The Swedish Alphabet. Q isn’t really used, except in names.

When it is used, it’s

pronounced like a k. Ex. Lundqvist is pronounced just like Lundkvist.
 W is almost never used. When it is used, it’s pronounced just like v.
 Swedes pronounce z just like s.

a- ah p- peea*
b- beea* q- kew
c- seea* r- ehr
d- deea* s- s
e- eea* t- teea*
f- eff u- uw
g- geea* (g as in goat) v- veea*
h- hoah* w- dubbel v (doo-bell-veea*)
i- ee x- x
j- yeey y- ee (pucker your lips)
k- koah z- seh-ta
l- l å- oa*
m- m ä- eh
n- n ö- uh
o- oh
*The a isn’t pronounced, it is a soft sound that comes naturally when you relax your
muscles.

Subjective Objective
1st Person jag -I mig -me
vi - we oss -us
2nd Person du -you dig -you
ni - you (pl.) er -you (pl.)
3rd Person han -he honom - him
hon -she henne - her
de - they dem -them
det - it det -it
den -it den - it
 Subjective pronouns are used as the subject of the sentence (the one who does the
action. Ex. I walk. “I” is the person doing the action). Objective pronouns are the
object of a sentence (the one who receives the action. Ex. I talked to her. ”Her”
is the person being talked to.) This is useful to explain when to use du and dig.
Often English speakers are confused because English uses you for both subjective
and objective.
 Mig and dig are pronounced like may and day. You may even see it written as
mej and dej in informal Swedish. De is pronounced as ‘dome’ by some, but it is
also correct to say deea*. Dem is always pronounced as dome.

Vocabulary:
Hello- Hej, Hejsan, Tjena, Tja
Goodbye- Hej då
Good day- God morgon
Good night- God natt
See you (later)- Vi ses
How are you? (literally, How do you feel?)- Hur mår du?
I’m well, and you?- Jag mår bra, själv?
How are you?-Hur är det?
Hur är läget?
What is your name?- Vad heter du?
My name is _______- Jag heter_______
Where are you from?- Var kommer du ifrån?
I’m from_______- Jag kommer ifrån___________
How long have you been here?- Hur länge har du varit här?
I have been here ____ years/months/weeks/days- Jag har varit här i
_____år/månader/veckor/dagar
How old are you?- Hur gammal är du?
I am _____ years old- Jag är___år
 tjena, tja, and Hur är läget? are all slang phrases that are more appropriate for
young people. Hur mår du? is more of an intimate greeting used with close
acquaintances.

Long v. Short Vowels: The vowel is long if:

o it is in a stressed syllable and,
o it is followed by one or no consonants, and
the word doesn’t end in –m or –n

Possessive Pronouns- Some Swedish words have the article –en and others have the
article –ett. These words correspond to the articles a or an. Unlike English, however, it
is not determined by whether or not the word begins with a vowel or consonant. It is
simply something that must be memorized.
Non-neuter Neuter Plural
my, mine min mitt mina
your, yours din ditt dina
your, yours (pl.) er ert era
his hans/sin hans/sitt hans/sina
her, hers hennes/sin hennes/sitt hennes/sina
its dess/sin dess/sitt dess/sina
our, ours vår vårt våra
their, theirs deras/sin deras/sitt deras/sina
 -En words:
o Jag har en stol. I have a chair. Det är min stol. It is my chair.
 -Ett words:
o Du har ett bord. You have a table. Det är ditt bord. It is your table.
 Plural words:
o Ni har två stolar. You have two chairs. De är era stolar. They are your
chairs.
Vi har två bord. We have two tables. De är våra bord. They are our tables
Classroom survival Vocabulary
en tavla(-or)- a board
en stol(ar)- a chair
en vägg(ar)- a wall
en dörr(ar)- a door
en bild(er)- a picture
en penna(or)- a pen
en bok(böcker)- a book
kritor- chalk
ett tak- ceiling
ett golv- floor
ett fönster- window
ett ljus- a light
ett bord- a table
ett papper- paper
Får jag tala engelska/svenska? (May I speak English/Swedish)
Säg efter mig. (Repeat after me)
Tala långsammare! (Speak slower!)
Vad är det här/det där? (What is this/that?)
Jag vet inte. (I don’t know)
Vad betyder____? (What does_____mean?)
Hur stavar man____? (How do you spell____?)
Hur säger man____ på svenska? (How do you say_____in Swedish?)
Jag behöver hjälp. (I need help.)
Förlåt! (I’m sorry! Pardon me! lit. forgive)
Ursäkta mig! (Excuse me)
Jag har en fråga. (I have a question)
Jag förstår inte. (I don’t understand)
Tack! (Thanks)

Hard v. Soft Vowels- In Swedish, some consonants are pronounced differently when
they are followed by certain vowels. These consonants (or consonant combinations) are:
Sk, K, G, and C. In general, the soft vowels alter the consonant, and the hard vowels
keep it the same.

