Swedish has two completely separate ways to say "this" and "that," and the single most important thing to learn about them is that they disagree about what the noun should look like. The everyday spoken system — den här, den där — demands a definite noun (den här bilen). The formal written system — denna, detta, dessa — demands a bare noun (denna bil). Same meaning, opposite noun form. Lining these two up side by side is the whole point of this page, because almost every learner mixes them and produces forms that exist in neither system.
System 1: den här / den där (everyday, spoken)
This is the system you will hear and use most. It is built from the demonstrative base den / det / de (matching the noun's gender and number) plus a location word — här ("here") for proximal this/these, där ("there") for distal that/those:
| this / these | that / those | |
|---|---|---|
| common (en) | den här | den där |
| neuter (ett) | det här | det där |
| plural | de här | de där |
The crucial rule: the noun after den här / den där stays in its definite form — with the suffix on the end:
Den här bilen är till salu, men den där bilen är redan såld.
This car is for sale, but that car is already sold. Note: bilen, with the definite suffix, after both.
Det här huset är nybyggt.
This house is newly built. 'det här' + 'huset' (definite).
De där skorna passar inte.
Those shoes don't fit. 'de där' + 'skorna' (definite plural).
So the literal shape is "the-here car-the" — definiteness shows up twice, on den/det/de and again as the suffix, just as it does in double definiteness. And exactly like there, if you add an adjective it slots in between in its -a form, with the noun staying definite:
Den här röda bilen är min.
This red car is mine. den här + röda + bilen — adjective in -a, noun stays definite.
Jag tar det där stora glaset.
I'll take that big glass. det där + stora + glaset.
System 2: denna / detta / dessa (formal, written)
The second system is a single word that already contains the demonstrative meaning. It is more formal and far more common in writing than in speech (you will meet it constantly in newspapers, official texts, and academic prose — see Formal Written Swedish):
| this / these (and often 'that' in formal use) | |
|---|---|
| common (en) | denna |
| neuter (ett) | detta |
| plural | dessa |
And here is the flip: the noun after denna / detta / dessa is bare — the indefinite form, with no suffix:
Denna bil är till salu.
This car is for sale. 'denna bil' — bare noun, NO 'bilen'.
Detta hus byggdes på 1700-talet.
This house was built in the 18th century. 'detta hus' — bare, never 'huset'.
Dessa frågor måste besvaras.
These questions must be answered. 'dessa frågor' — bare plural.
If you add an adjective, it still takes the definite -a form, but the noun still stays bare:
Denna röda bil är min.
This red car is mine. denna + röda + bil — adjective in -a, but the noun stays bare.
The crux: the noun form flips between the two systems
This is the contrast to burn in, because the two systems mean the same thing yet require opposite noun forms. Same sentence, two registers:
| Everyday (System 1) | Formal (System 2) | |
|---|---|---|
| this car | den här bilen(definite) | denna bil (bare) |
| this house | det här huset(definite) | detta hus (bare) |
| these questions | de här frågorna(definite) | dessa frågor (bare) |
Den här bilen / denna bil — samma betydelse, olika stil och olika substantivform.
'Den här bilen' / 'denna bil' — same meaning, different style and different noun form.
Which one should you use?
For speaking and informal writing (texts, chat, emails to friends), reach for den här / den där — it is the natural spoken choice and never sounds wrong in conversation. Save denna / detta / dessa for formal writing, where it is the expected, more economical form (one word instead of two, no doubled noun). In speech, denna can sound stiff or bookish; in a news article, den här can sound a little casual. They are not interchangeable in register even though they are in meaning.
(samtal) Kan du ge mig den här pennan?
(conversation) Can you hand me this pen? Spoken — 'den här pennan'.
(tidning) Denna fråga har debatterats i åratal.
(newspaper) This question has been debated for years. Written — 'denna fråga'.
One more practical note: standing alone (as a pronoun, with no noun), det här and det där are the everyday "this/that," and detta is the formal one — Vad är det här? "What's this?", Detta är viktigt "This is important."
Common Mistakes
❌ den här bil
Incorrect — den här needs the DEFINITE noun. The suffix is missing.
✅ den här bilen
this car — 'den här' + the definite 'bilen'.
❌ denna bilen
Incorrect — denna takes a BARE noun. No suffix allowed.
✅ denna bil
this car — 'denna' + the bare 'bil'.
❌ detta huset / dessa frågorna
Incorrect — same trap in neuter and plural: denna/detta/dessa take bare nouns.
✅ detta hus / dessa frågor
this house / these questions — bare nouns after the formal demonstrative.
❌ de här bil / det där hus
Incorrect — the two-word demonstratives need definite nouns: bilen, huset.
✅ de här bilarna / det där huset
these cars / that house — definite nouns after 'de här' / 'det där'.
❌ denna stora bilen
Incorrect — the adjective rightly takes -a, but the noun must stay bare after 'denna'.
✅ denna stora bil
this big car — adjective 'stora', bare noun 'bil'.
Key Takeaways
- Two systems, same meaning, opposite noun forms.
- den här / det här / de här = this/these; den där / det där / de där = that/those — everyday/spoken, and they take the DEFINITE noun (den här bilen).
- denna / detta / dessa = this/these (and often that) — formal/written, and they take the BARE noun (denna bil, never denna bilen).
- With an adjective, both systems put it in the -a form; the noun form still follows its system (definite after den här, bare after denna).
- Use den här when speaking, denna when writing formally — interchangeable in meaning, not in register.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- 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.
- den and det for Things (and Sentence det)A2 — Swedish has no single word for 'it': you say den for a singular en-word and det for a singular ett-word — the pronoun follows the noun's gender. But det also has a second life as a dummy subject (Det regnar, Det är kallt) and as a neutral 'it/that' pointing at a whole situation (Det är sant), and there it is ALWAYS det, gender or no gender.
- Formal and Written SwedishB2 — The features that mark formal, written Swedish: the full forms (de/dem not dom, sade not sa, någon not nån), the formal demonstratives denna/detta, passives and nominalisations in officialese, the optional masculine -e adjective, and dense subordination — plus the klarspråk counter-pressure against bureaucratic murk. The core thing a learner must internalise: written Swedish demands de/dem and sade/lade even though nobody pronounces them that way. The written/spoken split is a spelling-vs-speech gap you must consciously bridge.
- Possessive DeterminersA1 — The words for 'my/your/his...' before a noun: min/mitt/mina, din/ditt/dina, vår/vårt/våra and sin/sitt/sina AGREE with the possessed noun's gender and number, while hans, hennes, dess, er and deras are INVARIABLE. The rule English habits keep breaking: a noun after any possessive goes BARE (min bil, never *min bilen) — no definite suffix, no front article.