The masculine adjective ending -e
Normally, Swedish adjectives in the definite form end in -a (like den stora boken). However, when describing a male person—such as a king, a prince, or a man—the adjective often takes an -e ending instead. This is especially common in literature, storytelling, and fixed expressions.
| The wise king read the fairy tale. | Den kloke kungen läste sagan. |
| The brave prince defeated the dragon. | Den modige prinsen besegrade draken. |
Fairy tales and legends
Because fairy tales feature many archetypal characters, you will see this -e ending frequently. A base adjective like elak (mean) becomes elake, and fattig (poor) becomes fattige when describing a specific male character.
| The mean king liked the sword. | Den elake kungen tyckte om svärdet. |
| The poor boy helps the prince. | Den fattige pojken hjälper prinsen. |
A classic fairy tale (en saga) often revolves around epic conflicts involving dragons (drakar), heroes (hjältar), and swords (svärd).
| The fairy tale is about the dragon. | Sagan handlar om draken. |
| The dragon lives in the mountain where the hero sleeps. | Draken bor i berget där hjälten sover. |
When multiple male characters interact in a story, the -e suffix applies to the definite adjectives describing each of them.
| The mean king defeated the brave hero. | Den elake kungen besegrade den modige hjälten. |