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Questions & Answers about Personalen är vänlig.
What does personalen mean and why is there no separate word for “the”?
Personalen is a collective noun meaning “the staff.” In Swedish, definiteness is shown by adding a suffix (here -en) rather than using a separate article like the. The indefinite form is personal (“staff” in general), and the definite form is personalen.
Why is personalen treated as singular, even though it refers to multiple people?
Although personalen refers to a group of people, it is grammatically singular in Swedish. Collective nouns like personal, publik (“audience”), and familj (“family”) take singular agreement, so we use singular verbs and adjective forms.
Why is the adjective vänlig in its basic form, not vänliga?
In a predicative position (after the verb är), adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number. Since personalen is common-gender singular, you use the singular common form vänlig. You would only use vänliga if the subject were plural (e.g. Personerna är vänliga).
How would I say “the friendly staff” as part of a longer noun phrase?