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### Asking "Whose": Vems

When sharing a dormitory or sorting out a mess, you will often need to ask who owns what. To ask "whose" in Swedish, use the interrogative genitive pronoun **vems**.

When **vems** is placed directly before the noun it modifies, that noun must be in the **indefinite** form (without the "-en" or "-et" ending).

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However, if you separate **vems** from the noun using a verb (like *är*), the noun shifts to the **definite** form.

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### Expressing Ownership with Tillhöra

Another common way to ask about ownership is by using the verb **tillhöra** (to belong to).

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When using this verb, you are literally asking "Who does this belong to?". Because of this, you must use the standard object pronoun **vem** (who/whom) instead of the genitive *vems*.

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### Vems as the Subject

A phrase starting with **vems** can also act as the complete subject of a sentence. Remember that the entire ownership phrase (e.g., *vems pyjamas*) acts as a single block, which is then immediately followed by the main verb.

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Question word: whose (vems)

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
whose (question word)	vems
the toiletry bag	necessären
Whose toiletry bag is this?	Vems necessär är det här?
Whose is that blue toiletry bag?	Vems är den där blå necessären?
the padlock	hänglåset
Whose padlock is that?	Vems hänglås är det där?
to belong to	tillhöra
Who does the small padlock belong to?	Vem tillhör det lilla hänglåset?
the pyjamas	pyjamasen
the mattress	madrassen
the dormitory	sovsalen
Whose pyjamas are lying on the mattress in the dormitory?	Vems pyjamas ligger på madrassen i sovsalen?
Who do the pyjamas in the dormitory belong to?	Vem tillhör pyjamasen i sovsalen?
Whose mattress is as dirty as mine?	Vems madrass är lika smutsig som min?
the mess	stöket
the hostel	vandrarhemmet
Whose fault is the mess at the hostel?	Vems fel är stöket på vandrarhemmet?
to snore	snarka
If someone snores, then I cannot sleep.	Om någon snarkar, så kan jag inte sova.
I am trying to sleep while he is snoring.	Jag försöker sova medan han snarkar.
Whose is the mess at the hostel?	Vems är stöket på vandrarhemmet?