Breakdown of Hästen gillar stallet mer än honom.
mycket
much / very
honom
him
hästen
the horse
än
than
gilla
to like (everyday synonym of tycka om)
stallet
the stable
Questions & Answers about Hästen gillar stallet mer än honom.
Why do we use the object pronoun honom instead of the subject pronoun han here?
The pronoun you choose completely changes the meaning! Because honom is an object pronoun, it means the horse likes the stable more than the horse likes him. If you used the subject pronoun han, it would mean the horse likes the stable more than he likes the stable. Swedish relies on this pronoun case to show exactly what is being compared when words are left out.
In everyday English, we often say 'more than him' even when we mean 'more than he does'. Is Swedish just as flexible?
No, Swedish is strictly logical about this. If you mean 'more than he does', you absolutely must use han (and you will often hear native speakers add a dummy verb to be extra clear: än han gör). If you use honom, a Swede will always interpret it as the horse having negative feelings about the man.
Wait, isn't mer mostly for uncountable nouns? Why is it next to stallet?
In this sentence, mer isn't modifying stallet (which would mean 'a greater quantity of stable'). Instead, it modifies the verb gillar. It tells us the intensity of the liking ('likes more'). Because actions/verbs are uncountable, you use mer, never fler.
Just a quick refresher: why does stallet end in -et instead of -en?
The word for stable is an ett word (ett stall). To make an ett word definite ('the stable'), you add the suffix -et to get stallet. Note that the plural 'stables' is also stall, and the definite plural 'the stables' becomes stallen, which can sometimes confuse learners!
Learn Hästen gillar stallet mer än honom and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free