"He has a white hat."

Translation: Han har en vit hatt.

[yairchemla]

When is it "vit" and when is it "vitt"?

[Zmrzlina]

En-words: vit ("en vit katt")

Ett-words: vitt ("ett vitt hus")

[skyjo77]

Now, it makes sense. Esp. phonetically seen. Tack sâ mycket!

[JensBjrnha1]

Ett vitt hus: A white house/A wide house

[MarisBoyd]

Why aren't hatt and mössa synonyms? Couldn't they both be translated "hat"?

[Lundgren8]

They can both be ’hat’, though a mössa is either a (knitted) one you wear in the winter that usually covers your ears (as in Canadian Eng. tuque, a beanie or a knit cap), or some sort of cap like the Swedish graduation cap which is called studentmössa. Hatt is more like a cowboy hat, a high hat, a sun hat or a panama hat or similar.

[MarisBoyd]

Ah, thanks!

[BrythonicAngela]

My understanding was that "de" was placed before an adjective + noun (like "vit hatt"). When is this used and not used?

[TarynT2]

I thought this too. I wrote "Han har den vita hatten. " I was so sure I remembered all the rules; the adjective becomes plural. But I think I may have actually written, "He has the white hat" which would have been definitive form.

[svenska1227]

I have a question about the Swedish "i" sound. I have heard it in bil, vit, and many other words where it sounds like it is stressed or there is something in your mouth while you say it. For example, in this video, you can hear the Swedish girl on the right say "bil." It is called "Language Challenge Italian vs. Swedish" by Tia Taylor. It is on YouTube. Does anyone know why or how to pronounce it? Tack så mycket.

[rafael408752]

I get what you meant though, however my guess as a beginner to swedish studies is that what makes the word bil in the video you mentioned sound so stressed is the letter 'L' at the end. That's only a guess though.

[rafael408752]

Well by watching this guy here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6mziH0A6vQ and reading some posts here https://www.reddit.com/r/Svenska/comments/6o2ky0/how_to_pronounce_the_swedish_iy_sound/ i learned that the swedish i is transcripted as /i:/ and this basicaly means it is the same as italian i. Which goes like english 'ee' as in tree.
It is also mentioned above that the short version of the letter 'i' as in 'bil' should be pronounced like english 'i' as in stick or it.

[CedSgm7N]

Some similarity in the pronouncing of "vet" and "vit" .... or is it just me?

[destindarksoul]

Are adjectives only weak when they are definite?

[Stickylollipop]

How do you know if it's "en" or "ett"? Like "en hatt" or "ett hus"

[mesvensson]

There are some patterns. Like all -are words (lärare, läkare, talare) are -en. Most words referring to living things are -en (notable exception ett barn, a child).

But generally you've just got to learn the gender with each word. Sorry.