grammar
3rd edition
Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar is an award-winning complete
reference guide to modern Swedish grammar. This volume is organised to
promote a thorough understanding of Swedish grammar, presenting the
complexities of Swedish in a concise and readable form. Explanations are
full, clear and free of jargon, and an extensive index, numbered paragraphs,
cross-references and summary charts provide readers with easy access to
the information they require.
Now in its third edition, the text has been comprehensively updated to
conform to new standards set in the description of language and to reflect
the recommendations of the Language Council of Sweden. It offers an
improved layout, completely revised index and more user-friendly
paragraph structure. Continuing the tradition of previous editions, the
emphasis remains fixed on Swedish in everyday communication, drawing
on modern corpus material, the internet and the media to provide high
frequency words and expressions. Examples have been modernised
throughout and new content takes account of recent trends resulting from
the increasing democratisation of written Swedish.
Features include:
(cid:2) detailed treatment of grammatical structures and parts of speech
(cid:2) a wealth of examples from present-day Swedish
(cid:2) particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty for learners
(cid:2) Swedish/English contrasts highlighted throughout the book
(cid:2) chapters on word formation, orthography and punctuation.
Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar is the most thorough and detailed
Swedish grammar available in English and is an essential reference source
for the learner and user of Swedish, irrespective of level. It is ideal for use in
schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.
Dr Philip Holmes is Reader Emeritus in Scandinavian Studies at the
University of Hull, UK, and is now a freelance translator.
Dr Ian Hinchliffe, a former lecturer in Swedish, is a freelance translator and
founder member of the Swedish Association of Professional Translators.
WWinner of the Swedish National Language Council’s Erik Wellander Prize,
2003
Praise for the first edition
‘This grammar has great assets. The first is that it is compiled by English-
speaking people who have an excellent command of Swedish but who
know at first hand where the difficulties of learning Swedish lie ... The
second is that it represents contemporary Swedish and draws attention to
different styles and registers ... a good reliable guide to modern Swedish
and should serve as a standard reference of many years.’
Scandinavica
‘The strong points of this grammar are: (a) it concentrates on everyday
informal language; (b) it gives a wealth of examples; (c) by being
“unashamedly comparative” it highlights some aspects of the Swedish
language that are hardly ever touched upon in Swedish grammars written
by native speakers.’
Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek
Praise for the second edition
‘A vital contribution to the presentation of Swedish to an international
audience. The book adopts a valuable external perspective on Swedish,
from which native speakers of Swedish can also benefit, and is a major
source of knowledge for all of those either within or outside Sweden who
teach Swedish as a second language or as a foreign language.’
The Swedish Language Council
‘We have in Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar an extraordinarily
workable teaching and reference tool that should continue to be a source of
linguistic enrichment for many years to come.’
Marilyn Johns Blackwell, Ohio State University, USA
‘This is a reference work of the first rank … Above all, however, this book
constitutes the most important international work of reference for everyone
with an interest in linguistics in search of detailed information about the
morphology and syntax of Swedish.’
Skandinavistik
PPraise for the third edition
‘A thorough, clear guide to the rules of Swedish grammar... Holmes and
Hinchliffe cover everything from basics such as nouns and adjectives to
more advanced topics such as interjections and prepositions, and they do it
all with ease and clarity. Javisst, this is the best reference book to Swedish
grammar you’ll find in English.’
B.J. Epstein, University of East Anglia, UK
Routledge Comprehensive Grammars
Comprehensive Grammars are available for the following languages:
Bengali
Cantonese
Catalan
Chinese
Danish
Dutch
Greek
Indonesian
Japanese
Modern Welsh
Modern Written Arabic
Polish
Slovene
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Swedish
A Comprehensive Grammar
3rd edition
Philip Holmes and
Ian Hinchliffe
This third edition published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Philip Holmes and Ian Hinchliffe
The right of Philip Holmes and Ian Hinchliffe to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 1994
Second edition published by Routledge 2003
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Holmes, Philip, 1944-
Swedish : a comprehensive grammar / Philip Holmes and Ian Hinchliffe.– 3rd edition.
pages cm. – (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Swedish language – Grammar. I. Hinchliffe, Ian. II. Title.
PD5112.H66 2013
439.782/421– dc23
2012045423
ISBN: 978-0-415-66924-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-66925-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-38167-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon and Gill Sans
by Philip Holmes
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
CConotnentetsn ts
Preface xi
Symbols and abbreviations used in the text xv
Chapter 1 Nouns 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Gender rules 3
1.3 Miscellaneous points of gender 8
1.4 Plural noun forms – the declensions 16
1.5 Miscellaneous points on indefinite plural forms 38
1.6 Special uses of the singular and plural 44
1.7 Noun homonyms 48
1.8 The genitive 50
1.9 The form of the indefinite article 56
1.10 The form of the definite (end) article 56
1.11 The use of the indefinite and definite (end) article 65
Chapter 2 Adjectives 77
2.1 Form and order 77
2.2 The indefinite declension 92
2.3 The definite declension 102
2.4 Adjectival nouns 114
2.5 Comparison of adjectives 121
Chapter 3 Pronouns 140
3.1 Personal pronouns 140
3.2 Function and reference of personal pronouns 142
3.3 Subject and object pronouns 143
vii
3.4 Reflexive pronouns 156
3.5 Emphatic pronouns 159
3.6 Possessive adjectives and pronouns 161
3.7 Demonstrative pronouns 174
3.8 Determinative pronouns 179
3.9 Indefinite pronouns 182
3.10 Interrogative pronouns 223
3.11 Relative pronouns 227
Chapter 4 Numerals 233
4.1 Forms of numerals 233
4.2 The use of cardinal numbers 240
4.3 The use of ordinal numbers 246
4.4 Fractions 249
4.5 Dates 251
4.6 Telling the time 254
Chapter 5 Verbs 257
5.1 Form 257
5.2 The use of the tenses 280
5.3 Ways of expressing mood 304
5.4 Transitive, intransitive and reflexive verbs 314
5.5 −s forms of the verb and the passive 320
5.6 Compound verbs 332
5.7 Some problem verbs 339
Chapter 6 Adverbs 345
6.1 Form 345
6.2 Meaning and function 355
6.3 Location and movement 364
6.4 Translating adverbs 367
Chapter 7 Prepositions 376
7.1 Introduction 376
7.2 The fifteen most common Swedish prepositions 383
7.3 Prepositional usage 428
viii
Chapter 8 Conjunctions 479
8.1 Coordination and subordination 479
8.2 Coordinating conjunctions 483
8.3 Subordinating conjunctions 489
8.4 Other subordinators 499
8.5 Some problem conjunctions 501
Chapter 9 Interjections 508
9.1 Introduction 508
9.2 Affirmations and denials 509
9.3 Reactions in conversation 511
9.4 Commands 514
9.5 Imitations 515
9.6 Polite expressions 516
9.7 Expletives 517
Chapter 10 Sentence structure and word order 518
10.1 Clause elements 518
10.2 Phrases 531
10.3 Main clause word order – basic positions 547
10.4 Subordinate clause word order – basic positions 554
10.5 Order within positions 555
10.6 Main clause transformations 561
10.7 Subordinate clauses 580
10.8 Emphasis 594
10.9 Ellipsis 601
Chapter 11 Word formation 608
11.1 Introduction 608
11.2 Affixation 612
11.3 Compounding 626
11.4 Expressive formation 644
11.5 Abbreviation 646
11.6 Foreign influences on Swedish 647
11.7 Conversion 658
ix
