Attributivt

Attributivt is a term used in Swedish grammar to describe the attributive use of adjectives and other modifiers. In this sense, an attributive modifier directly describes a noun by appearing before it in a noun phrase. The attributive position is the normal pre-nominal place for adjectives in Swedish, and the modifier typically agrees with the noun in number and definiteness.

In practice, attributive adjectives form phrases such as en stor bil (a big car), två röda bilar (two red cars), or den gamla mannen (the old man). When the noun is definite, the adjective shows appropriate inflection: den stora bilen, de stora bilarna. The exact form depends on gender, number, and definiteness of the noun, and there can be dialectal or historical variations.

The attributive use is contrasted with the predicative use, where the adjective follows a linking verb and describes the subject without modifying a specific noun directly. For example, Bilen är stor means “The car is big” rather than “a big car.” Predicative adjectives do not need to agree with a noun in the same way as attributive ones, since they describe a property of the subject rather than a noun phrase.

Overview notes: attributive modifiers constitute the most common way to express properties within noun phrases in Swedish, and they are central to the agreement system that links adjectives with their nouns. They can also be observed in other languages with similar pre-nominal adjective placement, though terminology may vary.