Gender neutral language in Swedish: Difference between revisions

The Swedish language has two grammatical genders, common (en-words, previously feminine and masculine but they are now merged) and neuter (ett-words). Swedish has thus been more adaptable to gender-neutral (or gender-inclusive) expressions than languages with rigid feminine/masculine distinctions.

Gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language is a way of communicating that intentionally avoids assumptions about gender. In Swedish, this can mean:<!--T:146-->

* Reforming job titles: ''Brandbekämpare'' (firefighter) instead of ''brandman'' (literally “fireman”), and ''sjukskötare'' (caregiver/nurse) instead of ''sjuksköterska'' (traditionally “female nurse”).<!--T:151-->

 

Gender-neutral language is not only a useful and necessar grammatical tool but also a social one. It is especially important in contexts where gender is varied/queer, mixed/diverse in a group, irrelevant/unwanted, secret or unknown. By adopting inclusive language, we create environments that respect and acknowledge everyone.<!--T:147-->

 

Historically, Swedish society, like many others, was deeply rooted in a binary understanding of gender. Language reflected this, with most professions and roles being assigned a default gender – often masculine – unless specifically marked as feminine (for example, ''sjuksköterska'' for “nurse” and ''brandman'' for “firefighter”). Over time, as societal attitudes toward gender evolved, so too did the need for language that could accommodate a broader spectrum of identities.

The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw a growing awareness of gender diversity and the limitations of binary language. Activists and linguists began advocating for more inclusive alternatives. This movement gained momentum as Sweden became increasingly recognized for its progressive stance on gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights.

A notable milestone was the introduction and popularization of hen – a gender-neutral pronoun – in the 2010s. Hen was not an entirely new invention; it had appeared in feminist and LGBTQIA+ circles as early as the 1960s, but it was the 21st century that saw it enter mainstream dictionaries and everyday speech.

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<translate><!--T:4--> Swedish’s official gender-neutral pronoun is hen/hen/hens. The Swedish common-inanimate pronoun den/den/dens (equivalent to it/it/its) is also used for gender-neutral language and by some nonbinary people. Singular de/dem/deras[https://transformering.se/vad-ar-trans/pronomen] (they/them/their) can often be used as a gender-neutral pronoun without it sounding weird, even though it is not commonly recognized or documented for being able to do so. If de/dem/deras is used in singular, the numeral conjugations of other words could be in singular as well (with regards to it not being common practice). Some nonbinary people have also opted for neopronouns such as hin/hin/hins [https://svenska.se/so/?id=130633][https://sv.wiktionary.org/wiki/hin][https://www.mjolby.se/uppleva-och-gora/fritidsgardar/queerious/ordlista---queerious][https://transformering.se/vad-ar-trans/pronomen], which is actually not a new pronoun but an obsolete pronoun (archaeopronoun) that means something alike “that one”, but is in modern times pretty much only used in the set phrase “hin håle” (the hard one, the devil). </translate>

|<translate><!--T:7--> Object form is generaly just "hen", but some use "henom". It's very individual. </translate>

|<translate><!--T:11--> Possessive form, "dens" is used only for individual persons referred to by a common-gender word, while "dess" is used for words with common-gender that do not refer to individual persons, as well as for words with neuter-gender  </translate>

To refer to people in general in Swedish, the pronouns "man/en/en" (one/one/one’s) or "en/en/ens" (one/one/one’s) can be used. Swedish’s generic pronoun man/en/ens has been discussed for being male-generalizing, and some people have opted to use en/en/ens instead to make it gender inclusive. Even though the word "man" is in modern times specifically associated with and viewed as for male people specifically, does also have the etymological meaning of "human" in addition to the meaning "male person". Although in the use of -man as a suffix, it is usually replaced with -kvinna (-woman) for women because it isn't seen as or used as a synonym for human anymore, but it is specifically ingrained and established as male, but as a generic pronoun it's not necessarily viewed that way. Using "en" instead of "man" can be seen as more gender-inclusivity through being non-male-generalizing, and it is also frequently practiced in some of Sweden's regions, so it is a natural grammatical dialect variation in the Swedish language, but can make some common sentences awkward and is not universally recognized. Either one is fine though. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221102131452/https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=man&svar=78373&log_id=909986]

One problem that can occur with the pronouns "man/en" is that the pronouns can hide who is doing what in the sentence. This is especially true in sentences where different acting parts are referred to and the pronouns can be replaced with pretty much any pronoun or noun. So instead of:

* ”På kundtjänst har '''man/en''' (''one'') problem med att '''man/en''' (''one'') ställer otydliga frågor.” That could be read as either: ”På kundtjänst har '''de''' (''they'') problem med att '''du''' (''you'') ställer otydliga frågor.” or ”På kundtjänst har '''ingen''' (''no one'') problem med att '''alla''' (''everyone'') ställer otydliga frågor.” One can instead write out the specific acting parts such as ”På kundtjänst har '''vi''' (''we'') problem med att '''kunderna''' (''customers'') ställer otydliga frågor.”

"Man/en" is a way of showing that a statement is universal or general, for example, “man/en ska inte ljuga.” (One shouldn't lie.) But there are other ways of expressing yourself that are also general:

"Man/en" also works if you want to refer to anyone within a group or area: "I Sverige fikar man/en mycket." (In Sweden one "fikar" mycket.) Here too, there are plenty of options:

Start primarily from what you think will be clearest to the person you're addressing – that is always a safe bet.[https://sprakkonsulterna.se/alternativ-till-pronomenet-man/]</translate>

<translate><!--T:149--> While the abrahamic God is normally referred to with masculine pronouns even in Swedish, some might opt for using non-gendered words instead as to not apply human concepts to God. To do that one can instead just say "Gud" (God) instead of a pronoun, or the pronoun "de" (typically plural they, is sometimes used as singular they, but using it as plural might seem fitting for a trinity) or "hen" (gender-neutral singular they). The latter (*two, but especially the latter hen) might be controversial depending on who one asks.</translate>

5. Man/en: Som kirurg bör man/en inte operera personer som en är släkt med.