Question Words
Question Words
Swedish question words map neatly onto English ones, and — just like English — they jump to the very front of the sentence. The one wrinkle: Swedish has no "do/does" helper verb to insert.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Question word, then verb — no "do"-support
Var bor du? (Where do you live?)
Where do you live?
English needs a dummy helper verb to ask most questions — "Where do you live?", not "Where live you?". Swedish never inserts an equivalent of "do": the real verb moves straight into second position, right after the question word. Var bor du? is literally "Where live you?". Swedish verbs have the added advantage of never conjugating for person, so there's one less thing to get wrong while you adjust to this word order.
vilken / vilket / vilka: "which" agrees with gender and number
vilken bok (which book, en-word), vilket hus (which house, ett-word), vilka böcker (which books, plural)
which book, which house, which books
Most Swedish question words are invariant, but "which" is the exception: it must match the gender of the noun it asks about, the same way the indefinite article en/ett does — vilken for en-words, vilket for ett-words, and vilka for any plural noun, regardless of original gender.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- what
- English
- who
- English
- where
- English
- when
- English
- why
- English
- how
- English
- which
- English
- how much
- English
- how many