General

Adjectives have the syntactic function of being heads of adjectival phrases. Semantically, they usually denote permanent or temporary qualities of different kinds: Mary is beautiful, John is poor, He has a new computer, those silly ideas, He is like his father. All the adjectives in these examples are characterizing the referent expressed by the noun in various ways. Adjectives may also be classifying, as in the Swedish players, economical problems, the late president.

The properties expressed by adjectives are very often gradable, eg. beautiful - more beautiful, poor - poorer, silly - sillier, or can be conceived of as gradable (dead - more dead). In many languages gradability is grammaticalized as a particular inflection for comparison on the adjective: tall - taller - tallest, rich - richer - richest; good - better - best. When comparison cannot be expressed with an ending, it is expressed with the help of a modifier, as in English beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful. The three forms are called positive, comparative and superlative, respectively.

In many languages, although not in English, the adjective is in concord with the noun it modifies. Thus, e.g. a prenominal adjective in Icelandic is inflected for person, number and case, and there are different series of forms depending on whether the noun phrase is definite or indefinite. Consider the following example:
 
 

Indefinite noun phrase
 
 

	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative singular	gulur hestur yellow horse	gul bók yellow book	gult bor_ yellow table
nominative plural	gulir hestar	gular bækur	gul bor_
accusative singular	gulan hest	gula bók	gult bor_
accusative plural	gula hesta	gular bóka	gul bor_
dative singular	gulum hesti	gulri bók	gulu bor_i
dative plural	gulum hestum	gulum bókum	gulum bor_um

Definite noun phrase
 
 

	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative singular	guli hesturinn the yellow horse	gula bókin the yellow book	gula bor_i_ the yellow table
nominative plural	gulu hestarnir	gulu bækurnar	gulu bor_in
accusative singular	gula hestinn	gulu bókina	gula bor_
accusative plural	gulu hesta	gulu bækurnar	gulu bor_in
dative singular	gula hestinum	gulu bókinni	gula bor_inu
dative plural	gulu hestunum	gulu bókunum	gulu bor_um

In predicative position, the same endings are used as in indefinite noun phrases, thus Hesturinn er gulur ‘horse.the is yellow’, Bækurnar eru gular ‘books.the are yellow’, etc.

Swedish

The Swedish adjective inflects for concord and comparison:

(1) a. en gul häst ett gult hus den gula hästen det gula huset gula hus

a yellow horse a yellow house. the yellow horse.the the yellow house.the yellow houses

b. jag är glad, du är gladare men hon är gladast

I am happy you are happier but she is happiest

3.2.1. Form

Swedish adjectives are built in four different ways:

There are a couple of hundreds simple roots which prototypically appear in adjectives. The following root morpheme adjectives occur more than 100 times in a sample of 1 miljon words from newspaper articles: allmän ‘common’, bekant ‘well-known’, berömd ‘famous’, billig ‘cheap’, bra ‘good’, bred ‘wide’, central ‘central’, dålig ‘bad’, enkel ‘simple’, ensam ‘alone’, fin ‘fine’, fri ‘free’, full ‘full’, få ‘few’, gammal ‘old’, glad ‘glad’, god ‘good, tasty’, hel ‘whole’, hård ‘hard’, hög ‘high’, kall ‘cold’, klar ‘clear’, kort ‘short’, känd ‘known’, lik ‘like’, liten ‘small’, låg ‘low’, lång ‘tall’, lätt ‘light, easy’, modern ‘modern’, normal ‘normal’, ny ‘new’, nära ‘close’, nästa ‘next’, ond ‘evil’, ren ‘clean’, rik ‘rich’, rätt ‘correct’, röd ‘red’, sen ‘late’, sist ‘last’, snabb ‘fast’, stark ‘strong’, stor ‘big’, svart ‘black’, svår ‘difficult’, säker ‘sure’, ung ‘young’, vacker ‘beautiful’, vid ‘wide’, vild ‘wild’, vit ‘white’, våt ‘wet’, värd ‘worth’, öppen ‘open’.

