Swedish Useful Words

sometimes	ibland	already	redan
always	alltid	perhaps	kanske
never	aldrig	both	båda
often	ofta	some	någon, något, några
usually	oftast	again	igen, åter
now	nu	between	mellan
and	och	a lot, many	många
but	men	of course	naturligtvis
or	eller	a little	lite grann
very	mycket / väldigt	not at all	inte alls
here	här	almost	nästan
there	där	really?	verkligen
with	med	it is	det är
each other	varandra	there is/are	det finns

Swedish Question Words

who	vem	whose	vems
what	vad	which	vilken, vilket, vilka
why	varför	where to	vart
when	när	where from	varifrån
where	var	how	hur

Which has three different forms depending on the gender and number of the noun that follows it. Vilken is used with en words, vilket is used with ett words and vilka is used with plural words.

Yes/No questions: Invert the subject and verb so that the verb begins the question.

Arbetar han? Does he work? Regnar det? Is it raining?

Question Words: The question word begins the question, and the verb comes next, followed by the subject.

Var bor Sten? Where does Sten live? Vad gör Elsa? What does Elsa do?

Word order

There are three different word order structures to follow in the Swedish language: the traditional word order of the main clause, the inverted word order of the main clause, and the word order of the subordinate clause. A main clause contains an independent thought and can form a grammatically acceptable and understandable sentence on its own. A subordinate clause adds information to the main clause or specifies something in the main clause, and it does not work on its own without the main clause. The traditional word order of the main clause follows a basic pattern where the first element of the sentence is a subject, followed closely by a verb and an object (SVO). Qualifiers such as negative words (inte, ej) and specific adverbs (alltid, kanske, redan) are usually placed after the first verb. At the end of the sentence, additional information on how something was done (tydligt), where it was done (i sängen) and when (på morgonen), can also be included.

The traditional word order in a nutshell: subject, verb, qualifier, object, how, where, when.

EXAMPLES:

Jenny köpte en ny bok i går. Jenny bought a new book yesterday. Hon vill inte äta frukost hemma i morgon. She doesn’t want to eat breakfast at home tomorrow.

The inverted word order of the main clause is needed when the sentence starts with something else than a subject, for example with an expression describing a place or a time. In an inverted word order the subject and the verb change places (VSO). The inverted word order in a nutshell: alternate expression, verb, subject, qualifier, object, how, where, when.

EXAMPLES:

Där lyssnade vi alltid på rockmusik. There we always listened to rock music. Idag har jag inte haft tid att laga mat. Today I haven’t had time to cook (food).

The word order of the subordinate clause is near identical to that of the traditional main clause word order (SVO). The main difference is that the qualifier comes before the verb and not after it. A subordinate clause usually starts with a conjunction or a similar structure. The word order of a subordinate clause in a nutshell: conjunction, subject, qualifier, verb, object, how, where, when. In the following examples, the beginning of the subordinate clause has been bolded.

EXAMPLES:

Det är kul att jag redan kan gå hem. It’s nice that I can already go home. Det är någonting som Jesse inte förstår. It’s something that Jesse doesn’t understand

Professions in Swedish:

actor	skådespelare	judge	domare
actress	skådespelerska	lawyer	advokat
author	författare	mechanic	mekaniker, montör
baker	bagare	musician	musiker
baker’s shop	bageri	nurse	sjuksköterska
bookseller	bokhandlare	official	ämbetsman
bookshop	bokaffär	optician (eye doctor)	optiker
businessman	affärsman	painter	målare
butcher	slaktare	photographer	fotograf
pharmacist	farmaceut	policeman	polis
pharmacy	apotek (n)	postman	brevbärare
cook	kock, kokerska	priest	präst
customer	kund	publisher	förläggare
dentist	tandläkare	scientist	vetenskapsman
doctor	läkare, doktor	shoemaker	skomakare
employee	anställd, arbetstagare	shop, store	butik
engineer	ingenjör	singer	sångare, sångerska
fisherman	fiskare	student	student
gardener	trädgårdsmästare	surgeon	kirurg
hairdresser	hårfrisör	tailor	skräddare
jeweler	juvelerare	teacher	lärare
journalist	journalist	workman	arbetare

Swedish Days of the Week / Veckans dagar

Monday	måndag
Tuesday	tisdag
Wednesday	onsdag
Thursday	torsdag
Friday	fredag
Saturday	lördag
Sunday	söndag
day	dag
morning	morgon
afternoon	eftermiddag
evening	afton (before 6 pm) / kväll
night	natt
today	idag
tomorrow	imorgon
day after tomorrow	i övermorgon
tonight	ikväll
yesterday	igår
day before yesterday	i förrgår
last night	igår natt
week	vecka
weekend	helg
daily	daglig
weekly	veckolig

To say “on” a certain day, use på before the day.

Swedish Months of the Year

January	januari
February	februari
March	mars
April	april
May	maj
June	juni
July	juli
August	augusti
September	september
October	oktober
November	november
December	december
month	månad
year	år
monthly	månatlig / varje månad
yearly	årlig

To say “in” a certain month, use i before the month.

