Questions & Answers about Ens dagbok är mycket privat.
What exactly does ens mean in this sentence?
Ens is the possessive form of the generic pronoun en (meaning "one"). Just like in English where we say "one's diary", Swedish uses ens dagbok to talk about a diary belonging to any person in general, rather than a specific min (my) or din (your) diary.
Why do we use the indefinite form dagbok after ens instead of the definite form dagboken?
In Swedish, whenever you use a possessive word like min, din, or ens, the noun that follows it must be in the indefinite form. Because ens already shows who the diary belongs to, you do not use the definite -en ending, making it just ens dagbok.
Why is the adjective privat and not privata or privatt?
Adjectives in Swedish change their endings to match the noun they describe. Dagbok is a singular en-word (you say en dagbok). Therefore, the adjective takes its base form, privat. If it were describing an ett-word, it would be privatt, and if it were plural, it would be privata.
Is ens used often in everyday Swedish, or is it formal like "one's" in English?