Learn Hardcore Swedish: Mitt största intresse är musik, men hon gillar också böcker. - My biggest interest is music, but she also likes books.

Even though there’s no word like “the” in Swedish here, the phrase mitt största intresse is understood as definite (“my main / the biggest of my interests”), so we use största, not störst.

Störst is more often used:

predicatively (after är, blir etc.):
- Det här intresset är störst. – This interest is the biggest.
or on its own:
- Vem är störst? – Who is the tallest/biggest?

What is the gender of intresse, and how do I know?

Intresse is an ett-word:

ett intresse – an interest
intresset – the interest
flera intressen – several interests
intressena – the interests

Unfortunately, you mostly have to learn gender by heart. There are some tendencies (many words ending in –e are en-words, but intresse is an exception), so dictionaries are very helpful:

You’ll often see it written as ett intresse (–t, –n, –na) in dictionaries.

Why is there no article before musik? Why not en musik or musikEN?

In Swedish, musik is usually treated as an uncountable (mass) noun, like music in English:

Jag gillar musik. – I like music.
Mitt största intresse är musik. – My biggest interest is music.

So you normally don’t use en / ett or a definite ending –en / –et with musik when you mean music in general.

You can say:

musiken – the music (specific music, e.g. at this concert)
den här musiken – this music

But for the general hobby/field, just plain musik is correct.

Can I also say Musik är mitt största intresse? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can. Both are correct:

Mitt största intresse är musik.
Musik är mitt största intresse.

The difference is just what you emphasize:

Starting with mitt största intresse highlights your interests and then identifies music as the main one.
Starting with musik highlights music and then explains that it’s your biggest interest.

It’s the same kind of nuance as:

“My biggest interest is music.”
vs.
“Music is my biggest interest.”

Why is it men hon gillar också böcker and not men hon också gillar böcker?

Swedish has a word-order rule called V2: in main clauses, the verb usually comes in second position.

In the second clause:

men – conjunction (position 0, not counted in V2)
hon – subject (position 1)
gillar – verb (position 2) ✅

So hon gillar must stick together:

✅ Men hon gillar också böcker.
❌ Men hon också gillar böcker. (verb no longer in second position)

You can move också around somewhat, but hon gillar should stay in that order.

Where can också go, and does its position change the meaning?

Common, natural options here are:

Hon gillar också böcker. – She also likes books.
- “Besides something else (e.g. music), she likes books.”
Hon gillar böcker också. – She likes books too (often with a bit of spoken emphasis at the end).
- Slightly more informal; can emphasize “books” as an addition.

What you normally don’t say in neutral speech is:

*Hon också gillar böcker. – sounds wrong/unusual in standard Swedish.

So:

Before the object (också böcker) → very natural and neutral.
After the object (böcker också) → fine, slightly different emphasis, often in speech.

What is the difference between gillar and tycker om?

Gilla and tycka om largely overlap and both mean “to like”.

Hon gillar böcker.
Hon tycker om böcker.

Both are correct and normal.

Some rough tendencies:

gilla is a bit shorter, more informal, and common in speech.
tycka om can sound a bit more neutral or slightly stronger (but the difference is often small).

For everyday use, you can treat them as synonyms in sentences like this.

Why is böcker spelled that way? What’s the singular?

Böcker is the plural of bok (book). The pattern is irregular:

en bok – a book
boken – the book
böcker – books
böckerna – the books

Changes:

vowel o → ö
add –er in the plural

This is a common irregular pattern in Swedish (vowel change + –er), and it’s something you simply have to learn per word.

Why is there no the in böcker? Why not böckerna?

Swedish usually builds definiteness into the noun by adding an ending:

böcker – books
böckerna – the books

In hon gillar också böcker, we’re talking about books in general, not specific books, so we use the indefinite plural böcker, just like English “books” (not “the books”).

If you said:

Hon gillar också böckerna. – She also likes the books.

…you would be talking about some specific set of books already known from context.

Do I need a comma before men, like in English?

In this type of sentence, Swedish typically does use a comma before men when it connects two full main clauses:

Mitt största intresse är musik, men hon gillar också böcker.

This is very similar to English:

“My biggest interest is music, but she also likes books.”

So here, the comma is natural and standard.

What’s the difference between intresse and saying jag är intresserad av musik?

You’re expressing a similar idea in two different ways:

Mitt största intresse är musik.
- Focuses on “interest” as a thing you have (a hobby/field).
Jag är mest intresserad av musik. – I’m most interested in music.
- Focuses on you being interested in something.

Both are correct and common. Intresse sounds a bit more like talking about your hobbies or areas of interest as nouns, while intresserad av describes your state/feeling toward something.