Hard Vowels: A, O, U, Å
Soft Vowels: E, I, Y, Ä, Ö
SK
Soft Hard
sked skepp skatt skor
skicka skilja skorpa skugga
sky skynda skuld Skåne
skör skär skål ska
*The soft ‘sk’ sounds like hwa (or shuh in some parts of Sweden). The hard ‘sk’ is
pronounced as written.
K
 Soft Hard
kär kyrka kan kor
kind kök kunde kål
kedja kyckling kall kur
kilo kött kurs konst
*The soft ‘k’ sound is pronounced as sh as in ‘shirt’. The hard is pronounced as written.
G
Soft Hard
ger gök gav gurka
gips gitarr guld god
gick Egypten gåva gala
gäspa gäst gott Gud
*The soft ‘g’ sounds like yuh as in ‘yes’. The hard ‘g’ is guh as in ‘gold’.
C
Soft Hard
cykel cider cafeteria cricket
central cigar calypso clown
cell circus cancer cockpit
centimeter cymbal clementin container
* The soft ’c’ sounds like s like ’sun’. The hard ’c’ is pronounced as a k, ’cow’.

Swedish Word Order: Word order in Swedish is the same as in English (subject-verb).
The difference is that in Swedish you never use words be, is, am, are, was, were, or been
before a verb, regardless of whether it is a question or a statement.

Example: Du går.
You are walking. (You walk.)

Nouns: In Swedish, nouns are divided into five different groups, or declensions. These
groups are determined based on the endings you add to pluralize the nouns.
 (Swedish for Missionaries p.11) Indefinite nouns are nouns that do not refer to
any specific object. For example, if you talked about ”a girl” or ”girls” you aren’t
referring to a specific girl or group of girls.
 Definite nouns refer to a specific object. For example, if you were to say, ”the
girl” or ”the girls,”one would assume you are referring to a specific person or
group of people.
First Declension Nouns(Swedish for Missionaries p.49-50)
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
en ________ ________n _________or _________orna
Ex. en flicka (a girl) flickan (the girl) flickor (girls) flickorna (the girls)
en fråga (a question) en penna (a pen) en sida (a page/side)
en skjorta (a shirt) en blomma (a flower) en gata (a street)
en klocka (a clock) en lampa (a lamp) en mamma (a mother)
en pappa (a father) en skola (a school) en vecka (a week)

Second Declension Nouns (Swedish for Missionaries, p. 59-60)

 Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
en ________ ________en _________ar _________arna
Ex. en hund (a dog) hunden (the dog) hundar (dogs) hundarna (the dogs)
en bil (a car) en stol (a chair) en säng (a bed)
en pojke (a boy) en arm (an arm) en buss (a bus)
en båt (a boat) en dag (a day) en sked (a spoon)
en vägg (a wall) en väg (a road) en timme (an hour)

Third Declension Nouns (Swedish for Missionaries, p.62)

Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
en ________ ________en _________er _________erna
Ex. en färg (a color) färgen (the color) färger (colors) färgerna (the colors)
en affär (a store) en bild (a picture) en lägenhet (an apartment)
en lektion (a lesson) en film (a movie) en gång (a time, attempt)
en minut (a minute) en månad (a month) en plats (a place)
en telefon (a telephone) en sång (a song) en sak (a thing)

Fourth Declension Nouns (most end in e) (Swedish for Missionaries, p.71)

Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
ett ________ ________t _________n _________na
Ex. ett äpple (an äpplet (the apple) äpplen (apples) äpplena (the apples)
apple)
ett arbete (a work) ett frimärke (a stamp) ett snöre (a string)
ett möte (a meeting) ett intresse (an interest) ett piano (a piano)
ett ställe (a place/location) ett yrke (a profession)

Fifth Declension Nouns (Swedish for Missionaries, p.74)

Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
ett ________ ________et _________ _________en
Ex. ett barn (a child) barnet (the child) barn (children) barnen (the
children)
There is a small group of 5th declension nouns that are different. They all end in
–are.
en _________ ________n _________ _________na
Ex. en lärare (a läraren (the teacher) lärare (teachers) lärarna (the
teacher) teachers)
ett bord (a table) ett brev (a letter) ett berg (a mountain)
ett glas (a glass) ett golv (a floor) ett hus (a house)
ett mål (a goal) ett problem (a problem) ett rum (a room)
ett tåg (a train) ett språk (a language) ett svar (an answer)
en bagare (a baker) en läkare (a doctor) en talare (a speaker)

Cardinal Numbers- cardinal numbers are also called counting numbers.

