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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?
When an adjective modifies a definite noun directly (attributively), it takes the plural/definite ending -a, and you include the demonstrative or article. For example: den vänliga personalen – literally “the friendly staff.”
Can I say en vänlig personal if I mean “a friendly staff member”?
No. Personal is a collective noun and cannot be counted with en. If you want to refer to a single person on the staff, use anställd or medarbetare:
en vänlig anställd (“a friendly employee”).
How do I pronounce the ä in är and vänlig?
The Swedish ä is similar to the “e” in English bet but a bit more open. So är sounds like [ɛːr] (a long “e”) and the first syllable of vänlig like [ˈvɛn], then [lɪg].
Could I drop är and just say Personalen vänlig?
No. Swedish requires a finite verb in main clauses (verb-second word order). You need är (“is”) to form a complete sentence: Personalen är vänlig.