Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Subject form
Jag - I
Du - You (sing.)
Hon - She
Han - He
Den - It (en-words)
Det - It (ett-words)
Vi - We
Ni - You (pl.)
De [dohm] - They
*hen - gender neutral pronoun that is an alternative to gender-specific hon/han
Examples:
- Jag heter Eva. - My name is Eva
- Du äter ett äpple. - You eat (are eating) an apple.
- Hon springer. - She runs (is running).
- Här är en bok. Den är min. - Here is a book. It is mine.
- Vi bor i ett hus. Det är vårt hus. - We live in a house. It is our house.
Object form
Jag → mig [mey] - me
Du → dig [dey] - you (sing.)
Hon → henne - her
Han → honom - him
Den → den - it
Det → det - it
Vi → os - us
Ni → er - you (pl.)
De → dem [dohm] - them
Examples:
- Han älskar henne. - He loves her.
- Jag vill se dem. - I want to see them.
- Vi inbjuder dig. - We invite you.
Personal Pronouns
Jag → mig - myself
Du → dig - yourself
Hon → sig - herself
Han → sig - himself
Den → sig - itself
Det → sig - itself
Vi → oss - ourselves
Ni → er - yourselves
De → sig- themselves
Certain verbs have a reflexive pronoun, for instance:
Tvätta sig - to wash oneself
Resa sig - to get up
Lägga sig - to go to bed
Känna sig - to feel
Gifta sig - to get married
Bestämma sig - to decide
Skynda sig - to hurry
The reflexive pronoun is used when the subject and the object in the clause refer to the same person:
Jag måste lära mig svenska. - I need to learn Swedish.
Hon bestämde sig för att börja träna. - She decided to start training.
Vi gifter oss. - We are getting married.
Possessive Pronouns
| Singular | Plural | ||
| en-words | ett-words | ||
| Jag | min (my) | mitt | mina |
| Du | din (your) | ditt | dina |
| Hon | hennes (hers) | hennes | hennes |
| Han | hans (his) | hans | hans |
| Hen | hens (his/hers) | hens | hens |
| Den/Det | dess (its) | dess | dess |
| Vi | vår (our) | vårt | våra |
| Ni | er (your) | ert | era |
| De | deras (their) | deras | deras |
Possessive pronouns agree with the nouns that they belong to.
Examples:
- Det är min katt. - It is my cat. (en katt - a cat)
- Huset är ditt. - The house is yours.(ett hus - a house)
- Där är mina skor. - There are my shoes. (en sko - one shoe; skor - shoes)
Possessive Pronoun Reflexive Form
In the third person singular and plural, it is important if the ”owner” of the object functions as the subject of the same clause or not.
| Singular | Plural | ||
| en-words | ett-words | ||
| han/hon/hen | sin | sitt | sina |
| den/det/de | sin | sin | sina |
Anna frågar varför Eva inte vill dansa med sin pojkvän. (= Evas pojkvän) (”owner”: Eva) - Anna asks why Eva (subject) doesn’t want to dance with Eva’s boyfriend. ← Possessive reflexive (Eva doesn’t want to dance with her own boyfriend)
Anna frågar varför Eva inte vill dansa med hennes pojkvän. (= Annas pojkvän) (”owner”: Anna) - Anna asks why Eva (subject) doesn’t want to dance with Anna’s boyfriend. ← Possessive (Eva doesn’t want to dance with Anna’s boyfriend)
Anna vill dansa med sin pojkvän. - Anna wants to dance with her (own) boyfriend.
Relative Pronoun
The relative pronoun som (that, which) is used as a subordinate clause opener and can refer to both people and things. Som (that, which) can act as both subject and object.
Examples:
- Jonas har en dotter. Hon är fyra år. - Jonas has a daughter. She is four years old.→ Jonas har en dotter som är fyra år. (som = subject) - Jonas has a daughter who is four years old.
- Jonas har en dotter. Han älskar henne. - Jonas has a daughter. He loves her. →Jonas har en dotter som han älskar. ("som" = object) - Jonas has a daughter who he loves