vars

Whose

Level 3

Relative: mannen vars bil... (the man whose car...). Question: Vems bil är det? (Whose car is it?).

How It Works

Relative Vars
Vars introduces a possessive relative clause and remains unchanged: Jag pratade med kvinnan vars man arbetar på min skola (I spoke with the woman whose husband works at my school). The relationship need not be literal ownership: a spouse, a company’s products, or a book’s ending can all follow vars.

Questions Use Vems
For ordinary modern standard questions, use vem in its genitive form vems: Vems bok är det här?, Vems idé var det att åka hit? An embedded question keeps the same question word: Jag undrar vems bok det är. Vars is the relative form taught here, not the normal possessive interrogative.

One Form For Different Nouns
Vars does not change for the antecedent or following noun: mannen vars bil..., familjen vars hus..., författaren vars böcker..., studenterna vars projekt.... The following noun normally has no definite suffix, as with other genitive attributes: vars nya bok, not vars nya boken.

Relating Two Statements
Compare Jag ser mannen. Hans bil är röd with Jag ser mannen vars bil är röd. The relative construction attaches the car information to the man. Vars is not restricted to people: en bok vars slut är överraskande relates an ending to a book.

Another Relative Option
Formal relative vilkens, vilkets, or vilkas can also express this relationship, with agreement in the antecedent. Vars is a useful invariant choice. A clause introduced by vems is normally an interrogative such as Jag vet vems bil det är, rather than the ordinary noun-modifying relative mannen vars bil....

Examples (5)

  1. Vems cykel står utanför?

    Whose bike is parked outside?

    Word by Word: Whose bicycle stands outside?

    This contrast example is a question about ownership, so it uses ordinary interrogative vems. Relative vars appears in personen vars cykel står utanför.

  2. Det är kvinnan vars hund alltid skäller.

    That's the woman whose dog always barks.

    Word by Word: It is the woman whose dog always barks.

    vars introduces a relative clause, connecting 'kvinnan' (the woman) to 'hund' (dog).

  3. Jag läser en bok vars slut är väldigt överraskande.

    I'm reading a book whose ending is very surprising.

    Word by Word: I read a book whose end is very surprising.

    Here, vars refers to a thing ('en bok') rather than a person.

  4. Vi träffade studenterna vars projekt vann priset.

    We met the students whose project won the prize.

    Word by Word: We met the students whose project won the prize.

    This example shows that vars is used even when the owner ('studenterna') is plural.

  5. Vems är den här jackan?

    Whose is this jacket?

    Word by Word: Whose is this here jacket?

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'vems' in relative clauses.

    Jag såg mannen vems bil blev stulen.
    Jag såg mannen vars bil blev stulen.

    Use relative vars in the ordinary noun-modifying construction mannen vars bil.... Use vems in a question or embedded question, as in Jag undrar vems bil det är. Formal relative vilkens/vilkets/vilkas is another pattern.

  • Trying to change the form of 'vars' based on gender or number.

    Det är flickan vara föräldrar jag känner.
    Det är flickan vars föräldrar jag känner.

    vars is invariable. It never changes. It's always vars, whether the possessed item is an en-word, an ett-word, or plural.

How It Connects

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

varsLevel 3Whose

Learn This First

To understand 'vars' (whose), you first need to be comfortable with how relative clauses are formed using 'som'. Additionally, you must understand the concept of possession in Swedish, both through the possessive '-s' suffix and the question word 'vems'.

Words in This Pattern

vars