Suffixal derivations

Adjectives are built from roots, prototypically appearing in verbs, nouns, proper names and adjectives, with the help of certain suffixes, like the following ones:

-abel riskabel risky’, diskutable ‘debateable’

-ad befogad 'justified’, färgad 'coloured', saknad 'missing’

-aktig felaktig ‘erroneous’, varaktig ‘durable, lasting’

-enlig stilenlig ‘in keeping with the style’, tidsenlig ‘up to date’

-bar användbar ‘useful, fit for use’, märkbar ‘noticeable’, underbar ‘wonderful’

-ig kunnig ‘skilful, capable’, stormig ‘stormy’ klumpig clumsy’, hungrig ‘hungry’

-isk erotisk ‘erotic’, kaotisk 'chaotic’, statistisk ‘statistical’

-iv massiv ‘sollid, massive’, passiv ‘passive’, kvantitativ ‘quantitative’

-lig fyllig ‘plump, rich’, manlig ‘masculine, manly’, årlig ‘yearly, annual’, vanlig ‘usual’

-mässig konkursmässig ‘insolvent’, pensionsmässig ‘pensionable’, ‘be about to retire’

-sam hjälpsam ‘helpful’, sparsam ‘economical, thrifty’, tröttsam ‘tiring, fatiguing; tiresome’

-sk engelsk ‘English’, hemsk ‘horrible’, svensk ‘Swedish’

Prefixal derivations

Generally productive is the prefix o-, which is added to an adjectival stem to negate the meaning of the adjective. Thus, olycklig ‘unhappy’ (compare lycklig ‘happy’), otrolig ‘unbelieveable’ (compare trolig ‘believeable’), ovanlig ‘uncommon’ (compare vanlig ‘common’). In addition, there are some other non-productive prefixes with negative meaning: a-social ‘asocial’, il-legal ‘illegal’ im-populär ‘unpopular’, in-aktiv ‘inactive’, miss-lyckad ‘unsuccessful’, icke-kyrklig ‘non-ecclestiastical’

Prefixes are also used to indicate a high or low degree of the property expressed by the adjective: extra-fin ‘superfine, superior’, hyper-kritisk ‘hypercritical’, hyper-modern ‘ultra-modern’, ill-röd ‘terrifically red’, knall-röd ‘vividly red’, ultra-konservativ ‘ultraconservative’, ur-komisk ‘irresistibly funny’, ur-gammal ‘very old’, ärke-dum ‘utterly stupid’; pytte-liten ‘very small’.

Some other prefixes are illustrated by the following examples: uni-lateral ‘unilateral’, bi-labial ‘bilabial’, multi-nationell ‘multinational’, inter-nordisk ‘inter-Scandinavian’, sub-tropisk ‘subtropical’, pre-historisk ‘prehistorical’, ur-vuxen ‘grown out of sth’.

Compounding

Compounding is a very productive way to form new words in Swedish. This holds for adjectives as well as for other word classes. A compounded adjective has an adjective as its final part. Some random examples: nöjes-lysten 'pleasure-seeking' ondske-full 'wicked' mörk-röd 'dark-red' av-lång 'oblong', makt-lös 'powerless', arbets-lös 'unemployed'.

3.2.2. Inflection

The adjective prototypically takes two kinds of inflection: inflection for comparison, and inflection due to concord with the noun it is modifying.

3.2.2.1. Comparison

The Swedish adjective is inflected for comparison (positive, comparative, superlative):

(1) a. Erik är dum, Anders är dummare och Tore är dummast.

Erik is silly, Anders is sillier and Tore is silliest

b. Eva är ung, Anna är yngre och Tora är yngst.

Eva is young Anna is younger and Tora is youngest

The two examples in (1) illustrate the two regular ways to inflect an adjective for comparison: with the endings -are, -ast (first declension) and with the endings -re, -st in connecction with changes of the stem vowel (second declension). In the second declension there are some common adjectives with suppletive roots in comparative and superlative, presented in (3):

(3) gammal äldre äldst old, older, oldest

bra/god bättre bäst good, better, best

dålig sämre/värre sämst /värst bad, worse, worst

liten mindre minst small, smaller, smallest

Many adjectives do not have inflected forms for comparative and superlative. In these cases comparison is expressed with the help of the modifying adverbs mera ‘more’ and mest ‘most’:

(4) Erik är mer begåvad än Anna. Cecilia är den mest begåvade student jag har haft.

