When a Swedish noun ends in an unstressed -el, -er, or -en, it drops that final 'e' before adding a plural ending (like -ar, -er, or -or).
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| en nyckel | nycklar | a key / keys |
| en kabel | kablar | a cable / cables |
| en möbel | möbler | a piece of furniture / furniture |
| en toffel | tofflor | a slipper / slippers |
| We need to sort keys and cables today. | Vi behöver sortera nycklar och kablar idag. |
This dropped 'e' rule applies across different plural endings. For example, en spegel (a mirror) takes the -ar ending to become speglar, while en möbel (a piece of furniture) and en regel (a rule) take -er to become möbler and regler.
| There are important rules for how we store mirrors. | Det finns viktiga regler för hur vi förvarar speglar. |
| He stores his old slippers in the attic. | Han förvarar sina gamla tofflor på vinden. |
| They are moving heavy furniture to the basement. | De flyttar tunga möbler till källaren. |
Definite plurals
The 'e' stays dropped when you make the noun definite (adding "the"). Just take the plural form and add the definite suffix (usually -na).
For example, en cykel (a bicycle) becomes cyklar (bicycles). To say "the bicycles," add -na to get cyklarna.
| We sort the bicycles before we store them in the basement. | Vi sorterar cyklarna innan vi förvarar dem i källaren. |
| She has sorted the cables in other baskets. | Hon har sorterat kablarna i andra korgar. |
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