Just like nouns, Swedish adjectives ending in an unstressed -el, -er, or -en drop that final vowel when a suffix is added. For adjectives, this happens when you add the -a ending to make the word plural or definite.
| Basic form | Plural / Definite form | Meaning |
|---|
| mogen | mogna | ripe |
| läcker | läckra | delicious |
| sliten | slitna | worn |
| vacker | vackra | beautiful |
| gammal | gamla | old |
Note: The word gammal is slightly irregular. It ends in -al instead of -el, but it follows the same pattern of dropping the unstressed vowel. It also drops an 'm' to become gamla.
Plural adjectives
Whenever you describe multiple items, you must use the -a form of the adjective.
Definite adjectives
You also use the dropped-vowel -a form when the adjective is definite (when you are talking about "the" specific item).
Remember that Swedish uses the "double definite" structure: you need a freestanding definite article (den for en-words, det for ett-words, or de for plurals), followed by the -a adjective, followed by the definite form of the noun.
Definite plurals
If the noun is both definite and plural, the adjective form stays exactly the same. You just use the plural definite article de, your -a adjective, and the definite plural noun.
Here are some examples of describing specific plural items, using useful market verbs like dofta (to smell) and smaka (to taste):
