"One letter, several letters"

Translation: Ett brev, flera brev

[Nylre536]

I don't understand why it is flera brev. Why is it not flera breven?

[Zmrzlina]

Ett-nouns that end in a consonant are the same in indefinite singular and indefinite plural. Please read the Tips and notes for Plurals for clarification.

[Nylre536]

thanks!

[facundohst1]

is brev plural and singular?

[Robbadob]

Both.

Ett brev = singular indefinite (a letter)
Brevet = singular definite (the letter)
Brev = plural indefinite (letters)
Breven = plural definite (the letters)

This happens with ett words that end with a consonant.
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/sv/Plurals/tips-and-notes

[Emil451576]

Great explanation, thanks a lot

[Bailey39]

It's like sheep - one sheep, several sheep.

[zackjohnlee]

When do you use ett over en?

[Zmrzlina]

All nouns are either en or ett, and it's something you'll have to learn.

[Liz882425]

I can not access the tips and notes for plurals and I'm just guessing when something is an Ett-noun vs. an En-noun and I'd reallly like to be able to understand how to know this.

[Super-Svensk]

This link might help: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/6329293

[sladeg98]

Why not "Man brev"? It literally says the word "One"

[Arnauti]

man is only 'one' as the impersonal pronoun 'one' – like, "One shouldn't be too hard on oneself".

[KarloLuka]

Isn't the word that means number "one" both "ett" and "en"? Like en två tre fyra or ett två tre fyra...?

[Bailey39]

No, while "en" and "ett" can both mean "one", which of them you use in context depends on the noun. Similarly, in English, both 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles meaning a singular item, but we wouldn't say "a apple" or "an nose".

[diiduska]

There is no point making "flera" obligatory in this exercise. "Ett brev, brev" should be enough, as "brev(pl. Ind.)" translates into "several" automatically in another exercises.

[Super-Svensk]

Just as with the word "several" in English, adding the word flera to the sentence in Swedish changes its meaning. "One letter, several letters" is not the same as saying "One letter, letters," and the same is true in Swedish.