Swedish language group

[Solovei]

Tack.  Ett mer än engelska   Finns det regler eller bara vet en och ett?

(Jag är för trött för svara på svenska, förlåt...)

Ryagami is right in that there aren't really any set rules, but usually living things are always en- whereas non-living things are ett-
There are of course some very important exceptions to that, like "barn" (child)

[olavi]

(Jag är för trött för svara på svenska, förlåt...)

Ryagami is right in that there aren't really any set rules, but usually living things are always en- whereas non-living things are ett-
There are of course some very important exceptions to that, like "barn" (child)

This might be because the proto Indo-European "genders" were animate and inanimate. The animate split into masculine and feminine at some point creating the three part system still in use in German, Icelandic, and Russian. Some Germanic languages have combined the former animate parts masculine and feminine (like Swedish and northern dialects of Dutch) or got rid of the genders altogether (English).

Latin used to have the three fold split too, but when the classical Latin turned into vulgar Latin the neuter was infused (mostly) into the masculine gender. Only masculine and feminine are found in the modern Romance languages. Some of the former neuter nouns appear now as irregular nouns with singular that acts like one gender and plural that switches to another.

[Sc0ut]

Minor nitpicking that's not even related to Swedish:

Only masculine and feminine are found in the modern Romance languages. Some of the former neuter nouns appear now as irregular nouns with singular that acts like one gender and plural that switches to another.

Actually, Romanian does have a neuter gender, along with masculine and feminine. It behaves as you described irregular nouns (masculine for singular, feminine for plural).

More on topic, I got a duolingo account at Solovei's suggestion (tack så mycket!) and I'm burning through the low level Swedish lessons. Damn addictive little thing. Grammar and vocabulary-wise it seems like such an easy language so far, but Jesus, the pronunciation is insane. I'll join you guys in this thread as soon as I feel confident with the basic basics.

[Armchair Survivalist]

Mmm...so någ by itself must me something like "some" right?  If memory serves, någon is "someone" and "något" is something?

Well, "någ" never appears by itself. "Någon" appears in early forms in the early 16th century.

Yep, you are correct as to the meaning of "någon" and "något", but it is also determined by the article - if it is "en" (en person, en telefon, en chans), you use "någon"; if it is "ett" (ett forum, ett ord, ett flygplan), "något" is used. In everyday speech and writing, the words are usually abbreviated to "nån" and "nåt". You also find the "någ" root in "någonstans" (somewhere), "någonting" (something), and "någorlunda" (somewhat).

[Solovei]

More on topic, I got a duolingo account at Solovei's suggestion (tack så mycket!) and I'm burning through the low level Swedish lessons. Damn addictive little thing. Grammar and vocabulary-wise it seems like such an easy language so far, but Jesus, the pronunciation is insane. I'll join you guys in this thread as soon as I feel confident with the basic basics.

The pronounciation isn't that difficult for me, actually (could be worse... could be... DANISH)
Here's a really useful guide that I show to everyone though: http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm

[urbicande]

More on topic, I got a duolingo account at Solovei's suggestion (tack så mycket!) and I'm burning through the low level Swedish lessons. Damn addictive little thing. Grammar and vocabulary-wise it seems like such an easy language so far, but Jesus, the pronunciation is insane. I'll join you guys in this thread as soon as I feel confident with the basic basics.

For what it's worth, I'm a rank beginner and you'll notice I don't use very many words

(Thankfully, nobody can hear my pronunciation yet.)

[urbicande]

Here's a really useful guide that I show to everyone though: http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm

Bookmarked.  Så mycket tack!

[urbicande]

Någon lyssna till svenska radio?  Jag ha för några år lyssna på radio i tyska och franska med listenlive.eu.  Jag se det är svenska radio där.

Också, några bra och långsam svenska podcasts? 

[ryagami]

So lately I developed a serious music-crush on Kent and decided I must learn Swedish (this is a thing that keeps happening to me). I was very happy to find this thread, and the lessons are bite-sized and not intimidating and pretty awesome! Will there be any more? Is any minnion learning Swedish right now?

Hej anonion!

Det finns flera av oss här som lär sig svenska. Förresten, jag älskar Kent. De har många väldigt bra låtar!

[Cat Is in the Moon]

Jag har jo lyssnat på svenska radion några gånger fast jag inte ofta förstor dem. XD På yle vega, Finlands svenskspråkiga kanal. Men  jag kan inte hjäpa med podcaster, för jag lyssnar nånting liksom  nyheter eller sådant... 
Det skulle jo vara roligt att ha en lätt podcast som kunde man kunde lyssnas på.

[Divra]

Sveriges Radio gör ett nyhetsprogram på lätt svenska, avsett för bland annat människor som lär sig svenska, som heter "Klartext", och ska finnas på följande sida.

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt?programid=493

Jag vet inte om det hjälper, eller om det ens går att hitta sidan från utanför Sverige, men det kanske kan vara värt ett försök.

Spoiler: show

Swedish national radio makes a news program in easy Swedish, targeted at, among others, pople who are learning Swedish, which is called "Klartext" and is supposed to be on the following page.

I don't know if it helps, or if it's even possibe to find the page from outside Sweden, but it might be worth a try.

Edit: Added translation in spoiler

[Solovei]

Sveriges Radio gör ett nyhetsprogram på lätt svenska, avsett för bland annat människor som lär sig svenska, som heter "Klartext", och ska finnas på följande sida.

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt?programid=493

Jag vet inte om det hjälper, eller om det ens går att hitta sidan från utanför Sverige, men det kanske kan vara värt ett försök.

Spoiler: show

Swedish national radio makes a news program in easy Swedish, targeted at, among others, pople who are learning Swedish, which is called "Klartext" and is supposed to be on the following page.

I don't know if it helps, or if it's even possibe to find the page from outside Sweden, but it might be worth a try.

Edit: Added translation in spoiler

I tried it on my computer just now (I'm in Canada) and it worked just fine The website is pretty straightforward but if anyone needs translations:

Lyssna med musik = Listen with music
Lyssna utan music = Listen without music
Ladda ner = Download

[Ann Marie]

Swedish pronunciation is weird.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

[Sc0ut]

Swedish pronunciation is weird.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

Can I add hilarious?

My native language/dialect has a constant slowly descending intonation across the phrase so that's what sounds "normal" to me. I just can't imagine how people fight in Swedish. The way you have to accent almost every syllable makes everything sound so jolly! It's even worse than French. I haven't been able to work on my Swedish pronunciation at all because every time I try it cracks me up.

[Divra]

Can I add hilarious?

My native language/dialect has a constant slowly descending intonation across the phrase so that's what sounds "normal" to me. I just can't imagine how people fight in Swedish. The way you have to accent almost every syllable makes everything sound so jolly! It's even worse than French. I haven't been able to work on my Swedish pronunciation at all because every time I try it cracks me up.

I find it hilarious that you would say that, since that is exactly what Norwegian sounds to Swedes...