1.

BASIC PHRASE
God morgon Pratar du svenska? is also a common way to ask Do you speak
Good MorningHej / God dag Swedish?, though it is considered more informal.
Hello / Good DayGod kväll 2. PRONUNCIATION
Good EveningGod natt Swedish letter(s)English soundchshckkgg before a, o, u, å, or
Good NightHej då / Adjö (more formal) unstressed egj before e, i, y, ä, ö and after l or rgk before tgjjksoft ch
GoodbyeSnälla sound, before e, i, y, ä, öqkschshti(on)shtjsoft ch soundv, wvxkszs
PleaseTack (så mycket)
Thank you (very much)Ingen orsak / Varsågod 3. ALPHABET
Don't mention it / You're welcomeJa / Nej aahkkawuoohbbaylelvvaycsaymemxeksddaynenyeweayoohzsay-
Yes / NoHerr / Fru / Fröken tahfefppayåaw (with lips rounded)ggayqkooäeh (as in bed)hhawrairöer
Mister / Misses / MissHur är det? / Hur har du det? (with lips rounded)ieesess jyeettay
How are you?Hur mår du? 4. NOUNS & CASES
How are you? (How are you feeling?)Bra Nouns in Swedish have two genders, common and neuter, which
Good / FineInte så bra. adjectives must agree with when modifying nouns. These genders are
Not so goodVad heter du? signified by the indefinite articles: en and ett. In the vocabulary lists, a
What's your name? Jag heter... noun followed by (n) means that it is a neuter noun and it takes the
I am called...Mitt namn är... indefinite article ett. The majority of nouns in Swedish are common
My name is...Trevligt att träffas! gender, so they take the indefinite article en.
Pleased to meet you!Välkommen!
Welcome! The only case of nouns that is used in Swedish is the genitive (showing
Varifrån kommer du? possession), and it is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. This is
Where are you from? Jag kommer från... comparable to adding -'s in English to show possession. However, if
I'm from...Var bor du? the noun already ends in -s, then you add nothing (unlike English
Where do you live? Jag bor i... where we add -' or -'s). Anders bok = Anders's book
I live in...Hur gammal är du? 5. ARTICLES & DEMONSTRATIVES
How old are you? Jag är ___ år (gammal). There are two indefinite articles (corresponding to a and an) in
I am ____ years old. Talar du svenska? Swedish: en and ett. En is used with most of the nouns (words
Do you speak Swedish?Jag talar [inte] engelska. denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have to learn
I [don't] speak English.danska, norska, franska, italienska, which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a
spanska, tyska, holländska, ryska, japanska separate word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the
Danish, Norwegian, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, indefinite article attached to the end of the noun. Note that en words
Russian, JapaneseJa, lite grann. ending in a vowel retain that vowel and add an -n instead of adding -en.
Yes, a little bit.Nej, inte alls. And ett words ending in -e just add a -t.
No, not at all.Jag förstår [inte.]
I [don't] understand.Jag vet [inte.] En words (common)
I [don't] know.Ursäkta / Förlåt
Excuse me / Pardon meHa det så bra! Ett words (neuter)
Take care!Vi ses senare / snart Indefinite
See you later / soonHej / Hej då Definite
Hi / ByeJag älskar dig. Indefinite
I love you.Jag saknar dig.
I miss you.

