ingen/inget/inga

No One/nothing/none

Level 2

Use ingen for en-words, inget for ett-words, and inga for plural nouns to mean 'no' or 'none'.

How It Works

In Swedish, to say 'no' (as in 'no books') or 'none', you use ingen, inget, or inga. These words must match the noun they describe, similar to articles and adjectives.

The Three Forms:
The choice depends on the noun's gender and number:

  • ingen: Used with singular common gender nouns (en-words).
  • inget: Used with singular neuter gender nouns (ett-words).
  • inga: Used with all plural nouns.

Usage as a Determiner (with a noun):
This is like saying 'no' + noun.

  • `Jag har ingen bil.` (I have no car.) — en bil
  • `Det finns inget problem.` (There is no problem.) — ett problem
  • `Hon har inga syskon.` (She has no siblings.) — syskon (plural)

Usage as a Pronoun (alone):
When used alone, they mean 'no one', 'nothing', or 'none'.

  • `Ingen kom till festen.` (No one came to the party.)
  • `Jag hörde inget.` (I heard nothing.)
  • `Av alla kakor finns det inga kvar.` (Of all the cookies, there are none left.)

The choice also depends on sentence structure. In a simple main clause, Jag såg inga filmer is ordinary. With an auxiliary, the neutral pattern is Jag har inte sett några filmer, with inte before sett; do not mechanically replace inte ... några by inga after the participle. A negative subject is different: Ingen har kommit.

Examples (5)

  1. Jag har ingen aning.

    I have no idea.

    Word by Word: I have no idea.

    Aning is an en-word, so ingen is used.

  2. Det finns inget kaffe kvar.

    There is no coffee left.

    Word by Word: It exists no coffee left.

    Kaffe is an ett-word, so inget is used.

  3. Vi såg inga filmer i helgen.

    We saw no movies this weekend.

    Word by Word: We saw no movies in the-weekend.

    Filmer is plural, so inga is used.

  4. Ingen svarade på frågan.

    No one answered the question.

    Word by Word: No-one answered on the-question.

    Here, ingen is used as a pronoun to mean 'no one' or 'nobody'.

  5. Jag förstår inget.

    I understand nothing.

    Word by Word: I understand nothing.

    Here, inget is used as a pronoun to mean 'nothing'.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding inte when the intended meaning is simply no money.

    Jag har inte inga pengar.
    Jag har inga pengar.

    Inga already supplies the negation in Jag har inga pengar. An additional inte does not strengthen this into an ordinary “no money” statement; in a marked logical contrast it can instead deny having no money.

  • Using the wrong form for the noun's gender.

    Det finns ingen problem.
    Det finns inget problem.

    Problem is an ett-word (ett problem). Therefore, you must use the neuter form inget, not ingen.

How It Connects

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ingen/inget/ingaLevel 2No One/nothing/none

Learn This First

To use 'ingen', 'inget', and 'inga' correctly, you must understand Swedish noun genders (en/ett) and plural forms, as the pronoun must agree with the noun it refers to. It is also helpful to understand the positive equivalent 'någon' to see the pattern of agreement.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ingeningetinga