Erik is more gifted than Anna Cecilia is the most gifted student I have had

3.2.2.2. Concord

Swedish adjectives are inflected for definiteness, gender and number. The indefinite form is used when the adjective is part of an indefinite noun phrase and when it is used predicatively, whereas the definite form is used only in definite noun phrases. The inflection is summarized in the following table:
 
 

	Indefinite	Definite
Attributive	en röd bil (common gend.)  a red car  ett stort träd (neuter gend.)  a big tree  röda bilar, stora träd red cars big trees	den röda bilen (common gend.)  the red.DEF car.the  det stora trädet (neuter gend.)  the big.DEF tree.the  de röda bilarna, de stora träden the red.DEF cars.the the big.DEF trees.the
Predicative	en bil var röd (common gend.)  a car was red  ett träd var stort (neuter gend.)  a tree was big  bilar var röda, träd var stora cars was red trees was big	bilen var röd (common gend.)  car.the was red  trädet var stort (neuter gend.)  tree.the was big  bilarna var röda, träden var stora cars.the was red trees.the was big

3.3. Pronouns

General

Pronouns indicate

a) how a referent can be identified (or not identified) in its context, or

b) how a referent is characterized with respect to amount or number.

Like the noun, the pronoun syntactically functions as the head of a noun phrase.

Depending on meaning and syntactic function, four types of pronouns are discernable: definite pronouns, interrogative pronouns, quantitative pronouns and relational pronouns.

A. Definite pronouns

Definite pronouns indicate that someone or something is uniquely identifiable in the context of the text or the speech act. There are five main types of definite pronouns:

Personal pronouns: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them.

Definite article: the

Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those

Reflexive pronouns: Scandinavian sig ‘self-REFL’

Reciproke pronouns: each other

Relative pronouns: relative who, which

B. Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns have open reference and are used when the utterance is about the reference of something or somebody with respect to identity or nature. The pronouns of this group are often referred to as wh-pronouns; note, however, that wh-pronouns are also used as relative pronouns.

Interrogative who, what, how, when, why

C. Quantitative pronouns

Quantitative pronouns indicate how many there are or how much there is of something. There are six main types of quantitative pronouns:

Totality pronouns: all, both, whole

Distributive pronouns: each

Generalizing pronouns: whatever, whoever; one

Multitude pronouns: few, many, more, most

Indefinite pronouns: some, any, something, somebody

Negating pronouns: nobody, noone

D. Relational pronouns

Relational pronouns characterize someone or something by referring to another referent. These pronouns are like adjectives in many respects. There are four main types of relational pronouns:

Comparative pronouns: same, such, another, other

Ordinative pronouns: first, second, next, previous

Perspective pronouns: left, right, north, south, west, east, right, wrong

Focusing pronouns: self, own, only

3.3.1. Definite Pronouns

Swedish

Definite pronouns are heads or attributes in definite noun phrases. There are five main types of definite pronouns, here presented with Swedish examples.

(1) a. Jag såg dig i går. (jag and dig are deictically identified as participants in the conversation)

I saw you yesterday

b. Kalle kammade sig. (sig is anaphorically identified with Kalle)

Kalle combed REFL

c. Eva kramade Lasse, men han kunde inte lova något.

Eva hugged Lasse but he could not promise anything

In (1c) han is probably referring to Lasse, i.e. anaphorically identified, but it may also refer to some other male person in the situation, especially when it is stressed (deictically identified).

Some definite pronouns are nominal in nature and are thus always used as heads in noun phrases. All the cases in (1) are of this type. Other definite pronouns are adjectival in nature, and like adjectives they inflect for number and gender. They are either dependent on a noun, i.e. modifying a noun phrase with a nominal head, or they are independent, i.e modifying a noun phrase without a nominal head:
 
 

(2)	Dependent	Independent
a. possessive pronoun	Han stal min cykel.  he stole my bike	Den cykeln är min.  this bike is mine
b. free definite article	Har du träffat den nye läraren?  have you met the new teacher	(The free definite article cannot be used indepenently)
c. demonstrative pronoun	Han slog den här pojken.  he hit this here boy	Det här gör mig irriterad.  this here makes me irritated
d. relative pronoun	Pojken, vars mor är död,  boy.the whose mother is dead	Provet, vilket var negativt test.the which was negative

The following definite pronouns have different forms for number and gender; the forms are given in the order common gender singular, neuter gender singular, and plural:

(3) a. 1^st and 2^nd person poss. pronouns: min, mitt, mina ‘my, mine’

din, ditt, dina ‘your’

vår, vårt, våra ‘our’

er, ert, era ‘your (pl)

b. Definite article den, det, de ‘the’

c. Demonstrative pronoun den här/där, det här/där, de här/där ‘this/that’

denna, detta, dessa ‘this’

d. Relative pronoun vilken, vilket, vilka ‘which’

3.3.1.1. Personal pronouns

An overview of the Swedish personal pronouns and their differnt forms is presented in the table below. Note that there is a four way gender distinction in third person singular: masculine han ‘he’, feminine hon ‘she’, common gender den ‘it’ and neuter gender det ‘it. There is no corresponding differentiation in third person plural, where de ‘they’ is used for all genders.
 
