[siis-tbl][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]A[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɑː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]K[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][koː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]U[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ʉː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]B[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][beː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]L[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛl][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]V[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][veː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]C[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][seː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]M[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td][ɛm][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]W[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][dʊbəlveː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]D[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][deː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]N[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛn][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]X[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛks][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]E[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][eː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]O[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][uː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]Y[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][yː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]F[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛf][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]P[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][peː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]Z[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][''sɛːta][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]G[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][geː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]Q[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][kʉː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]Å[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][oː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]H[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][hoː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]R[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ær][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]Ä[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]I[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][iː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]S[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][ɛs][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]Ö[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][øː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]J[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][jiː][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td]T[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][teː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][/siis-tbl]
The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters: nine vowels and 20 consonants. The letter W wasn't considered a letter until 2006 but a variation of V. Now it is once again a member of the alphabet and together with Q and Z it is only found in loan words and names. Å, Ä and Ö are also added to the alphabet. They aren't just "umlauts" like in German but free from their oppressors and are their own unique individual letters. If you want to check a dictionary for something beginning with one of these three letters, check in the back.
In Swedish we differentiate between hard and soft vowels. Hard vowels are A, U, O and Å and the soft ones are E, I, Y, Ö and Ä. This is important for some consonants since soft vowels change their pronunciation. Furthermore, we divide them into long and short vowels. A vowel is long:
- when they are emphasized and no consonant follows (bi [biː] bee)
- where they are emphasized and only one consonant follows (bil [biːl] car)
[siis-tbl][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]bi[/siis-keyword] (ett) [/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]bee[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]bil[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]car[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][/siis-tbl] A vowel is short:
- when a double consonants follow (puss [pɵs] kiss)
- when two or more consonants follow (häst [hɛst] horse)
- when it isn't emphasized or just softly pronounced (fågel [foːgəl] bird, tomte [''tomtə] father christmas)
[siis-tbl][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]fågel[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]bird[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]häst[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]horse[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]puss[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]kiss[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]tomte[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]santa claus, father christmas, santa, gnome[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][/siis-tbl]
Consonants
Double consonants shorten the vowel before them. Only M and N are exceptions since they often shorten the vowel before them also when they aren't written in pairs. [siis-tbl][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]hem[/siis-keyword] (ett) [/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]home[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]man[/siis-keyword] (en)[/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]man[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][/siis-tbl]
[siis-box][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="1"][siis-dia-line]Tjena Anders, hur är det?[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Hey Anders, how's it going? [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="2"][siis-dia-line]Jo tack, det är bra.[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="3"][siis-dia-line] Själv då?[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, well, it's good, thanks! How about you? [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="4"][siis-dia-line]Jorå, det knallar och går.[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="5"][siis-dia-line] Lite tråkigt väder bara.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, well, it's all good. The weather is just a bit dull. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="6"][siis-dia-line]Jo men vad ska man säga, det är höst.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, but what is there to say, it's fall. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="7"][siis-dia-line]Jo det är väl det.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, I guess so. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="8"][siis-dia-line]Du, vad hade du för dig igår?[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Hey, what were you up to yesterday? [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="9"][siis-dia-line]Jo ser du, jag var hos päronen.[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="10"][siis-dia-line] De har tjackat ny TV.[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="11"][siis-dia-line] Med UltraHD.[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="12"][siis-dia-line] Det måste man ju kolla in, liksom.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Oh yeah, let me tell you, I was at my folks'. They've picked up a new TV. With UltraHD. I just had to check that out, you know. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="13"][siis-dia-line]Va?[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="14"][siis-dia-line] Har de köpt en TV med UltraHD?[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="15"][siis-dia-line] Det skulle jag vilja ha.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]What? Did they buy a TV with UltraHD? I would want that. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="16"][siis-dia-line]Jo, men lite väl när man bor i studentkorridor.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, but a bit much when you live in a dorm. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="17"][siis-dia-line]Jo, det är sant.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yes, that's true. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="18"][siis-dia-line]Vad gjorde du då?[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]What did you do, then? [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="19"][siis-dia-line]Nej, men, jag satt här och kollade på ”Die Hard” och tog det lugnt med en öl.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Well, I sat here and watched ”Die Hard” and chilled with a beer. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="20"][siis-dia-line]Film och bärskväll utan mig?[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Movie and beer night without me? [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Anders:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="21"][siis-dia-line]Ja, vad då då, du var ju hos dina föräldrar.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, so what, you were at your parents'. [/siis-dia-trans][siis-dia-line]Markus:[/siis-dia-line][siis-lbl lid="int001" rid="22"][siis-dia-line]Ja, jo, det är sant.[/siis-dia-line][siis-dia-trans]Yeah, you're right.[/siis-dia-trans][/siis-box]
[siis-tip-box]The dialogue is recorded in talspråk, spoken Swedish, with a focus on the Stockholm area, but written normally.[/siis-tip-box]
[siis-tbl][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td width="50%"][siis-keyword]det knallar och går[/siis-keyword] [de(t) ˇknalːar o ˈgoːr][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td width="50%"]it's going well, I'm fine[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]ha för sig[/siis-keyword] [hɑ ˈfœː ʂɛj][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]be up to[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]knalla[/siis-keyword] [ˇknalːa][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]walk[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]kolla in[/siis-keyword] [kɔla ˈɪnː][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]check, have a look, take a look[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]liksom[/siis-keyword] [lɪkːsɔm][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]sort of, sorta, like, you know[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]päron[/siis-keyword] (ett) [ˇpæːrɔn][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td](coll.) parent (lit. pear)[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]tjacka[/siis-keyword] [ˇɕakːa][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]buy[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-tr][siis-tbl-td][siis-keyword]vara lite väl[/siis-keyword] [ˇvɑːra litɛ ˈvɛːl][/siis-tbl-td][siis-tbl-td]to be too much[/siis-tbl-td][/siis-tbl-tr][/siis-tbl]
Greetings
[siis-keyword]Tjenare[/siis-keyword], [siis-keyword]tjena[/siis-keyword] and [siis-keyword]tja[/siis-keyword] are all modifications of [siis-keyword]tjänare[/siis-keyword] and are common greetings in Sweden. You will also come across these phrases in a formal setting when someone tries to act a bit more causal.
