-a (bestämd form)

Definite Adjective Form

Level 1

Use the adjective’s weak form before the noun in den stora bilen or min stora bil. Many weak forms end in -a; learn unchanged or irregular forms separately.

How It Works

In Swedish, adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe. The weak form is used for an adjective before a noun in the definite patterns taught here. Many adjectives form it with -a. A predicative adjective follows different agreement rules: bilen är röd, huset är stort.

A noun is considered definite in these common situations:

  • When it's preceded by a definite article like den, det, or de.
  • When it's preceded by a possessive pronoun like min, din, or hans.
  • When it refers to a specific person by name, e.g., 'lilla Anna' (little Anna).

The ordinary weak -a form serves both genders and singular or plural. Some adjectives are unchanged, and -e is an alternative in certain masculine/person-related uses.

Examples of the change:

  • En-word: en röd bil (a red car) → den röda bilen (the red car)
  • Ett-word: ett stort hus (a big house) → det stora huset (the big house)
  • Plural: nya bilar (new cars) → de nya bilarna (the new cars)

This is a fundamental part of adjective agreement and is often seen in the double definite construction.

Attributive And Predicative
Compare den röda bilen with bilen är röd, and det stora huset with huset är stort. In the first pair of phrases the adjective stands inside a definite noun phrase; in the latter clauses it is a predicate. Do not add -a merely because the subject noun is definite.

Other Weak Forms
Learn gammal → gamla and liten → lilla, with plural små. Bra is unchanged: den bra boken. For a male referent, forms such as den nye läraren or min gamle vän can use -e; ordinary -a is also available. Finally, -a appears in indefinite plurals too: stora hus, nya bilar.

Examples (5)

  1. den gamla boken

    the old book

    Word by Word: the old-a book-the

    Gammal has weak form gamla: the unstressed a in the stem is lost before the ending. It is not formed as gammala.

  2. det stora huset

    the big house

    Word by Word: the big-a house-the

    'Hus' is an ett-word. In its definite form 'huset', the adjective 'stor' (big) takes the -a ending.

  3. de nya skorna

    the new shoes

    Word by Word: the new-a shoes-the

    In plural, the definite article is 'de' and the adjective 'ny' (new) takes the -a ending.

  4. Min röda cykel är snabb.

    My red bike is fast.

    Word by Word: My red-a bike is fast.

    Min makes the whole noun phrase definite in reference. The adjective is weak röda, but the noun stays in the indefinite form cykel; the later predicative snabb does not take -a.

  5. Jag gillar den svenska maten.

    I like the Swedish food.

    Word by Word: I like the Swedish-a food-the.

    'Maten' is the definite form of the en-word 'mat' (food), so the adjective 'svensk' (Swedish) takes the -a ending.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the base form gammal where the weak form gamla is required.

    Jag läser den gammal boken.
    Jag läser den gamla boken.

    Use the weak form gamla in den gamla boken. Gammal does not simply add a: its stem changes. Other adjectives can be unchanged, as in den bra boken.

  • Using plural or weak stora in the ordinary indefinite singular en stor hund.

    Jag ser en stora hund.
    Jag ser en stor hund.

    In the ordinary indefinite singular en stor hund, stor has its base form. The ending -a is not exclusive to definite phrases: it also appears in indefinite plural stora hundar.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-a (bestämd form)Level 1Definite Adjective Form

Learn This First

To understand the definite adjective form (-a), you need to be familiar with how adjectives generally agree with nouns. You also need to recognize the definite forms of nouns (using -en/-et suffixes) and the corresponding definite articles (den/det/de), as these elements trigger the use of the -a ending.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.