Questions & Answers about Jag vet inte numret.
Why is "know" translated as vet here instead of känner?
In Swedish, you use vet (from the verb att veta) when you know a fact or a piece of information, like a phone number or a password. You use känner (from att känna) when you know a person or are familiar with a place. Since a number is a piece of information, vet is the right choice.
Why does inte come after the verb?
Swedish doesn't use a helper word like "do" to make sentences negative. Instead, you just place the negative word inte (not) directly after the verb in a standard sentence. So, "I do not know" simply becomes Jag vet inte (literally "I know not").
If the word for "a number" is ett nummer, why is "the number" spelled numret and not "nummeret"?
When an ett word ends in -er (like ett nummer), it usually drops its last e when you add the definite ending -et (which means "the"). This simply makes the word easier to pronounce. So instead of the clunky "nummeret", it shrinks down to numret.
Does numret mean a quantity of something, like "the number of people"?
No, ett nummer is an identification number, like a phone number, a queue number, or a house number. If you want to talk about a quantity or amount of something (like "the number of apples"), you would use a different word: ett antal (the number = antalet).