Jessica Saade

Many Swedish learners find de and dem confusing at first, and that’s completely normal. The easiest way to remember the difference is to think of them like they and them in English.

De is used as the subject of the sentence, just like they.
Dem is used as the object, just like them.

Example:
De kommer snart. – They are coming soon.
Jag såg dem igår. – I saw them yesterday.

Once you start thinking of them this way, it becomes much easier to choose the correct form.

Save this post so you can come back to it when you need a quick reminder.