Swedish Seasons

Winter	vinter	in (the) winter	på vintern
Spring	vår	in (the) spring	på våren
Summer	sommar	in (the) summer	på sommaren
Fall	höst	in (the) fall	på hösten

You can also use i before the names of the seasons to express this: i vinter = this winter

Swedish Directions

North	norr	Northeast	nordost
South	söder	Northwest	nordväst
East	öster	Southeast	sydost
West	väster	Southwest	sydväst

left	till vänster
right	till höger
straight ahead	rakt fram

Swedish Numbers

0	*noll*	[nɔl:]
1	*Ett*	[et:]
2	*Två*	[tvo:]
3	*Tre*	[tre:]
4	*Fyra*	[fy:ra]
5	*Fem*	[fem]
6	*Sex*	[Sek:s]
7	*Sju*	[ɧu:]
8	*Åtta*	[ɔtta]
9	*Nio*	[ni:ʊ]
10	*Tio*	[ti:ʊ]
11	*Elva*	[elva]
12	*Tolv*	[tɔlv]
13	*Tretton*	[trettɔn]
14	*Fjorton*	[fju:ʈɔn]
15	*Femton*	[femtɔn]
16	*Sexton*	[sekstɔn]
17	*Sjutton*	[ɧɵttɔn]
18	*Arton*	[aʈɔn]
19	*Nitton*	[nittɔn]
20	*Tjugo*	[ɕʉ̟:gɔ]
21	*Tjugoett*	[ɕʉ̟:gɔet:]
22	*Tjugotvå*	[ɕʉ̟:gɔtvo:]
30	*Trettio*	[trettiʊ]
40	*Fyrtio*	[fʏʈiʊ]
50	*Femtio*	[femtiʊ]
60	*Sextio*	[sekstiʊ]
70	*Sjuttio*	[ɧɵttiʊ]
71	*Sjuttioett*	[ɧɵttiʊet:]
79	*Sjuttionio*	[ɧɵttiʊni:ʊ]
80	*Åttio*	[ɔttiʊ]
81	*Åttioett*	[ɔttiʊet:]
89	*Åttionio*	[ɔttiʊtvo]
90	*Nittio*	[nittiʊ]
91	*Nittioett*	[nittiʊet:]
99	*Nittionio*	[nittiʊni ʊ]
100	*Hundra*	[hɵndra]

Names of European Countries in Swedish

Svenska — Engelska Albanien — Albania Belgien — Belgium England — England Frankrike — France Irland — Ireland Island — Iceland Italien — Italy Kroatien — Croatia Nordirland — Northern Ireland Österrike — Austria Polen — Poland Portugal — Portugal Rumänien — Romania Ryssland — Russia Schweiz — Switzerland Slovakien — Slovakia Spanien — Spain Sverige — Sweden Tjeckien — Czech Republic Turkiet — Turkey Tyskland — Germany Ukraina — Ukraine Ungern — Hungary Wales — Wales

Body parts in Swedish

ett huvud (a head)	huvudet (the head)	huvuden* (heads)	huvudena* (the heads)
hår (hair)	håret (the hair)	n/a	n/a
ett öra (an ear)	örat (the ear)	öron (ears)	öronen (the ears)
ett ansikte (a face)	ansiktet (the face)	ansikten (faces)	ansiktena (the faces)
ett öga (an eye)	ögat (the eye)	ögon (eyes)	ögonen (the eyes)
ett ögonbryn (an eyebrow)	ögonbrynet (the eyebrow)	ögonbryn(eyebrows)	ögonbrynen (the eyebrows)
en näsa (a nose)	näsan (the nose)	näsor (noses)	näsorna (the noses)
en mun (a mouth)	munnen (the mouth)	munnar (mouths)	munnarna (the mouths)
en läpp (a lip)	läppen (the lip)	läppar (lips)	läpparna (the lips)
en kind (a cheek)	kinden (the cheek)	kinder (cheeks)	kinderna (the cheeks)
en hals (a neck**)	halsen (the neck)	halsar (necks)	halsarna (the necks)
en haka (a chin)	hakan (the chin)	hakor (chins)	hakorna (the chins)
en nacke (a nape)	nacken (the nape)	nackar (napes)	nackarna (the napes)

Swedish Days of the week:

måndag – Monday tisdag – Tuesday onsdag – Wednesday torsdag – Thursday fredag – Friday lördag – Saturday söndag – Sunday In that order! The Swedish week, like in most of Europe, starts with Monday, not Sunday. Also noteworthy is the fact that all days of the week are common gender (-n-gender), following the gender of dag “day”, and that they are not inherently capitalized. So, first of all, each day of the week can be used as an ordinary noun. For example: Fredag är den bästa dagen i veckan. – Friday is the best day of the week. If you want to talk about your plans for this Friday or “on Friday”, use the preposition på: Jag och Elina ska ut och festa på fredag. – Elina and I are going out to party on Friday. What about next Friday? Just like in English, you don’t use a preposition; just nästa “next” and the day of the week: Vi ska upp till Örnsköldsvik nästa fredag. – We’re going up to Örnsköldsvik next Friday. Now to the past. How do we talk about last Friday? Unlike in English, we don’t say *~~sista fredag~~ “last Friday”; the Swedes say “in Friday’s”. It may sound weird to non-Swedes, but in Swedish it’s totally normal: Min svärmor lagade middag till oss i fredags. – My mother-in-law made dinner for us last Friday (this past Friday). The formula for last Friday is this: i + [day of the week]+-s → i måndags, i onsdags, etc. Next, if you want to say the Friday before last, you can say förra fredagen. Note that fredagen is in definite form – i.e., “the Friday”: Petter hade sin första konsert förra fredagen. – Petter had his first concert the Friday before last. Finally, if you’re talking about a week somewhere in the distant past or distant future, you say på fredagen “on the Friday”. Take a look: Jag åkte till Malmö en vecka förra året. På onsdagen såg jag Turning Torso, och på torsdagen åt jag skånsk äggakaka. I went to Malmö for a week last year. On the Wednesday I saw Turning Torso (see the image above), and on the Thursday I ate Scanian egg cake.]]>