Boken är rolig.

The book is fun.

Breakdown of Boken är rolig.

• vara: to be
• boken: the book
• rolig: funny

Questions & Answers about Boken är rolig.

Why is it boken and not just bok?

Swedish marks definiteness with an ending on the noun:

• bok = book (indefinite, “a book”)
• boken = the book (definite, “the book”)

So boken är rolig means “the book is fun/funny”, not “a book is fun/funny”.

How would I say “a book is fun” instead of “the book is fun”?

Use the indefinite form of the noun:

• En bok är rolig. = A book is fun/funny.

Compare:

• En bok är rolig. – A book is fun/funny.
• Boken är rolig. – The book is fun/funny.

Why is the adjective rolig and not roligt or roliga?

In predicative position (after är, to be), adjectives agree mainly with gender and number:

• En bok är rolig. – A book is fun/funny. (common gender, singular)
• Ett spel är roligt. – A game is fun/funny. (neuter, singular)
• Böcker är roliga. – Books are fun/funny. (plural)

So:

• boken is common gender, singular → rolig.

Note: even though boken is definite, the adjective in predicative position does not take a special definite ending. You do not say boken är roliga.

But I’ve seen den roliga boken. Why is it roliga there but rolig in boken är rolig?

This is the difference between:

• Attributive adjective (before the noun): takes -a in definite forms.
• Predicative adjective (after the verb): does not take the definite ending.

Examples:

• Den roliga boken – the fun/funny book (adjective before noun, definite → roliga)
• Boken är rolig. – The book is fun/funny. (adjective after är → rolig)

Same idea:

• Den stora bilen. – the big car
• Bilen är stor. – the car is big

How do I know it’s en bok and not ett bok?

Swedish nouns have two genders:

• common gender (en‑words)
• neuter gender (ett‑words)

Bok happens to be a common-gender noun:

• en bok – a book
• boken – the book

You usually have to learn the gender with the noun (dictionaries mark nouns as en or ett). There’s no reliable rule that lets you guess it from the spelling.

Can I say Rolig är boken instead of Boken är rolig?

In normal, neutral Swedish you don’t. The standard word order here is:

• Subject – Verb – Predicative
• Boken är rolig.

Putting the adjective first (Rolig är boken) sounds poetic, old‑fashioned, or very marked for emphasis, and is not used in everyday speech.

Can I drop är and say Boken rolig, like in some other languages?

No. In Swedish you must include the verb är (is/am/are) in sentences like this:

• Boken är rolig. – correct
• Boken rolig. – incorrect

Swedish does not normally drop the present tense of vara (to be) the way Russian or Arabic might.

Does rolig mean “fun” or “funny”? Is there a difference?

Rolig usually means both fun and funny, depending on context:

• Boken är rolig. – The book is fun / The book is funny.

If you specifically want “fun” as in “enjoyable”, learners often hear the word:

• kul – fun (informal)

So you might also say:

• Boken är kul. – The book is fun.

But rolig by itself is very common and natural. Context usually makes it clear whether you mean “funny” (makes you laugh) or “fun” (enjoyable).

How do you pronounce boken är rolig, and where is the stress?

Approximate pronunciation (Swedish Stockholm standard):

• boken → [BOO‑ken]
  
  • boo like “book” but longer; main stress on bo‑
• är → [ehr] (a bit like English air but shorter)
• rolig → [ROO‑lig]
  
  • main stress on ro‑, oo like in food (but shorter), final g is a soft [j]-like sound in many accents: [ROO‑lij].

Sentence stress usually falls on BOO‑ in boken and ROO‑ in rolig.

How would I say “The books are fun/funny”?

You need plural forms for both the noun and the adjective:

• Böckerna är roliga. – The books are fun/funny.

Changes:

• bok → böcker (irregular plural) → böckerna (the books)
• rolig (singular) → roliga (plural) in predicative position.