40 Comments
If, for example, I was talking about a boy drinking milk but I accidentally said "Pojken dricker det" instead of "den", would it seem like a very silly mistake to a native speaker, or could I get away with it? Little things like this make me anxious about speaking.
940
Native speakers make mistakes of this type sometimes, just from 'bad planning', so don't worry too much about it!
If we would knew that the boy drinks coffee, would it be: pojken dricker det.?
I thought it would be because "kaffe" is an ett-word, not because "kaffet" ("the coffee") ends in et, though I suppose they're the same reason.
Because "kaffe" is an ett-word the definite form of "kaffe" becomes "kaffet". If "kaffe" would be an en-word, the definite form would be "kaffen". Hope that makes sense.
Kaffe, when used in a sense of "cup of coffee" can also have utrum gender (en kopp kaffe = en kaffe). In that case "Pojken dricker den" would be correct, I believe.
But "den" would apply only to the cup and not the coffee itself; so if you are talking about the coffee specifically, you'd have to use "det."
So this sentence could be " the boy is drinking something" den being there for the unspecified liquid?
Is "den" also a Definite article? It also says "the", "it" and "the one". Or "den" actually contains the meaning of "the"? because,, den = it (plural) You can use the plurals only you already know that.
- 940
Yes, den is both the pronoun 'it' and a definite article.
den or det as pronouns are used to talk about things like Jag ser den/det 'I see it'
den or det as articles are used together with adjective + noun: den lilla pojken 'the small boy' det lilla glaset 'the small glass'
Would it be incorrect, then, to say lilla pojken if i'm meaning to to say 'the small boy'?
If it refers back to a noun which is a ”en-word”, then you’d use ”den”, e.g. ”mjölken” (the milk).
So we don't know what en- word 'den' refers to just that it must be an en-word.
what if i dunno what the boy is drinking, and i just wanna say "the boy is drinking it." what would i have to use det or den?
so, for example, when I a referring to a boy drinking juice, then it would be "Pojken dricker den" but if i was reffering to him drinking water it would be "Pojken dricker vattnet"?
No, you use den for singular en-words, det for singular ett-words, and dem for plurals.
So den is used to adress en words and is at the same time the accusative case of the pronoun det?
No, it's used here since it refers to an (unmentioned) en-word, but it could just as well have said pojken dricket det.
- 940
Both mean 'it' but they're used depending on the gender of the noun.
Han dricker kaffet = Han dricker det 'He drinks the coffee = He drinks it'
Han dricker juicen = Han dricker den 'He drinks the juice = He drinks it'
Sounds hards to fine the name of a drinkable with the -en gender. This is piquing my curiosity.
Wait a minute. What if it was in the subjective form? Would it matter then if it's an ett word or and en word ?
No. Are you sure you're using the right term? Neither English nor Swedish has a subjective form for other things than pronouns.
Until now all drinks i have seen passing (water, milk, tea and coffee) are ett-words. Are there drinks that are en-words?
That's just coincidence - in fact, mjölk is actually an en-word.
They both mean the same thing as the English "It", but are used for different genders of nouns. In Swedish, we have "en" and "ett" words. You use "den" for "en" words and "det" for "ett" words.
