In Swedish, acronyms and initialisms are common in both workplace and everyday vocabulary. When you attach an ending to an abbreviation—whether for the possessive, the definite form, or the plural—you must connect the suffix to the abbreviation using a colon (:).
The Possessive Suffix
To show possession, add a colon followed by an s (:s).
| Both the UN's and the EU's bosses work in this building. | Både FN:s och EU:s chefer arbetar i den här byggnaden. |
Plural Endings
When turning an abbreviation into a plural, the colon rule still applies. Attach the normal plural ending (such as -ar or -er) directly after the colon.
| The EU's new CEOs are namely very young. | EU:s nya vd:ar är nämligen mycket unga. |
The Definite Form
Abbreviations have genders (en or ett) just like regular nouns. To make an abbreviation definite, attach the appropriate definite suffix (-en, -n, -et, or -t) after the colon.
| The UN's boss has just sent the text message. | FN:s chef har precis skickat sms:et. |
| I am not sending it, because the CV is already in the PDF. | Jag skickar det inte, eftersom cv:t redan finns i pdf:en. |
Stacking Suffixes
If a word requires multiple suffixes—like a definite plural or a definite possessive—the colon goes immediately after the abbreviation, and the entire string of suffixes follows it.
| We are analyzing the DNA from the red bras. | Vi analyserar dna:t från de röda bh:arna. |
| It is crucial to read the CEO's memo in advance. | Det gäller att läsa vd:ns pm i förväg. |