English 
German 
Difference between lite, liten, lilla and små
Part of Speech
Noun / Substantiv
Singularis / Singular
Pluralis / Plural
Indefinite form (of noun)
Definite form (of noun)
Article (grammatical)
Gender (grammatical)
Common Gender – Utrum
Neuter Gender – Neutrum
Agreement (grammatical) / Kongruens
What is the difference between "lite" and "liten" ?
In the Swedish language, “lite” is an adverb while “liten” is an adjective, and “litet, lilla, små” are different forms of the adjective “liten”. Remember, “liten” is an irregular adjective.
Adverbs and adjectives are different parts of speech. Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Adjectives describe nouns, “substantiv” and also people.
Example with the adverb “lite”.
- “Jag talar lite svenska” which means “I speak a little Swedish”.Here adverb describes the verb.
- “Jag är lite ledsen” which means “I am a little sad“. Here adverb describes adjective.
- “Jag gick lite långsamt” which means “I walked a little slowly“. Here adverb describes adverb.
Now compare it with “liten” which is adjektiv. Remember, adjectives describe nouns, “substantiv” and also people.
- “Jag har en liten katt” which means “I have a little/small cat“. Here adjective describes a noun.
- “Jag är liten” which means “I am little/small”. Here adjektiv describes a person.
What is the difference between "liten" and "litet","lilla" and "små" ?
All of them are different forms of the same adjective “liten” which means “little/small“. What form of the adjective we choose, depends on the noun/substantiv the adjective is describing, and if there is a possessive pronoun or genitive case. Read more about Swedish nouns.
- The adjective form “liten” we use with en-word, utrum.
- The adjective form “litet” we use with ett-word, neutrum.
- The adjective form “lilla” we use for the singular definite form of both utrum and neutrum.
- The adjective form “små” we use both for plural indefinite and plural definite of both utrum and neutrum.
| EN-WORD / UTRUM | ETT-WORD/ NEUTRUM | PLURAL | PLURAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| en liten bil | ett litet tåg | många små bilar | många små tåg |
| den lilla bilen | det lilla tåget | de små bilarna | de små tågen |
| min lilla bil | mitt lilla tåg | mina små bilar | mina små tåg |
What is the difference between "lilla" and "lila" ?
“Lilla” is the definite form of the adjective “liten” which means “little/small” and “lila” is the name of the color, purple or violet.
What is the difference between "små" and "smal" ?
“Små” is the plural form of the adjective “liten” which means “little/small” and “smal” is an adjective which means; narrow, thin, slender, slim.
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