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In Swedish, when you want to say "the lake" (*sjön*) or "the mountain" (*berget*), you add the definite suffix to the end of the noun. But to add an adjective—such as "the *deep* lake"—Swedish uses a structure called **double definiteness**.

### The Pattern

To say "the [adjective] [noun]", you need three parts. Literally, Swedish phrasing translates to "the deep the-lake":

- **A free article** before the adjective: **den** (for en-words), **det** (for ett-words), or **de** (for plurals).
- **The definite adjective**: add an **-a** to the end of the adjective.
- **The definite noun**: the noun keeps its regular definite suffix (**-en** or **-et**).

### En-words (den)

For singular *en-words*, start with the article **den**. Add **-a** to your adjective, and ensure your noun ends in its usual **-en** suffix.

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### Ett-words (det)

For singular *ett-words*, the pattern is exactly the same, but you start with the article **det** and the noun keeps its **-et** suffix. The adjective still takes the **-a** ending.

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### Putting It Together

Once you get used to "sandwiching" the adjective between the free article and the definite noun suffix, describing the world around you becomes highly predictable. Notice how the adjective is consistently locked into its **-a** form in this structure.

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Double definiteness (den, det, de)

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)

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)

Irregular comparisons

Question	Answer
the (with ett-words)	det
high / loudly	hög
the mountain	berget
We will see the high mountain today.	Vi ska se det höga berget idag.
the (with en-words)	den
deep	djup
the lake	sjön
The deep lake is very cold.	Den djupa sjön är mycket kall.
beautiful	vacker
the river	floden
He is looking at the beautiful river.	Han tittar på den vackra floden.
the stone	stenen
She rests on the big stone.	Hon vilar på den stora stenen.
the beach	stranden
The dog runs on the long beach.	Hunden springer på den långa stranden.
The cold water is nice now.	Det kalla vattnet är skönt nu.
the moon	månen
Do you see the white moon tonight?	Ser du den vita månen ikväll?
We often swim in the deep lake.	Vi simmar ofta i den djupa sjön.
The bird sings in the high tree.	Fågeln sjunger i det höga trädet.
We walk from the beautiful beach to the city.	Vi promenerar från den vackra stranden till staden.
The boy throws the stone into the deep river.	Pojken kastar stenen i den djupa floden.
His sister likes the bright moon.	Hans syster tycker om den ljusa månen.
They will sleep in the big tent.	De ska sova i det stora tältet.
I love the beautiful sea.	Jag älskar det vackra havet.
We will go to the beautiful lake tomorrow.	Vi ska åka till den vackra sjön imorgon.
the sun	solen
We see the high mountain and the warm sun.	Vi ser det höga berget och den varma solen.
The beautiful sun is warm today.	Den vackra solen är varm idag.