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Babysitting fussy toddlers requires patience and a good grasp of Swedish adjectives to describe their moods.

{{item:925958}}

### The Missing Neuter Form

In Swedish, adjectives normally take a **-t** ending when describing an **ett** word. However, a few common adjectives are "defective" and completely lack a neuter singular form. The most common examples are **lat** (lazy), **rädd** (afraid), and **gravid** (pregnant).

You cannot say "ett latt barn" or "ett räddt barn"—those forms simply do not exist! These adjectives work perfectly fine with **en** words, however:

{{item:925961}}

### Workaround 1: Use a Synonym

So, how do you say that a child (an **ett** word) is lazy or afraid? The most common workaround is to use a synonym that *does* have a neuter form.

Instead of **lat**, use **slö** (neuter: **slött**, meaning lethargic or sluggish).

{{item:925962}}

Likewise, **rädd** and compound words like **mörkrädd** (afraid of the dark) work flawlessly with **en** words:

{{item:925967}}

But to describe **ett barn**, you must switch to the synonym **skrämd** (neuter: **skrämt**, meaning frightened or scared):

{{item:925969}}

{{item:925971}}

### Workaround 2: Change the Noun

Another simple syntactic workaround is to swap the **ett** noun for an **en** noun. Instead of describing **ett barn** (a child), you can talk about **en pojke** (a boy), **en flicka** (a girl), or **en unge** (a kid). 

This allows you to sidestep the neuter form entirely, whether you are dealing with a defective adjective or simply trying to soothe a defiant toddler.

{{item:925973}}

{{item:925976}}

Defective adjectives (rädd, lat)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite ending (barnet, hunden)

Indefinite articles and -ar verbs (en, ett)

Basic word order

Singular adjectives (stor, stort)

Plural adjectives (-a)

Sentence negation (inte)

Yes/No questions

Basic question words (vad, vem, var)

Regular Group 2 verbs (-er)

Short verbs and irregulars (har, gör)

The infinitive marker (att)

Modal verbs (kan, vill, måste, får)

Future intention (ska)

Time adverbs (imorgon, igår)

Word order inversion

Adverbs of frequency (ibland, aldrig)

Everyday things (dörren, stolen, tåget)

Definite suffix spelling changes

Plural nouns Group 1 and 2 (-or, -ar)

Plural nouns Group 3 (-er, -r)

Neuter indefinite plurals

Definite plural suffixes (-na, -a, -en)

Object pronouns (mig, dig, oss)

Reflexive pronouns (sig)

Expanded question words (när, varför)

Which and what (vilken, vilket, vilka)

Coordinating conjunctions (men, eller, för)

Prepositions of place (i, på, till, från)

Quantifiers (mycket, många)

Indefinite pronouns (någon, något, några)

First and second person possessives (min, din, vår, er)

Third person possessives (hans, hennes, dess, deras)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sitt, sina)

The genitive (-s)

Adjectives before singular nouns

Adjectives before plural nouns (-a)

Double definiteness (den, det, de)

Demonstratives (den här, det här, de här)

The imperative mood

Past tense of vara and ha (var, hade)

Possessives for names (-s)

Definite plural adjectives (de ... -a)

Genitive case for names (-s)

Numbers 1 to 10 (en, två, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elva till tjugo)

Counting by tens to 100 (trettio, fyrtio...)

Days of the week (måndag, tisdag...)

Months of the year (januari, februari...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (första, andra...)

Greetings and politeness (hej, tack, förlåt)

Particle verbs of direction (gå ut, komma in)

Simple past: Group 1 (-ade)

Simple past: Group 2a (-de)

Simple past: Group 2b (-te)

Simple past: Group 3 (-dde)

Simple past: Group 4

Present perfect: Groups 1 and 2 (har)

Present perfect: Groups 3 and 4

Past perfect (hade)

Future predictions (kommer att)

Future with present tense

The adjective small (liten, litet, små)

Demonstratives of distance (den där, det där, de där)

Negative pronouns (ingen, inget, inga)

Universal pronouns (all, allt, alla)

The generic pronoun (man, en)

Possessive generic pronoun (ens)

Reciprocal pronoun (varandra)

Qualitative pronouns (sådan, sådant, sådana)

Habitual time expressions (på)

Specific past time expressions (i)

Past time expressions (för ... sedan)

Future time expressions (om)

Location and motion adverbs (här/hit, där/dit)

Consequences (så)

Correlative conjunctions (både ... och)

Either and neither (antingen ... eller, varken ... eller)

Verbs of opinion and belief (tycker, tror, tänker)

Subordinate clauses (att, om)

Time clauses (när, innan, medan)

Clauses of cause (eftersom, därför att)

Negation in subordinate clauses (inte)

V2 word order inversion

Relative clauses as subjects (som)

Relative clauses as objects (som)

Relative clauses for places (där)

Adverbs from adjectives (-t)

Adjective comparative and superlative (-are, -ast)

Question	Answer
the babysitter	barnvakten
whiny	gnällig
The babysitter hopes that the child is not whiny today.	Barnvakten hoppas att barnet inte är gnälligt idag.
lazy	lat
the diaper	blöjan
The babysitter is lazy and refuses to change the diaper.	Barnvakten är lat och vägrar byta blöjan.
The boy is lazy, whereas the child is lethargic.	Pojken är lat, medan barnet är slött.
mischievous	busig
What kind of diaper do you need for a mischievous child?	Vad behöver du för blöja till ett busigt barn?
afraid of the dark	mörkrädd
to comfort	trösta
The girl is afraid of the dark, so you must comfort her.	Flickan är mörkrädd, så du måste trösta henne.
frightened	skrämd
Is the child frightened of the dark?	Är barnet skrämt av mörkret?
the pacifier	nappen
The frightened child drops the pacifier and becomes whiny.	Det skrämda barnet tappar nappen och blir gnälligt.
defiant	trotsig
Is the babysitter comforting the defiant kid? Yes, he is.	Tröstar barnvakten den trotsiga ungen? Ja, det gör han.
You do not need to comfort the dog, because it is not afraid of the dark.	Du behöver inte trösta hunden, eftersom den inte är mörkrädd.
Mischievous boys are often defiant, whereas the child is just lethargic.	Busiga pojkar är ofta trotsiga, medan barnet bara är slött.
The defiant boy refuses to take the pacifier.	Den trotsiga pojken vägrar ta nappen.
worried, anxious	orolig
Mum gets worried when you are late.	Mamma blir orolig när du är sen.
You do not need to be worried.	Du behöver inte vara orolig.
proud	stolt
Her parents are very proud.	Hennes föräldrar är mycket stolta.
The family was proud that day.	Familjen var stolt den dagen.
honest	ärlig
Be honest with yourself.	Var ärlig mot dig själv.
An honest answer is always best.	Ett ärligt svar är alltid bäst.
good, skilled	duktig
You are good at cooking.	Du är duktig på att laga mat.
She is a skilled doctor.	Hon är en duktig läkare.
in love; dear	kär
He is in love with his neighbour.	Han är kär i sin granne.
My dear friend, how happy I became!	Min käre vän, vad glad jag blev!
busy, occupied	upptagen
The boss is busy the whole morning.	Chefen är upptagen hela morgonen.
The phone was busy when I called.	Telefonen var upptagen när jag ringde.

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