0 noll 11 elva 22 tjugotvå 300 trehundra
1 ett (en) 12 tolv 30 trettio 400 fyrahundra
2 två 13 tretton 40 fyrtio 500 femhundra
3 tre 14 fjorton 50 femtio 600 sexhundra
4 fyra 15 femton 60 sextio 700 sjuhundra
5 fem 16 sexton 70 sjuttio 800 åttahundra
6 sex 17 sjutton 80 åttio 900 niohundra
7 sju 18 arton 90 nittio 1000 (ett) tusen
8 åtta 19 nitton 100 (ett) hundra
9 nio 20 tjugo 101 hundraett
10 tio 21 tjugoett* 200 tvåhundra

Ordinal Numbers: Ordinal numbers are used to denote an order. As in, second comes
after first, third after second, etc. So January 23rd would be the twenty-third day in
January.
first första (1:a) twelfth tolfte
second andra (2:a) thirteenth trettonde
third tredje (3:e) fourteenth fjortonde
fourth fjärde (etc.) fifteenth femtonde
fifth femte sixteenth sextonde
sixth sjätte seventeenth sjuttonde
seventh sjunde eighteenth artonde
eighth åttonde nineteenth nittonde
ninth nionde twentieth tgugonde
tenth tionde twenty-first tgugoförsta* (21:a)
eleventh elfte twenty-second tgugoandra
etc…
*’Tgugo’ is often shortened to just tgu and is pronounced shoo

Consonant combos: tj, rs, sj, stj, sch, ch, sk, dj, hj, lj,
-The consonant combinations ‘sj,’ ‘stj,’ ‘sch,’ and ‘ch’ are always pronounced
like hwa (or sh in some parts of Sweden)
-The combination ‘sk’ is pronounced like hwa when followed by a soft vowel.
When followed by a hard vowel it is pronounced as written.
-The combinations ‘dj,’ ‘lj,’ and ‘hj’ are always pronounced like y as in ‘yellow’
-The combinations ‘tj’ and ‘rs’ are always pronounced like sh as in ‘shirt’
**Point out that the combination ‘rs’ is pronounced the same even when it
happens between words (ex. Han lär sig svenska.)

Question word order:

Word order in Swedish is the same as in English (Verb+ Subject). In Swedish, however,
there is only one verb in the sentence; words such as ‘does,’ ‘do,’ or ‘did’ are not needed.
Examples:
NOT Do you have a car? BUT Have you a car?
NOT Does he call often? BUT Calls he often?
NOT Did you see the film? BUT Saw you the film?
 Question words in Swedish:
Word order is the same when one of these words is used (question word+verb+subject)
vem who när when
vad what varför why
var where hur how
Example:
NOT Who is coming to dinner? BUT Who comes to dinner?

Days, Months, Seasons, and Weather

day en dag Thursday torsdag
Monday måndag Friday fredag
Tuesday tisdag Saturday lördag
Wednesday onsdag Sunday söndag

January januari July juli

February februari August augusti
March mars September september
April april October oktober
May maj November november
June juni December december

Spring en vår Autumn/fall en höst

Summer en sommar Winter en vinter

air en luft blizzard en snöstorm

to blow att blåsa bright ljus
cloud ett moln cold kall
cool kylig earthquake en jordbävning
flood en översvämning fog en dimma
hail ett hagel heat en hetta
hot het humidity en fuktighet
hurricane en orkan lightning en blixt
rain ett regn to rain att regna
snow en snö to snow att snöa
storm en storm sunshine ett solsken
temperature en temperatur thunder en åska
to thunder att åska thunderstorm ett åskväder
tornado en tornado warm varm
weather ett väder wind en vind

Verb Conjugation Group 1:

Group 1
INFINITIVE PRESENT PAST SUPINE
att_____a _____ar _____ade har_____at
att tala (to speak) talar (speaks) talade (spoke) har talat (has
spoken)
A
att arbeta -to work
B
att berätta - to tell, relate att betala - to pay
att bruka - to normally do (something) att börja -to begin
D
att dela - to share, divide
F
att flytta - to move att fråga - to ask
att fungera - to work, function att förklara - to explain
G
att gissa - to guess
H
att handla - to shop, buy att hata - to hate
att hitta - to find att hoppas - to hope (deponent)
att hälsa - to greet
K
att klaga - to complain att krama - to hug
L
att lova - to promise att lyssna - to listen
att lämna - to leave
M
att missa - to miss (ex. the bus)
O
att ordna - to arrange, settle
att orka - to have the strength to (do something)
P
att passa - to fit, function att planera - to plan
att prata - to talk att pröva - to try, test, sample
S
att skada -to harm, hurt att skicka - to send
att skoja - to joke att skratta - to laugh
att sluta - to stop, end att smaka - to taste
att spela - to play att stanna - to stay
att studera - to study att städa - to clean
att svara - to answer
T
att tacka - to thank att tala - to speak
att titta - to look att träffa - to meet
att tvätta -to wash
U
att undervisa -to teach att undra -to wonder
V
att vakna -to wake att visa -to show
att vänta -to wait
Ä
att älska -to love
Ö
att önska -to wish att öppna -to open