If you want to compliment someone you would most probably use the word good in some way. Did you know, however, that there are two different words for that in Swedish? Bra and god – not what you thought they meant, right?
Bra
This word obviously isn’t a woman’s under garment in Swedish. It’s an irregular adjective and adverb used when something is successful or someone skillful. It’s basically the opposite of bad (dålig). For instance, "Sweden is a good country" (Sverige är ett bra land) and "You’re a good dancer" (Du är en bra dansare). Furthermore we have "The food was well-turned out" (Maten blev bra), "You look good" (Du ser bra ut), and "I feel good" (Jag mår bra).
Do you get it? Successful and skillful.
God
This word is older and is the ancestor that is shared between several Germanic languages (English good, German gut, Dutch goed). This still has the same meaning as described above, which however is a bit dated on its own and mostly used in set phrases. For instance, we have en god vän (a good friend) and en god bok (a good book). This one is very dated, however, and when discussing a book with your friends, you would say en bra bok. It is more used to describe an action, like sitting down with a cup of tea and a good (god) book. We also have gott uppförande (good behavior), god stämning (good atmosphere/spirits), gott samvete (good conscience), ett gott råd (a good advice), i god tid (in time (with a margin)), på gott avstånd (at a significant distance), and many more. Also it is the direct opposite of ond (bad/evil), hence the expression på gott och ont (for good and for bad).
A more recent meaning of god, and the common use besides being the opposite of evil, is something more along the lines of tasty. Something tastes or smells good. This is the meaning used day to day – Det var "en god hamburgare" (It was a good/tasty burger), "Du luktar gott" (You smell good).
The more you think about it, the more the lines become blurred for some meanings, so to use these two words properly, when in doubt, use bra, when something is done well or when someone is skillful. Use god or gott, which is the neuter declination that bra lacks, however, when complimenting someone on the food. "Det här var jättegott" (This was really good/delicious). If you aren’t using a set phrase that is.
Photo: Tina Stafrén/imagebank.sweden.se
Updated August 14 2024
Listening to a Swede talk makes a great source for a never-ending stream of question marks. Mostly words are pronounced just like they are written, except for the times they aren’t. In addition once you’ve learned a word, suddenly you hear it again but now it sounds completely different. Någonting and någon are those kind of words.
If you are unfamiliar with the word någonting it means ‘something’ in Swedish. Någon on its own means ‘someone’ (or ‘something’ in the utrum gender) and ting is an older word for ‘thing’. Learning this word is pretty straight forward but then you notice that, when reading Swedish, you are more likely to come across the shorter version något. This variant of the word looks a lot more like någon, so at first you are relieved and all good spirits when noticing this. You only have to change one letter! But suddenly a dark and unsettling haze looms around you. What are those Swedes saying?
A bunch of times you will rather hear something like nått and nån when listening to Swedish. These are even shorter version of någonting and någon and are ONLY used in spoken Swedish at the moment. Något is as accepted in writing as någonting. Another word, which you also only come across in spoken Swedish, is nånting. Here only the first part of the word is shortened, and that in the same manner as någon is.
So remember this: någonting, något, and någon are accepted words in written Swedish. However nått, nånting, and nån are only accepted in spoken Swedish, although very, very common. Feel free to use them. They don’t have a colloquial feel to them at all.
Photo: Tuukka Ervasti/imagebank.sweden.se
Updated June 12 2024
In Swedish, the pronouns for the 3rd person plural are de and dem, which are very similar to the English they and them. If you’ve listened to Swedish you might, however, hear the little word dom replacing these two altogether. What’s up with that?
Dom
This little word, dom, is used in spoken Swedish, replacing both the basic form de (they) and the object form dem (them). Not to be confused with the noun dom, which means verdict, and is pronounced with a short Swedish o-sound. The pronoun is pronounced with a short å-sound and has basically replaced de/dem. This could be confusing to English speakers, since the original two pronouns are so similar to they and them, but on the other hand it makes it a lot easier for others, that just have to learn one word – in theory. The reality is a bit more difficult.
The three pronouns
Languages are ever changing and there are a lot of variables that push these changes: languages go from being complex to more simplicity, lack of education plays a role and even laziness among other things. As a result, in Swedish we are in the very middle of a change that never seem to end and we now have three pronouns. De/dem are actually still the pair that is preferred in written Swedish, whereas dom is used in spoken Swedish and in casual writing.
The actual problem
Since dem and dom look so similar, some people (Swedes), think that dem is the proper spelling for dom. Not that peculiar if you think about mig and dig, that are supposed to be pronounced /mej/ and /dej/. So Swedes are used to pronunciation not lining up with spelling. This means that some people use dem in writing all the time.
Then there is another group of people, those that just don’t know when to use the object form and when not to, even though they can perfectly tell when to use jag (I) and mig (me). If these people were to write dom all the time, it wouldn’t actually look so bad. So when in doubt, use dom for both words or learn how to properly use de and dem.
Photo: Simon Paulin/imagebank.sweden.se
Updated June 10 2024