The mystery of "en" and "ett"

In Swedish nouns have two genders, common and neuter. These genders are signified by the indefinite articles: en and ett. The majority of nouns in Swedish are common gender, so they take the indefinite article en.

En is used with most of the nouns (words denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have to learn which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a separate word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the indefinite article attached to the end of the noun.

En words:
Indefinite
en banan = a banana
en stol = a chair
en gata = a street

Definite
bananen = the banana
stolen = the chair
gaten = the street

Ett words:
Indefinite
ett bord = a table
ett kök = a kitchen
ett äpple = an apple

Definite
bordet = the table
köket = the kitchen
äpplet = the apple

This, that, these and those are expressed in Swedish by using den, det or de plus the word här (here) and där (there). The noun is always in the definite form after these demonstratives. And if any adjectives follow the demonstrative, they must add an -a to the ending.

En words:
this / these - den här biljetten = this ticket
that / those - den där biljetten = that ticket

Ett words:
this / these - det här tåget = this train
that / those - det där tåget = that train

Plural words:
this / these - de här biljetterna = these tickets
that / those - de där tågen = those trains