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### Noun Compounds and Linking Letters

When combining two nouns to make a new word, you cannot always just push them together. Often, the first word changes its form slightly to link smoothly with the second word.

This "glue" is usually an added letter (like **-a-** or **-s-**), a dropped vowel, or a vowel that changes into an **-o-**.

### Adding a Linking Vowel (-a-)

Some root words add an **-a-** when they become the first half of a compound. For example, *gud* (god) + *saga* (tale) becomes *gudasaga*, and *berg* (mountain) + *kung* (king) becomes *bergakung*.

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### Words Ending in -a (Dropping or Changing to -o-)

If the first noun in a compound naturally ends in **-a**, it rarely keeps it. It will usually either drop the vowel completely, or change it to an **-o-**.

For example, *häxa* (witch) drops its **-a** before *konst* (art/craft) to become *häxkonst* (witchcraft).

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On the other hand, *saga* (fairy tale) changes its **-a** to an **-o-** before *väsen* (creature) to become *sagoväsen* (fairy tale creature).

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### Adding a Linking -s-

The letter **-s-** is the most common linking "glue" in Swedish. You will frequently see it joining nouns, especially when the first word ends in a consonant.

For example, *kärlek* (love) and *dryck* (potion) combine with an **-s-** to form *kärleksdryck*. Similarly, *skog* (forest) adds an **-s-** to become *skogsrå* (forest spirit).

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Noun compounds with linking vowels

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 god	guden
The gods are angry and dangerous.	Gudarna är arga och farliga.
We do not believe in this god.	Vi tror inte på den här guden.
the myth	gudasagan
Myths are old but exciting.	Gudasagor är gamla men spännande.
Grandfather read the myth, but I did not understand it.	Farfar läste gudasagan, men jag förstod den inte.
the troll	trollet
The troll lives under the bridge.	Trollet bor under bron.
We saw the troll, but he did not see it.	Vi såg trollet, men han såg det inte.
the mountain king	bergakungen
The mountain king hid the gold in the mountain.	Bergakungen gömde guldet i berget.
The troll ran into the cave to the mountain king.	Trollet sprang in i grottan till bergakungen.
the witch	häxan
These witches are very dangerous.	De här häxorna är väldigt farliga.
the witchcraft	häxkonsten
She teaches us the art of witchcraft, but we do not understand it.	Hon lär oss häxkonsten, men vi förstår den inte.
The witch flew out of the window.	Häxan flög ut ur fönstret.
The art of witchcraft is difficult but fascinating.	Häxkonsten är svår men fascinerande.
the creature (supernatural)	väsendet
The creature disappeared into the darkness.	Väsendet försvann in i mörkret.
the fairy tale creature	sagoväsendet
This fairy tale creature is very shy.	Det här sagoväsendet är mycket blygt.
We followed the creature out of the forest.	Vi följde väsendet ut ur skogen.
These fairy tale creatures are magical.	De här sagoväsendena är magiska.
the love potion	kärleksdrycken
He gave her the love potion.	Han gav henne kärleksdrycken.
He drank the love potion, but I did not drink it.	Han drack kärleksdrycken, men jag drack den inte.
the forest spirit	skogsrået
The forest spirit is beautiful but cold.	Skogsrået är vackert men kallt.
The forest spirit lured the boy into the mountain.	Skogsrået lurade pojken in i berget.