determinerpronoun

flera

several

Det betyder att det är mer än en av något.

Definition & meaning

flera means several, more than one, or multiple. It refers to an indefinite number of people or things, usually more than two but not necessarily a large number.

flera böcker — several books
flera personer — several people
Flera kom för sent. — Several came late.
Jag har läst boken flera gånger. — I have read the book several times.

It can be used:

As a determiner before a plural noun:
flera dagar — several days
As a pronoun, without a noun:
Flera av dem kom. — Several of them came.

It can also mean many in some contexts, especially when emphasizing that something happened repeatedly:

Hon ringde flera gånger. — She called several times.

Grammar & Word origin

flera is an indefinite quantifier used with plural countable nouns. It does not change according to grammatical gender.

flera hus — several houses
flera stolar — several chairs

It is related to fler , meaning more. The distinction is not always strict:

flera usually means “several” or “a number of”
fler usually means “more,” often in a comparison

Compare:

flera äpplen — several apples
fler äpplen än päron — more apples than pears

Historically, flera developed from an older comparative form related to mycket (“much”) and många [?](vocabuo://word/många] (“many”). In modern Swedish, it functions as a fixed quantifier rather than as a freely productive combination of separate word parts.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

fler — more; often comparative, while flera more commonly means several
många — many; generally suggests a larger or less limited number than flera
ett antal — a number of; more formal and neutral
åtskilliga — quite a few or several; often suggests a considerable number and can sound more formal