Swedish is easy to learn 
Swedish is a North Germanic language with around 9 million speakers mainly in Sweden and Finland, and also in Estonia, Norway, Canada and the USA. It is closely related to Norwegian and Danish and is mutually intelligible with them to a large extent, particularly in its written form.
Swedish alphabet (svenska alfabetet)
| A a |
B b |
C c |
D d |
E e |
F f |
G g |
H h |
I i |
J j |
| a |
be |
se |
de |
e |
eff |
ge |
hå |
i |
ji |
| K k |
L l |
M m |
N n |
O o |
P p |
Q q |
R r |
S s |
T t |
| kå |
ell |
em |
en |
o |
pe |
ku |
ärr |
ess |
te |
| U u |
V v |
W w |
X x |
Y y |
Z z |
Å å |
Ä ä |
Ö ö |
|
| u |
ve |
dubbel-ve |
eks |
y |
säta |
å |
ä |
ö |
|
Note
Z only appears in foreign loanwords.
Some Swedish Vocabulary
**Nowadays,
ni isn’t used very much as formal sing. We usually address everybody with
du.
There is a Swedish pronoun
man which is used in common aspects such as
Man kan inte göra allt = One can’t do everything.
Regular verbs, infinitive and present tense
All polysyllabic Swedish verbs end with an
a in the infinitive. (Others, those of one syllable end with any vowel.) There are two conjugations of regular verbs – group 1 adding an
r to the stem in the present tense and group two adding
er to the stem. The Swedish word corresponding to the English
to in
to go for example is
att.
Example:
| Group 1: |
Verb: |
Tala (to speak) |
Group 2: |
Verb: |
Köpa (to buy) |
|
Stem: |
Tala- |
|
Stem: |
Köp- |
|
Present tense: |
Talar |
|
Present tense: |
Köper |
| Group 1: |
Verb: |
Älska (to love) |
Group 2: |
Verb: |
Hjälpa (to help) |
|
Stem: |
Älska- |
|
Stem: |
Hjälp- |
|
Present tense: |
Älskar |
|
Present tense: |
Hjälper |
And as I said before, the verbs conjugate in the same way in all persons.
Almost all irregular verbs form their present tense as does groupe 2.
Example:
skriva (to write)
skriv- + er =
skriver
han skriver = He writes
- The verb vara (to be) and ha (to have) are irregular and have the forms är and har in the present tense.
(Jag är = I am, Jag har = I have)
- Monosyllabic verbs are almost always irregular and form the present tense by adding an r.
Example:
se (to see)
se + r =
ser
hon ser = she sees
Pronunciation
- Two-syllabic verbs all have the grave accent in the infinitive. Verbs with three or more syllables often have the accute accent on the second last syllable.
- In the present tense, group 1 verbs with two syllables all have the grave accent and all others of two syllabels have the accute accent on the first syllable. Almost all verbs of more than two syllables stress the second-last syllable with an accute accent.
Example:
Tala (1) =
[*ta:la],
Talar = [*ta:lar]
Köpa (2) =
[*kö:pa],
Köper = [‘kö:per]
Skriva (i) =
[*skri:va],
Skriver = [‘skri:ver]
Diskutera (1) =
[disku:’te:ra],
Diskuterar = [disku:’te:rar] (
diskutera = discuss)
Some Swedish verbs:
Now that you know some verbs and nouns, you could construct more advanced sentences such as
Jag heter Björn Engdahl = My name is Björn Engdahl
Han köper en boll = He buys a ball
Some Swedish Everyday Expressions
| English |
Swedish |
| Hello |
Hej |
| Good evening |
Hej |
| Goodbye |
Hejdå |
| See you later |
Vi ses |
| Yes |
Ja |
| No |
Nej |
| Excuse me! |
Skulle du kunna |
| Thanks |
Tack! |
| Thanks a lot |
Tack så mycket! |
| Thank you for your help |
Tack för hjälpen |
| Don’t mention it |
Varsågod |
| Ok |
Okej |
| How much is it? |
Hur mycket kostar det? |
| Sorry! |
Förlåt! |
| I don’t understand |
Jag förstår inte |
| I get it |
Jag förstår |
| I don’t know |
Jag vet inte |
| Forbidden |
Förbjudet |
| Excuse me, where are the toilets? |
Ursäkta mig, var finns det en toalett? |
| Happy New Year! |
Gott Nytt År! |
| Happy birthday! |
Grattis på födelsedagen! |
| Happy holiday! |
Trevliga helgdagar |
| Congratulations! |
Gratulerar! |
Some Swedish nouns
In Swedish, a verb employs the same form in all persons, whereas English for example uses different forms for different persons. Thus, the verb
varaconjugates as follows in the present tense:
| Jag |
är (compared to English> |
I |
am |
| Du |
är |
You |
are |
| Han |
är |
He |
is |
| Hon |
är |
She |
is |
| Den |
är |
It |
is |
| Det |
är |
It |
is |
| Vi |
är |
We |
are |
| Ni |
är |
You |
are |
| De |
är |
They |
are |
As you can see, this is very easy. Therefore you only have to learn one form for every verb in each tense.
Most Swedish verbs are regular, but the most frequently used are irregular.
Regular verbs, infinitive and present tense
All polysyllabic Swedish verbs end with an
a in the infinitive. (Others, those of one syllable end with any vowel.) There are two conjugations of regular verbs – group 1 adding an
r to the stem in the present tense and group two adding
er to the stem. The Swedish word corresponding to the English
to in
to go for example is
att.
Example:
| Group 1: |
Verb: |
Tala (to speak) |
Group 2: |
Verb: |
Köpa (to buy) |
|
Stem: |
Tala- |
|
Stem: |
Köp- |
|
Present tense: |
Talar |
|
Present tense: |
Köper |
| Group 1: |
Verb: |
Älska (to love) |
Group 2: |
Verb: |
Hjälpa (to help) |
|
Stem: |
Älska- |
|
Stem: |
Hjälp- |
|
Present tense: |
Älskar |
|
Present tense: |
Hjälper |
And as I said before, the verbs conjugate in the same way in all persons.
Almost all irregular verbs form their present tense as does groupe 2.
Example:
skriva (to write)
skriv- + er =
skriver
han skriver = He writes
- The verb vara (to be) and ha (to have) are irregular and have the forms är and har in the present tense.
(Jag är = I am, Jag har = I have)
- Monosyllabic verbs are almost always irregular and form the present tense by adding an r.
Example:
se (to see)
se + r =
ser
hon ser = she sees
Some verbs:
Now that you know some verbs and nouns, you could construct more advanced sentences such as
Jag heter Björn Engdahl = My name is Björn Engdahl
Han köper en boll = He buys a ball
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