2. Noun inflections
Swedish nouns primarily inflect for gender, number and definiteness. Nouns are divided into five groups according to their plural indefinite inflectional ending.
Group 1 -OR
All the nouns in this group take the article en and end with the letter a.
Singular indefinite
en människa
en hona
en skola
Singular definite
människan
honan
skolan
Plural indefinite
människor
honor
skolor
Plural definite
människorna
honorna
skolorna
Group 2 -AR
All the nouns in this group take the article en. Included in this group are nouns that end with -ing, -dom, -el, -er, and -en.
Singular indefinite
en tanke
en älv
en tidning
en visdom
en spegel
Singular definite
tanken
älven
tidningen
visdomen
spegeln
Plural indefinite
tankar
älvar
tidningar
visdomar
speglar
Plural definite
tankarna
älvarna
tidningarna
visdomarna
speglarna
Group 3 -ER
Most of the nouns in this group take the article en. Included in this group are nouns that end with -het, -else, -ion, and -när. In addition, nouns that take the article ett and end with -um, -eri or -ori are also included.
Singular indefinite
en dam
en annons
en hemlighet
en lektion
ett konditori
Singular definite
damen
annonsen
hemligheten
lektionen
konditoriet
Plural indefinite
damer
annonser
hemligheter
lektioner
konditorier
Plural definite
damerna
annonserna
hemligheterna
lektionerna
konditorierna
Group 4 -N
All the nouns in this group take the article ett and end with a vowel.
Singular indefinite
ett ställe
ett spöke
ett knä
Singular definite
stället
spöket
knäet
Plural indefinite
ställen
spöken
knän
Plural definite
ställena
spökena
knäna
Group 5 (no inflectional ending)
Nearly all the nouns in this group take the article ett and end with a consonant. Included are also those nouns that take the article en and end with -are, -er, or -ande (when the word refers to a person) or -are (when the word refers to an appliance or device).
Singular indefinite
ett liv
ett slott
ett problem
en spelare
en tekniker
Singular definite
livet
slottet
problemet
spelaren
teknikern
Plural indefinite
liv
slott
problem
spelare
tekniker
Plural definite
liven
slottet
problemen
spelarna
teknikerna