 

	Subj. sg	Obj. sg	Poss sg	Subj. pl	Obj pl	Poss pl
1st person	jag	mig	min, mitt, mina	vi	oss	vår, vårt, våra
2nd person	du	dig	din, ditt, dina	ni	er	er, ert, era
3rd mask	han	honom	hans	de	dem	deras
3rd fem	hon	henne	hennes	de	dem	deras
3rd common	den	den	dess	de	dem	deras
3rd neuter	det	det	dess	de	dem	deras

The singular object forms are sometimes spelled mej, dej according to how they are pronounced, and the third person plural forms de and dem are sometimes conflated as dom both as subject and object form, corresponding to spoken practice. Occasionally we also find the colloquial singular forms våran, vårat ‘our’ (standard forms vår, vårt) and eran, erat ‘your‘ (standard forms er, ert):

(1) Det är vår(an) bil. Det där är er(at) hus.

this is our car that is your house

As indicated in the table above, all personal pronouns in Swedish, except den and det, are inflected for case: there is a subject ? object distinction for all persons and numbers. The subject form, sometimes called nominative, is used when the pronoun is the subject of a clause, or the predicative complement, whereas the object form is used when the pronoun is the object of verbs, adjectives and prepositions:

(2) a. Jag är lycklig. Han där på fotografiet är jag. Det var jag som gjorde det.

I am happy he there in picture.the is I it was I who did it

b. Han slog mig. Hon tittade på mig. Han var mig överlägsen.

he hit me she looked at me he was me superior

The focusing pronoun själv ‘self’ (a kind of relational pronoun) is used as predicative attribute to a personal pronoun:

(3) Jag själv skulle inte vilja göra det Köp något till dig själv också!

I self should not want to-do it buy something to you self also

The generally addressing pronoun is du. Before 1960-70, the second plural ni was used as a more formal way of addressing, especially between people of different age and social standard. It is still used when a formal mode of addressing is aimed at, as in business letters addressed to a firm or an individual with whom the writer is not on first-name terms. It is also used when speaking to an older stranger, and there is a tendency today that its use is in the increase among younger people. During the first half of the twentieth century a polite mode of addressing was to use a person’s name and/or title; this may still be used in certain circumstances:

(4) a. Kan fröken Svensson komma hit?

can miss Svensson come here

b. Kan doktorn titta på det här?

can doctor.the look at this here

A third person pronoun may be used as addressing when the speaker wants to stress a distance between him and the addressee:

(5) a. Vill hon sätta sig här? (3^rd person personal pronoun)

want she sit-down REFL here

b. Varför är man inte glad? (man ‘one’ is a generalizing quantitative pronoun)

why is one/you not happy

The use of den and det.

There is a four way distinction in Swedish concerning pronominal reference to a third person singular referent: han ‘he’ and hon ‘she’ are used to refer to human beings, whereas den and det are used for all other third person singular referents, den for common gender, det for neuter gender:

(6) a. Var är pojken? ? Han är i köket. Var är flickan? ? Hon är i köket.

where is boy.the he is in kitchen.the where is girl.the she is in kitchen.the

b. Var är hunden? ? Den är i köket. Var är kniven? ? Den är i köket.

where is dog.the it is in kitchen.the where is knife.the it is in kitchen.the

c. Var är brödet? ? Det är i köket. Var är brevet? ? Det är i köket.

where is bread.the it is in kitchen.the where is letter.the it is in kitchen

The neuter det is also used to refer to clauses and various types of non-finite constructions:

(7) a. Har hon kommit än? ? Det tror jag inte.

has she come yet it believe I not

Has she arrived yet? ? I don’t think so.

b. Att lära sig svenska, det är lätt.

to learn REFL Swedish it is easy

It is easy to learn Swedish.

c. Sjunga, det vill han gärna.

sing it want he willingly

The neuter singular det also refers to implied propositions, as in the examples in (8). Note the incongruence between the initial noun phrase and the pronoun, which indicates that the pronoun is not referring to the noun phrase but to the implied proposition which the noun phrase is a part of:

(8) a. Den höga hatten, det vore inte dumt. = att ta den höga hatten, det ...

the top hat.the (COM) it (NEUT) were not bad t o take the top hat.the it

It wouldn’t be bad with a top hat.

b. Ärtor, det är gott. = att äta ärtor, det är gott

pies it is tasty to eat pies, it is tasty

(Cf. Ärtor, de är goda.

pies they are tasty)

When referring back to a proper name, det is used, even if the name is used of a person:

(9) Johan, det heter han.