Definiteen banana bananabananenthe bananaett borda tablebordetthe
tableen stola chairstolenthe chairett köka kitchenköketthe kitchenen
gataa streetgatanthe streetett äpplean appleäppletthe apple
This, that, these and those are expressed in Swedish by using den, det
or de plus the word här (here) and där (there). The noun is always in
the definite form after these demonstratives. And if any adjectives
follow the demonstrative, they must add an -a to the ending.
with en wordswith ett wordswith plural wordsthis / theseden här
biljetten - this ticketdet här tåget - this trainde här biljetterna - these
ticketsthat / thoseden där biljetten - that ticketdet där tåget - that
trainde där tågen - those trains
6. SUBJECT & OBJECT PRONOUNS
Subject & Object Pronouns jagImig (mej)meduyou (singular)dig
(dej)youhanhehonomhimhonshehenneherdenit (with en
words)denitdetit (with ett words)detitmanoneenoneviweossusniyou
(plural)eryoude (dom)theydem (dom)them
Man can be translated as one, we, they or the people in
general. When referring to nouns as it, you use den for en nouns, and
det for ett nouns. Formerly, du was the informal you and ni was the
formal, but these distinctions are rarely used anymore. The forms in
parentheses are the informal ways of spelling these words, which is
closer to the actual pronunciation.
7. TO BE & TO HAVE
The present and past tenses of verbs in Swedish are very simple to
conjugate. All the forms are the same for each personal pronoun. The
infinitive of the verb to be in Swedish is vara, and the conjugated
present tense form is är and the past tense is var. The infinitive of the
verb to have is ha, and the conjugated present tense form is har and
the past tense is hade.
att vara - to be
att ha - to haveI amjag ärI wasjag varI havejag harI hadjag hadeyou
aredu äryou weredu varyou havedu haryou haddu hadehe ishan ärhe
washan varhe hashan harhe hadhan hadeshe ishon ärshe washon
varshe hashon harshe hadhon hadeit isden ärit wasden varit hasden
harit hadden hadeit isdet ärit wasdet varit hasdet harit haddet
hadeone isman ärone wasman varone hasman harone hadman
hadewe arevi ärwe werevi varwe havevi harwe hadvi hadeyou areni
äryou wereni varyou haveni haryou hadni hadethey arede ärthey
werede varthey havede harthey hadde hade
To form the future tense of verbs, just add ska before the infinitive. Jag
ska vara = I will be; hon ska ha = she will have; etc.
8. USEFUL WORDS
sometimesiblandalreadyredanalwaysalltidperhapskanskeneveraldrig
bothbådaoftenoftasomenågon, något, någrausuallyoftastagainigen,
åternownubetweenmellanandocha lot, manymångabutmenof
coursenaturligtvisorellera littlelite grannverymycket / väldigtnot at
allinte allsherehäralmostnästantheredärreally?verkligenwithmedit
isdet äreach othervarandrathere is/aredet finns
9. QUESTION WORDS
WhovemWhosevemsWhatvadWhichvilken, vilket,
vilkaWhyvarförWhere tovartWhennärWhere
fromvarifrånWherevarHowhur
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.
10. CARDINAL & ORDINAL NUMBERS
0noll 1en,
ett1stförsta2två2ndandra3tre3rdtredje4fyra4thfjärde5fem5thfemte6s
ex6thsjätte7sju7thsjunde8åtta8thåttonde9nio9thnionde10tio10thtio
nde11elva11thelfte12tolv12thtolfte13tretton13thtrettonde14fjorton1
4thfjortonde15femton15thfemtonde16sexton16thsextonde17sjutton
17thsjuttonde18arton18thartonde19nitton19thnittonde20tjugo20thtj
ugonde21tjugoen,
tjugoett21sttjugoförsta22tjugotvå22ndtjugoandra30trettio30thtretti
onde40fyrtio40thfyrtionde50femtio50thfemtionde60sextio60thsexti
onde70sjuttio70thsjuttionde80åttio80thåttionde90nittio90thnittiond
e100hundra100thhundrade1,000tusen1,000thtusendemillionen
miljon billionen miljard trillionen biljon
11. DAYS OF THE WEEK / VECKANS DAGAR
MondaymåndagTuesdaytisdagWednesdayonsdagThursdaytorsdagFr
idayfredagSaturdaylördagSundaysöndagdaydagmorningmorgonafter
nooneftermiddageveningafton (before 6 pm) /
kvällnightnatttodayidagtomorrowimorgonday after tomorrowi
övermorgontonightikvällyesterdayigårday before yesterdayi
förrgårlast nightigår
nattweekveckaweekendhelgdailydagligweeklyveckolig
To say "on" a certain day, use på before the day.
12. MONTHS OF THE YEAR / ÅRETS MANADER
JanuaryjanuariFebruaryfebruariMarchmarsAprilaprilMaymajJunejuni
JulyjuliAugustaugustiSeptemberseptemberOctoberoktoberNo
