Learn Hardcore Swedish: Biljetterna till konserten är dyra, men artisten är fantastisk. - The tickets for the concert are expensive, but the artist is fantastic.

Swedish often uses the definite form when English uses “the” in front of a noun. Since you’re talking about specific tickets (for the concert mentioned), Swedish makes the noun itself definite with -na at the end: biljetterna.

Why do we use till in till konserten? Is it like “to the concert”?

Yes, till often translates as “to”, but here it works more like “for” in English:

biljetterna till konserten = the tickets for the concert

In Swedish, relationships like “X for Y” are often expressed with till:

biljett till bion – ticket to/for the cinema
present till dig – present for you

So the structure X till Y is very common for saying what something is for.

Why is it konserten and not just konsert?

Konserten is the definite singular form: “the concert.”

konsert = a concert
konserten = the concert

Just like with biljetterna, we are talking about a particular, known concert, so Swedish uses the definite form on the noun itself instead of a separate word like “the”.

Why is there a comma before men?

In Swedish, men (“but”) is a coordinating conjunction, just like in English.

You usually put a comma before men when it connects two independent clauses (two parts that could be sentences on their own):

Biljetterna till konserten är dyra,
men artisten är fantastisk.

Both parts have their own subject and verb, so the comma is standard and natural here.

What does är do in this sentence? Is it the same as English “are/is”?

Yes. Är is the present tense of vara (“to be”), and it covers both “is” and “are” in English:

biljetterna … är dyra – the tickets are expensive
artisten är fantastisk – the artist is fantastic

Swedish doesn’t change the form of är depending on singular/plural or person. It’s always är in the present:

jag är, du är, han/hon är, vi är, ni är, de är

Why is the adjective dyra and not dyr or dyrt?

Adjectives in Swedish agree with the number and definiteness of the noun.

Base form: dyr = expensive

en dyr biljett – an expensive ticket (en-word, singular, indefinite)
ett dyrt hus – an expensive house (ett-word, singular, indefinite)
dyra biljetter – expensive tickets (plural, indefinite)
de dyra biljetterna – the expensive tickets (plural, definite)

In the sentence, biljetterna is plural definite, so the adjective takes the plural form: dyra.

Even when there is no article like de in front, the agreement is with the noun:

Biljetterna … är dyra.
(The tickets are expensive.)

Why is it fantastisk and not fantastiska or fantastiskt?

Here we have artisten (the artist), which is singular, an en-word, and definite.

Adjective agreement pattern:

en fantastisk artist – a fantastic artist (indefinite)
den fantastiska artisten – the fantastic artist (with den, adjective gets -a)
artisten är fantastisk – the artist is fantastic

When the adjective comes before a definite noun with the article (den/det/de) you add -a:

den fantastiska artisten

But when the adjective comes after the verb är (predicative position), you usually don’t add this definite ending. Instead, it agrees mostly in gender/number, and for an en-word singular, that is just fantastisk:

artisten är fantastisk

Why doesn’t the adjective after är take the definite ending when the noun is definite?

This is a key pattern in Swedish:

Adjective before a definite noun (with den/det/de):
- den dyra bilen, det stora huset, de fina biljetterna
Adjective after a verb like är, blir, känns etc. (predicative):
The adjective agrees only with gender and number, not definiteness:
- Bilen är dyr.
- Huset är stort.
- Biljetterna är dyra.
- Artisten är fantastisk.

So even though artisten is definite, the predicative adjective behaves as if it were just “an artist” in terms of endings.

Can I change the word order, like Artisten är fantastisk, men biljetterna till konserten är dyra?

Yes, that is perfectly correct Swedish:

Biljetterna till konserten är dyra, men artisten är fantastisk.
Artisten är fantastisk, men biljetterna till konserten är dyra.

Both versions are grammatical. You’re just changing which part you emphasize or mention first, similar to English.

Is dyr only “expensive”? Does it have other uses?

In this context, dyr means “expensive”. It’s the normal, neutral word for price:

en dyr bok – an expensive book
det är väldigt dyrt – it’s very expensive

It can also be used more figuratively in some expressions, like English “costly,” but for everyday usage, think of it as straightforward “expensive.”

What is the gender of biljett, konsert, and artist? How do I know?

All three are en-words (common gender):

en biljett – biljetten – biljetter – biljetterna
en konsert – konserten – konserter – konserterna
en artist – artisten – artister – artisterna

There is no reliable rule that always tells you the gender of a new noun; you generally have to learn it with the noun. Dictionaries always mark nouns as en or ett.

Could I say Biljetterna för konserten instead of till konserten?

You normally would not say biljetterna för konserten here.

för can sometimes mean “for,” but in this type of phrase, Swedish almost always uses till to express what the ticket is to/for:

Correct/natural:

biljetterna till konserten – the tickets to/for the concert

För is used in other ways, e.g.:

en present för dig (possible but less common; usually till dig)
det här är svårt för mig – this is hard for me
jobba för ett företag – work for a company

So for event tickets, transport tickets, etc., use till.

Is artist in Swedish the same as “artist” in English?

Not exactly. In Swedish, artist most commonly means a performing artist, especially:

a singer
a pop/rock star
an entertainer on stage

If you want to talk about a visual artist (painter, sculptor etc.), you usually say konstnär.

So in this sentence, artisten is understood as the (performing) artist / performer, not a painter.