Johan it is-named he

The pronoun det is also used as an expletive, both for subjects and objects:

(10) a. Det är skönt att bada.

it is nice to take-a-bath

b. Han trodde det säkert, att hon skulle komma.

he believed it for-sure, that she would come

c. Det hade suttit en katt framför huset hela dagen.

it had sut a cat in-font-of house.the whole day.the

There had been a cat in front of the house the whole day.

d. Det regnade igår.

it rained yesterday

e. Det dansades hela natten.

it danced.PASS whole night.the

They danced the whole night.

3.3.1.2. Free definite article

The definite article is a suffix to the noun in Swedish, as in hästen ‘horse.the’ (the horse). However, in definite noun phrases with an adjective attribute, a free definite article is usually needed in front of the adjective: den svarta hästen ‘the black horse.the’; note that there are two definite articles in this case, one free and one suffixed (double definiteness).

A free definite article is also found in a noun phrase with a restrictive relative clause. In such a case the free article may be used also without an adjective attribute: den häst(en) som du ser där ‘the horse(.the) that you see there’; det stora hus(et) som jag äger ‘the big house(.the) that I own’. In this case the suffixed article is not obligatory.

The free definite article cannot replace the suffixed one: hästen är svart ‘horse.the is black’, but not *den häst är svart ‘the horse is black’. Den followed by a noun without a suffixed article is only possible in the presence of a restrictive relative clause; however, this does not have to follow the head noun immediately:

(1) Det hus äger jag som du ser där.

the house own I that you see there

The free definite article has three forms: den for common gender singular, det for neuter gender singular, and de for plural.

(2) Den bruna hunden Det bruna djuret De bruna hundarna/djuren

the brown dog.the the brown animal.the the brown dogs.the/animals.the

Like the plural personal pronoun, de is usually pronouncded "dom" and sometimes written in this form as well: dom små hundarna ‘the small dogs.the’.

3.3.1.3. Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are denna ‘this’, den här ‘this here’ (this), den där ‘this there’ (that), and den this, that. They are all inflected for gender and number. Denna and den also have genitive for

denna, detta; dessa

den här, det här, de här (colloquial: den(na) häringa, det(ta) häringa, de häringa)

den där, det där, de där (colloquial: den(na) däringa, det(ta) däringa, de däringa)

den, det, de

It is characteristic for demonstrative pronouns that they point to a refernt which is present in the speech situation, but not prominent:

(1) a. Den här ölen är god.

this here beer is good

b. Erik bad Johan att öppna fönstret, men denne vägrade.

Erik asked Johan to open window.the but this refused

Erik asked Johan to open the window, but that guy refused.

Denna

The pronoun denna has the following forms:

Common gender singular denna (many speakers use denne in masc sing.)

Neuter gender singular detta

Plural dessa

Denna is used either attributively in a noun phrase together with a nominal head, or independent in a noun phrase without a nominal head:

(2) a. alla dessa mina små bekymmer denna attraktiva kvinna detta långa tal

all these my small troubles this attractive woman this long speech

b. Vem vill köpa denna? Detta måste vi undersöka. Dessa kan vi inte vara utan.

who want-to buy this this must we investigate these can we not be without

When denna is used attributively, the head noun cannot have a suffixed definite article: *denna attraktiva kvinnan ‘this attractive woman.the’.

