Latin Nouns Ending in -um and -ium
Swedish has adopted many neuter nouns from Latin, particularly for academic and scientific concepts. Words ending in -um or -ium do not follow standard Swedish plural rules.
Changing -um to -a
For some neuter nouns ending in -um, form the plural by replacing -um with -a. A common example is ett faktum (a fact), which becomes fakta (facts).
| It is a fact that both universities grant scholarships. | Det är ett faktum att båda universiteten beviljar stipendier. |
| New facts confirm the theory. | Nya fakta bekräftar teorin. |
Changing -ium to -ier
For nouns ending in -ium, such as ett stipendium (a scholarship) or ett imperium (an empire), form the plural by dropping -um and adding -er. This creates the plural ending -ier.
| What is the university granting academic scholarships for? | Vad beviljar universitetet akademiska stipendier för? |
| The students compared two Roman empires. | Studenterna jämförde två romerska imperier. |
Words ending in -eum, like ett museum (a museum), follow the exact same pattern: replace -um with -er to become museer.
| Which Roman museums are you looking for? | Vilka romerska museer letar du efter? |
The Definite Plural (-na)
To make these irregular plurals definite (e.g., "the empires" or "the territories"), simply add -na to the plural form. For example, imperier becomes imperierna.
| The Roman empires lost all their territories. | De romerska imperierna förlorade alla sina territorier. |