Every Swedish noun is either an en-word or an ett-word, and you must learn the gender together with the noun because the ending rarely tells you. The gender decides the word for 'a': en kopp, ett glas.
Examples
- Jag vill ha en kaffe och ett glas vatten, tack.
- I'd like a coffee and a glass of water, please.
- Vi tar en smörgås och ett äpple.
- We'll have a sandwich and an apple.
- Kan jag få en meny och ett kvitto?
- Can I have a menu and a receipt?
The mistake to avoid
Guessing the gender - about three quarters of nouns are en-words, so ett-words like ett glas, ett bord and ett kvitto have to be memorised one by one.
Where this fits in
Food & ordering, Swedish A1: Order at a café or restaurant, ask for the bill, and talk about basic food and drink.