Referring to a unique referent with denna, this referent is not the only choice in the situation, and not the most prominent choice. Both deictic reference (3a) and anaphoric reference (3b) is possible:

(3) a. Läs första kapitlet i denna bok!

read first chapter.the in this book

b. Målvakten halkade till, och Larsson förvaltade denna målchans.

goalkeeper.the slipped and Larsson took-advantage-of this scoring-possibility

Den här, den där

The pronouns den här and den där have the following forms:

Common gender singular den här, den där

Neuter gender singular det här, det där

Plural de här, de där

Den här and den där are used either attributively in a noun phrase together with a nominal head, or independent in a noun phrase without a nominal head:

(4) a. alla de här många husen det här förbjudna preparatet den där glade mannen

all these here many houses.the this here forbidden drug.the this there happy man.the

b. Vem vill köpa den här? Det här måste ni se. De här kan vi inte vara utan.

who want-to buy this here this here must you see these here can we not be without

When used attributively, den här/den där is accompanied by a nominal head with a suffixed article; thus, the sequence *den här glade man ‘this here happy man’ is not allowed. In this respect den här/den där and denna behave differently.

Whereas the other demonstrative pronouns in Swedish, denna and den, are used both with deictic and anaphoric reference, den här/den där is mostly used deictically. This use is shown in (4b). In the following example with anaphoric reference, denna/den is much better than den här/den där:

(5) Regeringen beslöt att avgå. Detta beslut / Det beslutet / ^??Det här beslutet ....

government.the decided to resign this decision this decision.the this here decision.the

Like denna, the demonstrative den här/den däris used to refer to a unique referent that is not the only choice in the situation, and not the most prominent choice. Den här points to a referent that is close to the speaker, physically or mentally, whereas den där indicates a certain distance, physically and/or mentally.

(6) a. Det här är min dotter. b. Det där är min dotter.

this here is my daughter this there is my daughter

(6a) is used when the daughter is together with the speaker, being introduced to somebody. (6b), on the other hand, is used e.g. when the speaker happens to see his daughter on the other side of the street, and wants to point her out to a listener.

Den

Demonstrative den has the following forms:

Common gender singular den

Neuter gender singular det

Plural de

Demonstrative den is only used attributively; when independently used, den is classified as a personal pronoun. Unlike denna and like den här/det här, demonstrative den cannot be before a possessive:

(7) a. Med all den veden kommer du att klara vintern.

with all that firewood will you survive winter.the

b. denna min röda cykel *den här min röda cykel *den min röda cykel

this my red bike this here my red bike this my red bike

Demonstrative den indicates a distance from the speaker in the same way as den där; hence (8), which is to be compared with (5), has a meaning corresponding to (5b):

(8) Den flickan är min dotter.

that girl is my daughter

3.3.1.4. Reflexive pronouns

Swedish has a 3^rd person reflexive pronoun sig ‘REFL’ in object case, and a possessive reflexive pronoun sin ‘REFL’. The possessive is inflected for number and gender, just like the possessives of the 1^st and 2^nd personal pronouns: min hand, mitt huvud, mina ben ‘my hand (COM), my head (NEUT), my legs'. The reflexive pronoun is used both in singular and plural. For 1^st and 2^nd person, the object forms and the possessive forms of the personal pronouns are used with a reflexive meaning.

(1) a. Pojken såg sig i spegeln. Pojkarna såg sig i spegeln.

boy.the saw REFL in mirror.the boys.the saw REFL in mirror.the

b. Pojken träffade sin far. Pojkarna träffade sin far.

boy.the met REFL father boys.the met REFL father

(2) a. Jag såg mig i spegeln. Du såg dig i spegeln, .

I saw REFL in mirror.the you saw REFL in mirror.the

b. Jag träffade min far Du träffade din far.

I met REFL father you met REFL father

The reflexive pronoun sig is usually the head and the sole member of a noun phrase; it has the same functions as other noun phrases, except that it cannot be the subject of a clause, nor can it be a predicative complement. Usually, the reflexive pronoun refers anaphorically to the subject of the clause (3a), but it may also be part of a noun phrase, referring to the possessor (3b). When the subject is not available as antecedent, the reflexive pronoun may refer to the object (3c,d):

(3) a. Anna kammade sig.

Anna combed REFL

b. Evas porträtt av sin mor stod på pianot.

Eva’s portrait of REFL's mother was on piano.the

c. Jag la henne i sin säng. (henne = sin)

I put her in REFL's bed

d. Vi hörde honom spela sin CD (honom = sin)

we heard him play REFL's CD

The reflexive pronoun may refer to the implied subject of an infinitive clause.

(4) a. Lasse bad Lisa att tvätta sig. (Lisa = sig)

Lasse asked Lisa to wash REFL

The reflexive pronoun cannot refer to the subject of a higher clause:

(5) Lasse bad Lisa att hon skulle kamma sig.

