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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Vi läser brev."
42 Comments
But this is a completely regular 5th declension noun!
All -et words that end with a consonant follow the same declension pattern, e.g.
- ett barn, barnet; barn, barnen
- ett brev, brevet; brev; breven
- ett hus, huset; hus, husen
and so on.
You forgot to insert space between barnen and ett brev and breven and ett hus. Not big deal but some beginner could get confused
I am quite unsure what you are talking about, since on the web platform there is a bullet list and the different words are on different lines... >_> Are you perhaps using a mobile phone? If my post is rendered without the bullet list on a mobile platform, but just as a single line, that is a very serious issue and you really should report it to the Duolingo developers.
Yea, it looks messed if you look directly in application comments. In browser every word has its own line with dot at the beginning.
Hmm, yeah I was wondering what barnenett and brevenett were. Seems to happen a lot when converting comments between platforms
I was also wondering what barnenett and brevenett wad for ages haha was so confused
Is there a list somewhere online of ALL the declensions...? crosses fingers
Actually, there is a list of ALL the declensions (i.e., with many common exceptions to the regular five patterns) here: http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Swedish_declensions
I found this really helpful for definite and indefinite singulars and plurals, (not irregulars):
https://www.thelocal.se/blogs/theswedishteacher/2010/07/28/plural-endings/
So wait, brev is letters, but en brev is a single letter? How about the plural definite?
ett brev = a letter
brevet = the letter
brev = letters
breven = the letters
just a question.. so if you mean singular letter you should always use ett brev or brevet?
Yes, you just need to decide whether you're dealing with "a" or "the" letter and pick one of two the according forms.
1421
Is it just me, or does the /v/ at the end of "brev" sound more like an /n/ here? I've listened to recordings on forvo where the /v/ sound is pretty clear.
it even sounds like an /m/ to me ... I reported it, maybe it will be improved :)
Hi everyone! How can we tell in the following sentence if brev is plural or singular since it is the same : "Vi laser brev"
- 1454
As a general rule, we don't tend to use singular nouns without an article. There are some exceptions but this sentence is not one of them. :)
So for the same reason you wouldn't say We read letter in English, we can be sure that brev in this sentence means plural letters.
I came to ask the same question and found the answer here. Some plurals do not change (just like occasional ones in English), brev is one of these. But you would tend to use an article in the singular, but not the plural. So:
Ett brev = a letter Brevet = the letter Brev = letters Breven = the letters
why is 'the letter' = brevet and 'the book' = boken. pls clarify i am a beginner
There are two ways to say 'a/an' (indefinite articles) in Swedish: 'en' and 'ett'. Most nouns in Swedish use 'en' as in "en bok" while some nouns use 'ett' as in "ett brev". If 'en/ett' is in front of the noun then the meaning conveys the indefinite article. If a form of 'en/ett' is attached at the end of a noun then the meaning conveys the definite article ('the'). You kind of just have to memorize which indefinite article goes with which noun.
I put "we are reading the letters" as that is how i would say/write it in english. I wouldnt say "we are reading letters" unless it was followed by a person or place. E.g. "we are reading letters from grandma" Does anyone know why my answer was marked as incorrect?
"The" is definite. The sentence is indefinite, it says "We are reading letters". If it was "We are reading the letters" it would have been written "vi läser breven" (not "brev" as it was).
