Once you can count, the next layer is the language of fractions, decimals, percentages and arithmetic. Most of it is intuitive, but two conventions are the mirror image of the American system and quietly produce wrong numbers in writing: Sweden uses a comma where the US uses a decimal point, and a space where the US uses a thousands comma. Get those two backwards on an invoice or a recipe and 3,14 becomes "three hundred fourteen." This page covers the spoken forms and these written conventions.
Fractions: the -del suffix
A fraction is built from the ordinal stem plus the noun del ("part"). The numerator is a plain cardinal; the denominator carries -del (singular) or -delar (plural):
- en halv — one half (irregular; halv is its own word, not tvådel)
- en tredjedel — one third (tredje "third" + del)
- en fjärdedel — one quarter
- två tredjedelar — two thirds (plural denominator)
- tre fjärdedelar — three quarters
The pattern is transparent from "third" on: take the ordinal (tredje, fjärde, femte…), add del, and pluralise to delar when the numerator is above one. "Half" is the lone irregular: en halv, not en tvådel.
| Fraction | Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|
| ½ | en halv | one half |
| ⅓ | en tredjedel | one third |
| ¼ | en fjärdedel | one quarter |
| ⅔ | två tredjedelar | two thirds |
| ¾ | tre fjärdedelar | three quarters |
Nästan tre fjärdedelar av deltagarna var under trettio.
Almost three quarters of the participants were under thirty. tre fjärdedelar — plural denominator.
Receptet kräver en tredjedel av degen.
The recipe calls for a third of the dough. en tredjedel.
halv as an adjective: agreement and en och en halv
halv is special because it also works as an ordinary adjective and so agrees with its noun. Before a neuter noun it takes the -t ending halvt:
- en halv liter (common noun liter) — "half a litre"
- ett halvt kilo (neuter kilo) — "half a kilo"
- en och en halv timme — "one and a half hours" (literally "one and one half hour" — note the noun stays singular here)
That last construction is worth pausing on: "one and a half" is en och en halv, and the noun that follows it is singular, not plural — en och en halv timme, never timmar. This differs from English "one and a half hours."
Lägg i ett halvt kilo mjöl och en halv liter mjölk.
Add half a kilo of flour and half a litre of milk. ett halvt kilo (neuter -t) vs en halv liter (common).
Resan tar en och en halv timme.
The journey takes one and a half hours. en och en halv timme — noun stays singular.
The decimal COMMA
This is the convention that catches every English speaker. In Swedish (and most of continental Europe) the decimal separator is a comma, not a point. 3.14 in English is 3,14 in Swedish, read aloud as tre komma fjorton — "three comma fourteen." The word komma literally is "comma," and it is the spoken equivalent of the English "point."
- 2,5 = två komma fem — "two point five"
- 3,14 = tre komma fjorton (or digit by digit, tre komma ett fyra)
- 0,75 = noll komma sjuttiofem
Temperaturen var två komma fem grader, alltså 2,5.
The temperature was two point five degrees, that is 2.5. Written 2,5 with a comma; read komma.
Pi är ungefär tre komma fjorton.
Pi is roughly three point fourteen. 3,14 — read komma, never 'punkt'.
The thousands separator: a space
Where English groups large numbers with commas (1,000,000), Swedish uses a non-breaking space: 1 000 000. A comma in that position would be read as a decimal and could turn a million into one. Four-digit numbers are often written tight (1500 or 1 500), but from five digits up the space grouping is standard.
Staden har drygt 1 000 000 invånare.
The city has just over 1,000,000 inhabitants. Space, not comma, groups the thousands.
Bilen kostade 245 000 kronor.
The car cost 245,000 kronor. 245 000 with a space.
Percent
"Percent" is procent, and it does not take a plural ending — tio procent, femtio procent, never procenter. The symbol % is read procent. "Percentage point" is procentenhet, useful for distinguishing a rise of points from a rise by a percentage.
Priserna steg med tio procent förra året.
Prices rose by ten percent last year. tio procent — no plural -er.
Nästan femtio procent av rösterna räknades om.
Almost fifty percent of the votes were recounted. femtio procent.
Arithmetic
The basic operations have everyday names. Note that gånger ("times") is literally the plural of gång ("a time/occasion"), and "divided by" is delat med (from dela, "to divide / share"):
| Operation | Swedish | Example |
|---|---|---|
| + | plus | två plus två |
| − | minus | fem minus tre |
| × | gånger | tre gånger fyra |
| ÷ | delat med | tio delat med två |
| = | är / blir | … är fyra |
The result is linked with är ("is") or blir ("becomes / comes to"), both natural:
Två plus två är fyra.
Two plus two is four. plus … är.
Sex gånger sju blir fyrtiotvå.
Six times seven is forty-two. gånger; blir for the result.
Tolv delat med tre är fyra.
Twelve divided by three is four. delat med.
Common Mistakes
❌ Pi är tre punkt fjorton. / 3.14
Incorrect — Swedish uses a comma for decimals: 3,14, read 'tre komma fjorton'.
✅ Pi är tre komma fjorton. / 3,14
Pi is three point fourteen.
❌ Staden har 1,000,000 invånare. (comma thousands)
Incorrect — a comma is a decimal in Swedish; group thousands with a space: 1 000 000.
✅ Staden har 1 000 000 invånare.
The city has 1,000,000 inhabitants.
❌ Priset steg med tio procenter. (pluralising)
Incorrect — procent has no plural: tio procent.
✅ Priset steg med tio procent.
The price rose by ten percent.
❌ ett halv kilo (no neuter agreement)
Incorrect — halv agrees: before a neuter noun it's halvt: ett halvt kilo.
✅ ett halvt kilo
half a kilo.
❌ Resan tar en och en halv timmar. (plural noun)
Incorrect — after en och en halv the noun stays singular: en och en halv timme.
✅ Resan tar en och en halv timme.
The journey takes one and a half hours.
Key Takeaways
- Fractions = ordinal stem + del / delar: en tredjedel, två tredjedelar. "Half" is the irregular en halv.
- halv is an adjective and agrees: ett halvt kilo (neuter). After en och en halv the noun stays singular (en och en halv timme).
- Decimals use a COMMA (3,14 = tre komma fjorton); thousands use a SPACE (1 000 000) — the reverse of US convention and a real writing trap.
- procent never pluralises: tio procent.
- Arithmetic: plus, minus, gånger, delat med, with the result joined by är or blir.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
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