Reciprocal Pronoun varandra & Genitive -s

📌 Grammatiknotering

'Varandra' expresses a mutual action between two or more subjects ('De hjälper varandra' = They help each other). By contrast, 'sig' (or 'oss/er') means each person acts upon themselves ('De tvättar sig' = They wash themselves). 'Varandra' is used for all persons in the plural (vi, ni, de).

📌 Grammatiknotering

Adding '-s' to 'varandra' forms the possessive 'varandras' (each other's). Just like after any other possessive or genitive in Swedish, the following noun MUST be in the indefinite form and any adjective takes the weak '-a' ending!

📌 Grammatiknotering

Swedish has a group of very common verbs ending in '-s' that inherently carry a reciprocal meaning ('each other') without needing the word 'varandra': 'träffas' (meet each other), 'ses' (see each other), 'höras' (be in touch), 'kramas' (hug), 'hjälpas åt' (help each other).

📌 Grammatiknotering

In Swedish, the genitive '-s' is attached directly to the end of the word—whether indefinite, definite singular, or definite plural—WITHOUT an apostrophe: en flickas bok, flickans bok, flickornas böcker, Sveriges huvudstad.

📌 Grammatiknotering

When a word or proper name already ends in '-s', '-x', or '-z' (Lukas, Anders, Marx, ett hus, ett pris), no extra '-s' is added. In writing, an apostrophe is NOT used either—unless needed for clarity on bare indefinite nouns, where a preposition phrase is preferred instead ('taket på ett hus').

📌 Grammatiknotering

Just like after possessive pronouns ('min', 'varandras'), a noun preceded by an s-genitive MUST stand in its bare indefinite form, while any intervening adjective takes the weak '-a' ending!

📌 Grammatiknotering

When a possessor consists of a name/noun phrase with a post-modifier or coordination ('Anna och Erik', 'chefen för avdelningen'), the '-s' is attached to the LAST word of the entire phrase ('Anna och Eriks hus' when owned jointly; 'Annas och Eriks bilar' when owned separately).

📌 Grammatiknotering

In everyday Swedish, especially for inanimate part-whole relationships or functional roles, prepositions often sound more natural than '-s': 'på' for parts of objects ('taket på huset', 'slutet på filmen'), 'till' for kinship/ownership ('föräldrarna till barnet', 'ägaren till bilen'), and 'för' for leadership ('chefen för bolaget').

📌 Grammatiknotering

Swedish uses the s-genitive extensively to indicate duration, measure, or value before a noun (often compounded or written before an adjective + noun): 'en treveckorssemester' / 'en tre veckors semester', 'ett fem minuters samtal', 'en tioårig flickas dröm'.

📌 Grammatiknotering

Because the preposition 'till' governed the genitive case in Old Swedish, many high-frequency idiomatic phrases still preserve '-s' (or plural '-a') after 'till': 'till fots' (on foot), 'till sjöss' (at sea), 'till skogs' (into the woods), 'till bords' (at the table), 'till salu' (for sale), 'till hands' (at hand).