vem
Who
Use vem to ask 'who'.
How It Works
vem is one of the most fundamental question words in Swedish. It directly translates to 'who' and normally asks for the identity of a person; it can also refer to an animal treated as an individual.
1. vem as the subject:
When vem is the subject of the question (the person performing the action), the verb comes directly after it.
- Vem talar svenska? (Who speaks Swedish?)
- Vem vill ha kaffe? (Who wants coffee?)
2. vem as the object:
When vem is the object (the person receiving the action), the sentence follows the verb-second rule. The verb comes second, right after vem, and is followed by the subject.
- Vem ser du? (Who do you see?)
- Vem älskar han? (Who does he love?)
Unlike some other pronouns, vem does not change its form whether it's the subject or the object.
Vem has no separate subject and object forms: compare Vem såg dig? with Vem såg du?. It normally has singular grammatical agreement even when the answer may name several people. To ask explicitly which people, use Vilka kommer?.
Examples (5)
- Vem är du?
Who are you?
Word by Word: Who are you?
- Vem bor här?
Who lives here?
Word by Word: Who lives here?
Here, 'vem' is the subject of the sentence. The verb 'bor' (lives) comes directly after it.
- Vem träffade du igår?
Who did you meet yesterday?
In this example, 'vem' is the object. The sentence follows the V2 rule: Vem (1) träffade (2) du...
- Vem ringer du till?
Who are you calling?
Word by Word: Who call you to?
- Vem är din favoritartist?
Who is your favorite artist?
Word by Word: Who is your favorite-artist?
Common Mistakes
Using vad when the intended question asks for someone’s identity.
Vad är din lärare?Vem är din lärare?Use
vemto ask about people andvadto ask about things, professions, or information. While you can ask 'Vad är din lärare?' (What is your teacher?), it asks about their role or qualities, not their identity. To ask for their name or who they are, you must usevem.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To use 'vem' (who) effectively, you need to understand basic Swedish word order for questions and be familiar with how pronouns represent people in a sentence.
Related Patterns
- vadWhat
This is the question word for 'what'. It's important to distinguish between
Level 1vem(for people) andvad(for things/information). - varWhere
Another core question word, meaning 'where'. Learning these together helps build basic conversational skills.
Level 1 - närWhen
The question word for 'when'. Like
Level 1vem, it's essential for forming basic questions. - hurHow
The question word for 'how'. It's part of the same family of interrogative words as
Level 1vem. - Verb-second rule
This word order rule is crucial when
Level 3vemis the object of a question. The verb must come in the second position, aftervem.
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice vem in Bubblegum
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