Forming noun in Swedish -ning, -ande and -else

 uffixes such as -ning, -ande and -else are used to form many nouns from verbs in Swedish, but they’re not the only suffixes used so it’s best to learn the derived noun separately. But if you’re not sure, you can often guess at one of these.

To show that it’s rather arbitrary, the noun in Swedish formed from översätta is översättning, but in Danish it’s oversettelse. The noun formed from betyda in Swedish is betydelse but in Danish it’s betydning.

If you go to Svensk ordbok (SO) which is available online, they often list the derived noun. So if you look up betyda then at the bottom you’ll see SUBST: betydelse.


"are" and "ning" are not like the endings that make plurals, because they change the meaning of the word they are attached to. "are" signifies the person who carries out the activity (if the stem is a verb) or "deals with" the concept (if the stem is a noun). Examples: "att tillverka" to manufacture, "tillverkare" manufacturer. "järnhandel" ironmongery shop, "järnhandlare" ironmonger. Note in the second example that a very similar cognate construction occurs in English.

"ning" makes a concept generalised, abstract. "att boxas" to box (the formal fighting method", "boxning", the sport of boxing, "boxare" someone who boxes.

The plural endings do not change the meaning of the stem, simply the number.

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