Quantifiers (många, mycket, några, alla) | Swedish Grammar

Swedish quantifiers — the words for "many," "much," "some," "no," "all," "each" — divide along two lines that English mostly blurs. First, like English, Swedish distinguishes count quantifiers (många "many") from mass quantifiers (mycket "much"). Second, and this is the part with no clean English parallel, some quantifiers agree with the noun's gender and number — and they do so using the exact same three-way pattern as the indefinite article (en / ett / plural). If you already know how to pick en bil versus ett hus, you already know how to inflect någon versus något. This page shows where the count/mass line falls and which words inflect.

många (count) vs mycket (mass)

The single most useful split: många quantifies things you can count (cars, glasses, people), and mycket quantifies things you measure rather than count (water, time, money, love). It is the same logic behind English many vs much — but English speakers reach for much far more loosely in the negative and interrogative ("how much cars?" is wrong but tempting under pressure), and Swedish does not forgive that. The count/mass choice is rigid.

Det var många glas på bordet, men inte mycket vatten i dem.

There were many glasses on the table, but not much water in them. många glas (countable: glasses), mycket vatten (mass: water).

Hur många gånger har jag sagt det?

How many times have I said that? Count noun (gånger 'times') → många, never mycket.

Vi har inte mycket tid kvar.

We don't have much time left. tid ('time') is mass → mycket.

Note that många and mycket themselves do not change form for the gender of the noun — they are fixed. The agreement story belongs to a different set of words, below.

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The test is the same as in English: if you can put a number in front of the noun (tre glas, "three glasses"), it's countable → många. If you can't (you don't say "three waters" meaning the substance), it's mass → mycket. Full treatment on mycket vs många and the noun side on Mass and Count Nouns.

några / inga (some / no, plural count)

For countable things in the plural, "some" is några and "no / not any" is inga:

Har du några frågor innan vi börjar?

Do you have any questions before we start? några + plural count noun.

Det finns inga biljetter kvar.

There are no tickets left. inga = the plural 'no'.

Jag köpte några äpplen och några päron.

I bought some apples and some pears. några with plural neuters works identically.

någon / något / några — the agreeing trio

Here is the insight that collapses what other courses teach as a separate paradigm into something you already own. The word for "some / any / someone / a (certain)" agrees with the noun in exactly the en/ett/plural pattern:

Noun type	Form	Example	Article parallel
common (en-word)	någon	någon bil	en bil
neuter (ett-word)	något	något hus	ett hus
plural	några	några bilar / några hus	bilar / hus

The neuter form ends in -t (något), precisely because the neuter article is ett and neuter adjectives take -t. The plural is några, matching the -a you see across plurals and the weak adjective. So the rule "pick någon / något / några by gender and number" is the same rule you use for en / ett / bare plural — you are not learning a new system, only applying the gender you already had to assign.

Är det någon bil ledig på parkeringen?

Is there any (free) car in the car park? någon + en-word (bil).

Finns det något kafé i närheten?

Is there a café nearby? något + ett-word (kafé) — note the -t.

Har du några idéer?

Do you have any ideas? några + plural.

The negative counterpart works the same way: ingen (en-word) / inget (ett-word) / inga (plural) — "no / not any."

Jag har ingen aning och inget svar — inga ledtrådar alls.

I have no idea and no answer — no clues at all. ingen aning (en), inget svar (ett), inga ledtrådar (plural).

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The whole någon/något/några and ingen/inget/inga series inflects on the en / ett / plural template — the same one behind the articles. Once a noun's gender is settled, its quantifier is settled too. There is no extra paradigm to memorise. (As standalone words — "someone," "no one" — these belong to Indefinite Pronouns.)

all / allt / alla (all)

"All" likewise agrees, again on the familiar three-way split, but its uses lean on the count/mass distinction:

all
- en-word mass noun: all mjölk ("all the milk")
allt
- ett-word mass noun, or "everything": allt vatten ("all the water"), allt ("everything")
alla
- plural count noun, or "everyone": alla barn ("all children"), alla ("everyone")

Alla barn fick en present.

All the children got a present. alla + plural count noun (barn).

Hon drack upp all mjölk.

She drank up all the milk. all + en-word mass noun (mjölk).

Allt vatten hade frusit till is.

All the water had frozen to ice. allt + ett-word mass noun (vatten), -t for neuter.

The fuller story of all against hela ("the whole") and båda ("both") has its own page — see all, hela, båda, varannan.

varje / var (each, every)

"Each / every" is varje before a singular count noun, regardless of gender — it does not inflect:

Varje morgon dricker jag kaffe på balkongen.

Every morning I drink coffee on the balcony. varje + singular noun, no agreement.

Hon kan namnet på varje elev i klassen.

She knows the name of every pupil in the class. varje stays fixed.

There is also an older, more formal var / vart (en/ett agreeing), surviving mainly in fixed phrases like var och en ("each and every one") and in the varannan/vartannat construction. In everyday Swedish, use varje.

Var och en får bestämma själv.

Each one gets to decide for themselves. var och en — a set phrase (formal/neutral).

Common Mistakes

❌ Det var mycket bilar på vägen.

Incorrect — bilar is countable, so 'much' must be 'many': många, not mycket.

✅ Det var många bilar på vägen.

There were many cars on the road.

❌ Finns det någon kafé i närheten?

Incorrect — kafé is an ett-word, so the neuter form is needed: något.

✅ Finns det något kafé i närheten?

Is there a café nearby?

❌ Har du mycket frågor?

Incorrect — frågor (questions) is countable plural → många / några, not mycket.

✅ Har du många frågor?

Do you have many questions?

❌ Jag har ingen svar.

Incorrect — svar is an ett-word, so the neuter negative is inget.

✅ Jag har inget svar.

I have no answer.

❌ Varje barnen sov.

Incorrect — varje takes a singular noun (and no definite ending): varje barn.

✅ Varje barn sov.

Every child was sleeping.

Key Takeaways

Count vs mass: många ("many") for countables, mycket ("much") for mass nouns. The line is rigid — Swedish won't tolerate mycket bilar.
många, mycket, and varje are invariable.
någon / något / några and ingen / inget / inga and all / allt / alla agree — on the same en / ett / plural template as the article system. Neuter ends in -t (något, inget, allt); plural ends in -a (några, inga, alla).
Once a noun's gender is known, its agreeing quantifier is automatic — there is no separate paradigm to learn.
varje = "each/every" before a singular noun; the older var/vart survives mainly in set phrases.

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