vembernovemberDecemberdecembermonthmånadyearårmon
thlymånatlig / varje månadyearlyårlig
To say "in" a certain month, use i before the month.
13. SEASONS
Wintervinterin (the) winterpå vinternSpringvårin (the) springpå
vårenSummersommarin (the) summerpå sommarenFallhöstin
(the) fallpå hösten
You can also use i before the names of the months to express this: i
vinter = this winter
14. DIRECTIONS
NorthnorrNortheastnordostSouthsöderNorthwestnordvästEastösterS
outheastsydostWestvästerSouthwestsydväst righttill
vänster lefttill höger straight ahead rakt fram
15. COLORS
orangeorange, orangeapinkrosa / skär, skärt, skärapurplelilablueblå,
blått, blåayellowgul, gult, gularedröd, rött, rödablacksvart,
svart, svartabrownbrun, brunt, brunagraygrå, grått,
gråawhitevit, vitt, vitagreengrön, grönt, gröna
Since colors are adjectives, most of them agree with the noun they
describe. The first word is used with en words, the second with
ett words and the third with plural words. Some words remain
the same for all three (such as lila.)
16. TIME / TID
What time is it?Vad är klockan?It is 2 AMKlockan är två på
natten6:20tjugo över sexhalf past 3halv fyraquarter past
4kvart över fyraquarter to 5kvart i fem10 past 11tio över
elva20 to 7tjugo i sjunoonmitt på dagenmidnightmidnattin the
morningpå morgonenin the eveningpå kvällenIt's exactly...den
är precisAbout/around 8.omkring åttaAt 8.klockan
åttaearlytidigtlate(r)sent (senare)
Sweden uses the 24 hour clock for official times such as train
schedules.
17. WEATHER / VADER
How's the weather today?Vad är det för väder idag?It's colddet är
kalltbeautifulvackert /
finthotjättevarmtclearklarticyisigtwarmvarmtwindyblåsigtclou
dymolnigthazydisigtmuggyråtthumidfuktigtfoggydimmigtIt's
snowingdet snöarIt's rainingdet regnarIt's freezingdet är
kallt/kyligt
18. FAMILY / FAMILJ
ParentsföräldrarMothermamma / mor / moderFatherpappa / far /
faderSonsonDaughterdotterBrotherbrorSistersysterGrandfath
erfarfar (father's father) / morfar (mother's
father)Grandmotherfarmor (father's mother) / mormor
(mother's mother)Grandsonsonson (son's son) / dotterson
(daughter's son)Granddaughter sondotter (son's daughter) /
dotterdotter (daughter's daughter)Niecebrorsdotter
(brother's daughter) / systerdotter (sister's daughter)
Nephewbrorson (brother's son) / systerson (sister's
son)CousinkusinUnclefarbror (father's brother) / morbror
(mother's brother)Auntfaster (father's sister) / moster
(mother's sister)BoypojkeGirlflickaChild / Babybarn / baby /
bebis / spädbarnAdultvuxen (n)ManmanWomankvinnaFriend
(m)vänFriend (f)väninna
19. TO KNOW PEOPLE & FACTS
känna - to know people
veta - to know factspresent (know, knows)
känner
vetpast (knew)
kände
visstefuture (will know)
ska känna
ska veta
20. FORMATION OF PLURAL NOUNS
An en word takes one of the following endings when it is pluralized: or,
ar, er. An ett word takes an n or no ending at all.
Indefinite Plural
En words that end in -a
drop -a and add -or
en klocka - klockor
a watch - (some) watches

En words that end in -e

drop -e and add -ar
en pojke - pojkar
a boy - (some) boys
En words with stress on last vowel
add -er
en kamrat - kamrater
a friend - (some) friends
Ett words that end in a vowel
add -n
ett ställe - ställen
a place - (some) places
Ett words that end in a consonant
no ending
ett rum - rum
a room - (some) rooms
To form the definite plural, you must first form the indefinite plural and
then add these endings to that word.
Indef. Plural En wordsadd -naklockor - klockorna(some) watches - the
watchesIndef. Plural Ett words that end in a voweladd -aställen
- ställena(some) places - the placesIndef. Plural Ett words that
end in a consonantadd -enrum - rummen(some) rooms - the
rooms
There are some nouns that change their vowel in the plural. These
nouns usually take the -er ending when forming the indefinite
plural.

en natt - nättera night - nightsen bonde - böndera farmer - farmersen

stad - städera town - townsen ledamot - ledamötera member -
membersen hand - händera hand - handsen fot - föttera foot -
feeten tand - tändera tooth - teethen rot - röttera root -
rootsen strand - strändera beach - beachesen bok - böckera
book - booksen rand - rändera stripe - stripesen man - mäna
man - menett land - ländera country - countriesmannen -
männenthe man - the men