English uses a small handful of words — all, whole, both, every other — to talk about totality and distribution, and it uses them loosely. Swedish splits the same ground into several words with different syntax, and the split that catches every English speaker is this: "the whole X" is hela X (and the noun goes into the definite form), while "all (the) X" is allt or alla X. They are not interchangeable, and they trigger different forms on the noun. This page sorts out all/allt/alla, hela, båda, and varannan/vartannat — the determiners that look easy and quietly go wrong.
all / allt / alla — quick recap
These agree on the en/ett/plural template (covered in full on Quantifiers):
- all
- allt
- ett-word mass noun, or "everything": allt arbete ("all the work")
- alla
- plural count noun, or "everyone": alla länder ("all countries")
Alla länder skrev under avtalet.
All countries signed the agreement. alla + plural count noun.
Allt arbete var bortkastat.
All the work was wasted. allt + ett-word mass noun.
The crucial thing for this page: all/allt/alla express the totality of a quantity or a set — "all the milk," "all the children." They do not mean "the entire single thing." For that you need hela.
hela — "the whole" (with a definite noun)
To say "the whole X" — a single thing taken in its entirety, not a set of countable items — Swedish uses hela, and it takes a noun in the definite form:
| English | Swedish | Noun form |
|---|---|---|
| the whole day | hela dagen | definite (dag → dagen) |
| the whole house | hela huset | definite (hus → huset) |
| the whole world | hela världen | definite (värld → världen) |
| the whole night | hela natten | definite (natt → natten) |
Note what is absent: there is no front article den/det. Even though the noun is definite, hela does the job of the front article itself — you say hela dagen, never den hela dagen. This is one of the few cases where a definite noun stands without the den/det/de it would otherwise need before an adjective.
Vi pratade hela natten.
We talked the whole night. hela + definite noun (natten); no front article.
Hela huset luktade nybakat bröd.
The whole house smelled of freshly baked bread. hela huset — 'whole' of a single thing.
Han var borta hela veckan.
He was away the whole week. hela veckan.
hela vs all — the contrast that goes wrong
"All day" in English can mean the same as "the whole day," and English speakers translate it as all dagen — which is wrong. all needs a mass noun and not a definite ending; dagen is a definite count noun, so it requires hela:
❌ Jag jobbade all dagen.
Incorrect — 'the whole day' is hela dagen; 'all' + a definite count noun is impossible here.
✅ Jag jobbade hela dagen.
I worked all day / the whole day.
The reliable mental split: alla counts members of a set (alla dagar = "all the days," every individual day); hela takes one thing whole (hela dagen = "the whole of this day"). English's single "all" maps onto both, which is exactly why you must choose deliberately.
Hon har varit sjuk hela veckan, alla dagar utom söndag.
She's been ill the whole week, every day except Sunday. hela veckan (one week as a unit) vs alla dagar (each day in the set).
båda — "both" (with a definite noun)
"Both" is båda, and like hela it pairs with a definite noun — but here the noun keeps its usual definite plural ending:
Båda bilarna är sålda.
Both cars are sold. båda + definite plural (bilarna).
Jag känner båda systrarna.
I know both sisters. båda + definite plural (systrarna).
You can also say båda två ("both of them / the two of them") and, as a standalone pronoun, just båda ("both"):
Vill du ha kaffe eller te? — Båda två, tack!
Do you want coffee or tea? — Both, thanks! båda två as a standalone answer.
Mina föräldrar är pensionärer, båda två.
My parents are retired, both of them. båda två tagged on at the end.
Do not confuse båda ("both," a determiner/pronoun) with både ... och ("both ... and," a conjunction pair):
Jag pratar både svenska och engelska.
I speak both Swedish and English. både ... och links two items — NOT båda.
varannan / vartannat — "every other"
For "every other / every second," Swedish uses varannan with en-words and vartannat with ett-words — the var- "each" element plus annan/annat "other," agreeing in gender. The noun is indefinite singular:
Vi ses varannan vecka.
We meet every other week. varannan + en-word (vecka).
Han tränar varannan dag.
He trains every other day. varannan + en-word (dag).
Vartannat år åker vi till Italien.
Every other year we go to Italy. vartannat + ett-word (år), -t for neuter.
The same template extends: var tredje dag ("every third day"), vart fjärde år ("every fourth year") — var/vart agreeing for gender, then an ordinal number.
Det är val vart fjärde år.
There's an election every four years. vart + ett-word (år) + ordinal.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag väntade all dagen.
Incorrect — 'the whole day' is hela dagen, with a definite noun and no 'all'.
✅ Jag väntade hela dagen.
I waited all day.
❌ den hela världen
Incorrect — hela needs no front article; the definite noun stands alone after it.
✅ hela världen
the whole world.
❌ Båda bilar är sålda.
Incorrect — båda requires the DEFINITE noun: bilarna, not the bare plural bilar.
✅ Båda bilarna är sålda.
Both cars are sold.
❌ Jag pratar båda svenska och engelska.
Incorrect — for 'both ... and' use the conjunction både ... och, not båda.
✅ Jag pratar både svenska och engelska.
I speak both Swedish and English.
❌ Vi ses vartannat vecka.
Incorrect — vecka is an en-word, so it's varannan, not the neuter vartannat.
✅ Vi ses varannan vecka.
We meet every other week.
Key Takeaways
- "The whole X" = hela X, with the noun in the definite form and no front article: hela dagen, hela huset.
- "All (the) X" = allt / alla X — totality of a mass or a set, taking a non-definite noun: allt arbete, alla länder. English's single "all" splits across hela (one thing whole) and alla (every member of a set).
- "Both" = båda + definite noun (båda bilarna), or standalone båda två. Keep it separate from the conjunction både ... och ("both ... and").
- "Every other" = varannan (en) / vartannat (ett) + indefinite singular; extend with var tredje, vart fjärde for "every third/fourth."
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Quantifiers (många, mycket, några, alla)A2 — How Swedish quantifying determiners split by count vs mass (många 'many' vs mycket 'much') and which ones agree with gender and number (någon/något/några) — exactly like the en/ett/plural article system you already know.
- Double Definiteness (den stora bilen)A2 — Swedish's signature feature: when a definite noun gets an adjective, definiteness is marked THREE times at once — a preposed article den/det/de, the adjective in its -a form, and the enclitic suffix still on the noun (den stora bilen, det stora huset, de stora bilarna). The exact failure mode for English speakers is dropping one of the three (*den stora bil or *stora bilen) — and Standard Swedish requires all three together.
- Time ExpressionsA2 — How Swedish locates events in time: parts of the day (på morgonen, i kväll), relative days (igår, idag, imorgon, i förrgår, i övermorgon), the elegant i-bare vs i-s system that marks a coming vs past part of today (i kväll vs i morse), and duration (i fem år). The standout puzzle is i natt — one phrase that means 'tonight' or 'last night' depending entirely on the verb tense.