Lasse asked Lisa that she should comb REFL

The reflexive cannot refer to Lasse in this case, hence the only available reading is that Lisa will comb herself. Usually the reflexive pronoun is to the right of the subject, but a reflexive may occur in sentence intial position, anaphorically bound by a subject to the right; this subject may even be in an embedded clause:

(6) a. Sin bil hade han förlorat.

REFL car had he lost

He had lost his car.

b. Sin bil trodde Pelle att Anna hade parkerat på torget. (Anna = sin)

REFL car thought Pelle that Anna had parked in square.the

Pelle thought that Anna had parked her car in the square.

The reflexive pronoun is sometimes spelled sej, which corresponds closely to its pronounciation. Compare the similar alternative spellings of mig and dig as mej and dej.

3.3.1.5. Reciproke pronouns

The reciproke pronoun in Swedish is varandra ‘each other’. The possessive form is derived by adding -s at the end: varandra-s ‘each other’s’. Like the reflexive pronoun, it is the head of a noun phrase, and usually the only member. It has the same functions as other noun phrases, except that it cannot be the subject or the predicative complement of a clause.

(1) a. Maria och Katarina diskuterade med varandra.

Maria and Katarina discussed with each other

b. Maria och Katarina hjälpte varandra.

Maria and Katarina helped each other

c. Maria och Katarina läste varandras brev.

Maria and Katarina read each other’s letters

In many respects the reciproke pronoun is syntactically alike the reflexive pronoun. Prototypically it is anaphorically bound by the subject of the clause (1), or by the possessive of a noun phrase, when it is in a post head modifier (2a). It may refer to the object when no subject is available (2b); like the reflexive it may also refer to the implied subject of an infinitival clause:

(2) a. Jag presenterade Eva och Anna för varandra.

I introduced Eva and Anna to each other

b. Jag såg Bo och Sofia kyssa varandra.

I saw Bo and Sofia kiss each other

c. Jag bad Bo och Sofia att hjälpa varandra.

I asked Bo and Sofia to help each other

3.3.1.6. Relative pronouns

Swedish has three relative pronouns: vilken ‘who, which’, vars ‘whose’, vad ‘what’. Vars and vad cannot be inflected, whereas vilken is inflected for gender and number, depending on the head of the relative clause:

Common gender singular vilken min ansökan, vilken nu är färdig

my application which now is ready

Neuter gender singular vilket mitt beslut, vilket nu är taget

my decision which now is taken

Plural vilka frågorna, vilka var svåra att besvara

questions.the which were hard to answer

The pronoun vilken may also occur in the genitive; in this case it has more or less the same meaning as vars, but it is usually stylistically more stiff and formal:

(1) en författare vilken / vars romaner säljer bra

an author which’s/ whose novels are-selling well

The relative pronouns have the same function as other nominal elements. They are placed in the beginning of relative clauses. Vilken and vars are anaphorically identified by the head of the relative clause:

(2) a. Han var på väg till sin professor, vilken hade bett honom komma.

he was on way to REFL professor who had asked him to-come

b. Han besökte Anna, vars cykel han hade lånat.

he visited Anna whose bike he had borrowed

Vad is used in relative clauses that lack a head, or has allt ‘everything’ (neuter) as the head:

(3) Han har (allt) vad jag har.

he has everything what I have

Relative pronouns are usually only used in formal written language; in spoken Swedish, and in less formal written style, the relative subjunction som ‘that’ is preferred:

(4) ett hus vilket/som var förfallet redan för 50 år sedan

a house which/that was decayed already for 50 years ago

It is only when the relative subjunction cannot be used, as when the relative clause is modifying the whole proposition, or when it is a possessor that is relativized, that the use of a relative pronoun is less stiff and formal; even these cases, however, are avoided in colloquial language:

(5) a. Anna har köpt en ny klänning, vilket jag uppskattar.

Anna has bought a new dress which I like

(Alternatively: Anna har köpt en ny klänning och det uppskattar jag)

Anna has bought a new dress and it like I

Anna has bought a new dress, and I like that.

b. Hon såg en bil vars vänstra bakhjul saknades.

she saw a car whose left rear-wheel lacked.PASS

She saw a car which lacked its left rear wheel

(Alternatively: Hon såg en bil som saknade vänstra bakhjulet)

she saw a car that lacked left rear-wheel.the