In formal Swedish texts, such as legal documents and biographies, you will encounter a highly precise style of writing. When two people are mentioned in a sentence, it can sometimes be ambiguous who a standard pronoun like han (he) or hon (she) refers to.
To specifically refer back to the most recently mentioned person—equivalent to "the latter" or a formal "this person" in English—formal Swedish uses the independent pronouns denne and denna.
Use denne when referring back to a male person:
| The lawyer is talking to the defendant. The latter wants to appeal the verdict. | Advokaten pratar med svaranden. Denne vill överklaga domen. |
In the sentence above, denne clearly refers to the second person mentioned, svaranden (the defendant), rather than the lawyer.
Similarly, use denna when referring back to a female person:
| The prince meets the queen. The latter will succeed the monarch. | Prinsen träffar drottningen. Denna ska efterträda monarken. |
| The politician meets the queen, but the latter rejects the proposal. | Politikern möter drottningen, men denna avslår förslaget. |
While these pronouns are extremely useful for avoiding ambiguity in written texts, keep in mind that they belong strictly to a formal register. In everyday spoken Swedish, you will rarely hear denne or denna used this way; speakers usually rely on context or simply repeat the person's title or name.