Swedish Work & Education Nouns: En or Ett?
Swedish nouns for work, school, and professional life - with their grammatical gender.
56
en-words
17
ett-words
73
total words
Workplace and education vocabulary in Swedish is dominated by en-words, partly because many key terms follow reliable suffix rules. Titles ending in -are (lärare, läkare) are almost always en. Terms ending in -tion or -ning are also almost always en: en organisation, en utbildning, en anställning.
The Swedish word for work itself, arbete, is an ett-word: ett arbete. This surprises many learners, since derivatives and compounds often take en. But most terms you will use day-to-day are en: ett jobb (a job - also ett!), en karriär, en lön (salary), en anställning.
Education terms show a lean toward en: en utbildning (education), en kurs (a course), en skola (a school). However, higher education institutions often take ett: ett gymnasium, ett universitet. The suffix -ium in gymnasium follows the neuter -um rule.
Swedish working life has its own vocabulary - from fackförbund (trade union, ett) to kollektivavtal (collective agreement, ett) to lönesamtal (salary negotiation, ett). Learning this vocabulary is essential for working in Sweden or understanding Swedish workplace culture.
🏫 All Work & Education Words (73)
73 words
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Frequently asked questions
- Is 'arbete' (work) en or ett in Swedish?
- Arbete (work) is an ett-word: ett arbete, arbetet. In contrast, en anställning (employment/job), en lön (salary), and en karriär (career) are all en-words. The colloquial word for job, jobb, is also ett: ett jobb.
- Is 'skola' (school) en or ett in Swedish?
- Skola (school) is an en-word: en skola, skolan, skolor, skolorna. Higher education institutions follow different rules: ett gymnasium, ett universitet - both taking ett because of their Latin-origin suffixes.
- Are Swedish education nouns en or ett?
- Most Swedish education nouns are en-words: en utbildning (education), en kurs (course), en lektion (lesson), en examination. Exceptions include institutions ending in -ium: ett gymnasium, ett laboratorium.