Following a greeting we mostly see a question for the health situation of the conversational partner. Beside the common [siis-example]Hur mår du?[/siis-example] you might come across these:
[siis-example]Hur är det?[/siis-example]
How is it?
[siis-example]Hur är läget?[/siis-example]
How is the situation?
[siis-example]Vad händer?[/siis-example]
What is happening?
Sörrö and hörrö
Sörrö/serru is ser du and hörrö/hörru is hör du, you see and you hear. You can translate these expressions with you know.
[siis-example]Jo, serru, jag var tvungen att göra det.[/siis-example]
Well, you know, I had to do it.
[siis-example]Jo, hörru, jag var tvungen att göra det.[/siis-example]
Well, you know, I had to do it.
Hörrö is also used as an interjection to get the attention of someone or to initiate a conversation:
[siis-example]Hörrö, kom tillbaka![/siis-example]
Hey you, come back here!
[siis-example]Hörru du, har du varit i Sverige någon gång?[/siis-example]
Can I ask you, have you ever been to Sweden?
Keep in mind that you don't write this but you say it. Thus the different ways of writing here.
Liksom
In Swedish, like in English, we have filler words that don't really mean much in the sentence they are used. For English speakers it's common to say like a lot. In Sweden we use an equivalent to that actually: liksom. A synonym, also used like this, is typ. Another common filler word is ba which is an abbreviation of bara.
Pronunciation rules
Ending consonants
A lot of words get their endings dropped in spoken Swedish.
[siis-tbl] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-th]Written language[/siis-tbl-th] [siis-tbl-th]Pronunciation[/siis-tbl-th] [siis-tbl-th]Translation[/siis-tbl-th] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]jag [/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]ja [ja] [jɑː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]I[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]det[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]de [deː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]it[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]är[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]ä [ɛː], e [eː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]am, are, is[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]var[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]va [va] [vɑː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]was, were[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]vad[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]va [va] [vɑː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]what[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]med[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]me [meː][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]with[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [/siis-tbl]
Verb-endings
Also the endings of the verb forms preterite and supinum are dropped.
[siis-example]Jag jobbade hårt igår.[/siis-example]
/ja jobba årt igår/
I worked hard yesterday.
[siis-example]Jag har jobbat hårt den här veckan.[/siis-example]
/ja ha jobba årt den ä veckan./
I've worked hard this week.
Contractions
Words that end on a G or D in particular lose that consonant when the following word begins with a D. This D is then turned into an R. It is of note that this "rule" only works for a couple of words. Particularly we have pronouns (du, dig, "dom", det) and då.
This phenomenon is also turning up with other consonants and unemphasized vowels. In particular when they normally get dropped in spoken language.
[siis-tbl] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-th]Written language[/siis-tbl-th] [siis-tbl-th]Pronunciation[/siis-tbl-th] [siis-tbl-th]Translation[/siis-tbl-th] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]Tog du (...)[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]toru [tuːrɵ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]Did you take (...)[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td](Jag) ser dig[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]serej [seːrɛj][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td](I) see you[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td](Han) har det (bra)[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]hare [hɑːrɛ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td](He) is doing (well)[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td](Vad) gör du då?[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]jörurå [jœːrʉːrɔ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td](What) are you doing then?[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]Hade du (kul på festen?)[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]haderu [hadərʉ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]Did you have (fun at the party?)[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]Själv då?[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]självrå [ɧɛlːvrɔ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]How about you?[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-tr] [siis-tbl-td]Ta det lugnt[/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]tare [tɑːrɵ][/siis-tbl-td] [siis-tbl-td]Take it easy[/siis-tbl-td] [/siis-tbl-tr] [/siis-tbl]
This contraction occurs where the people roll their R since this is done in the front of the mouth with the teeth similarly to how you construct a D.
Dom
The pronouns de and dem are most of the times pronounced like dom and according to our little rule sometimes rom. This even confuses native speakers when they are writing. They sometimes think that dem is the correct spelling also for de.
Subject
[siis-example]De är här.[/siis-example]
They are here.
Object
[siis-example]Jag ser dem.[/siis-example]
I see them.
Spoken Swedish
[siis-example]Dom är här.[/siis-example]
They are here.
[siis-example]Jag ser dom.[/siis-example]
I see them.
