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In English, we say "there is" or "there are" to state that something exists. In Swedish, you use the phrase *det finns*. It uses the dummy subject *det* (it) and literally translates to "it is found".

You use *det finns* regardless of whether the noun that follows is singular or plural.

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### Asking questions

To ask "is there?" or "are there?", you follow standard Swedish question word order by swapping the subject (*det*) and the verb (*finns*).

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### Describing quantities and locations

*Det finns* pairs naturally with words that describe where or how much of something exists, such as *överallt* (everywhere). 

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To say that "there is no" or "there are no" things in a location, use the negative determiner *ingen* (no/none). 

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### The V2 rule with "det finns"

Remember that Swedish requires the verb to be the second element in a main clause (the V2 rule). If you start a sentence with a time or a location, the verb (*finns*) must come immediately after it, pushing the dummy subject (*det*) to the third position.

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Existential dummy subjects (det finns)

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 parking lot	parkeringen
There are many cars in the parking lot today.	Det finns många bilar på parkeringen idag.
the fountain	fontänen
There is a beautiful fountain in the park.	Det finns en vacker fontän i parken.
the toilet	toaletten
the kiosk	kiosken
Is there a toilet behind the kiosk?	Finns det en toalett bakom kiosken?
the bus stop	busshållplatsen
There is no bus stop on that street.	Det finns ingen busshållplats på den där gatan.
everywhere	överallt
the sidewalk	trottoaren
There is snow everywhere on the sidewalk.	Det finns snö överallt på trottoaren.
the playground	lekplatsen
the bench	bänken
Some boys play in the playground while we rest on a bench.	Några pojkar leker på lekplatsen medan vi vilar på en bänk.
the indoor swimming pool	simhallen
There is a toilet in the indoor swimming pool next to the parking lot.	Det finns en toalett i simhallen bredvid parkeringen.
There is water everywhere in front of the fountain.	Det finns vatten överallt framför fontänen.
The man buys a newspaper in the kiosk before he goes to the bus stop.	Mannen köper en tidning i kiosken innan han går till busshållplatsen.
Is there a playground or an indoor swimming pool here?	Finns det en lekplats eller en simhall här?
There is a bench on the sidewalk in front of the pharmacy.	Det finns en bänk på trottoaren framför apoteket.
In the spring there are flowers everywhere in the garden.	På våren finns det blommor överallt i trädgården.
to exist, to be there	finnas
There should be food at home.	Det ska finnas mat hemma.
What is there in the bag?	Vad finns i väskan?
it is possible to	det går att
It is possible to cycle there.	Det går att cykla dit.
Is it possible to pay here?	Går det att betala här?
it depends on	det beror på
It depends on the weather.	Det beror på vädret.
Are you coming? It depends.	Kommer du? Det beror på.

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