Learning a new language is a big task and it takes months of discipline and practice to become fluent. Even though some native languages makes Swedish a somewhat easy language to learn, you need to start somewhere!
Learning Swedish is much like learning any other language, you need to build vocabulary, learn simple sentences to get by in everyday life, and understand simple phrases. Then, once you have a basic understanding, you can deepen your knowledge and become more fluent.
In this article you will learn Swedish words, basic Swedish phrases and also learn to count in Swedish. I will guide you through some typical Swedish words and teach you the most used phrases you might need to start off!
We may as well get right to it! Let's get to know some easy Swedish words.
Important basic Swedish words to learn
First I would like to become a little patriotic and teach you some words directly related to the language you are learning. Let's start with the Swedish word for Sweden!
- Sweden - Sverige [sver´je]
- Swedish - Svenska
As you can see, I will provide you with the English word first, then the Swedish word. And whenever the Swedish word isn't pronounced the way it's spelled, the phonetics will be provided as well. You might notice that many the Swedish words pronunciation means we are cutting some letters of the word out.
Now that we are up and running, let's get into the most used Swedish words. Such as the Swedish word for no.
| English | Swedish | Fonetical writing | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hi | Hej | [hej´] | |
| Bye | Hej då | [hej|då] | |
| Thank you | Tack | [tak:] | |
| Sorry | Förlåt | [fœɭ'oːt] | |
| You're welcome | Varsågod | [varsågo´] | |
| Good morning | God morgon | [go(d)mår`(g)on] | |
| Good night | Godnatt | [go(d)nat´] | |
| Yes | Ja | ||
| No | Nej | ||
| Excuse me | Ursäkta mig | [u`r‑ el. ‑säk´ta] [mej] |
This list of most common Swedish words could easily get very long. Even though we can't provide you with the entire list of Swedish words, we could look into a few more useful vocabulary.
Let's look into the most common Swedish words list below. If you have already started learning Swedish this might be a way to see how many words you actually know. Or it's a great way to learn Swedish vocabulary words!
| English | Swedish | English | Swedish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boy | Pojke [påj´ke] | Coffee | Kaffe [kaff`e] |
| Girl | Flicka [fli'ka] | Cinnamon bun | Kanelbulle [kane`lbulle] |
| Dog | Hund | Milk | Mjölk |
| Cat | Katt | Sugar | Socker [såk´er] |
| House | Hus | Dinner | Middag [mid´ag] |
| Car | Bil | Lunch | Lunch [lun´∫] |
| Bus | Buss | Breakfast | Frukost [fruk´ost] |
| Train | Tåg | Work | Jobb [jåb´] |
| Bike | Cykel [syk´el] | School | Skola [sko`la] |
| Airplane | Flygplan [fly`gplan] | Home | Hemma [hemm`a] |
Now that you have learned some basic Swedish words, it is time to learn basic Swedish phrases.
Learn these basic Swedish phrases
It might be daunting, trying to learn and pronounce some Swedish phrases. But learning these simple phrases in Swedish will help you navigate your daily life and get started on learning your new language.
Let's get to know some basic Swedish greeting phrases and also the most common Swedish phrases. Some of these are also presented with Swedish phrases audio to help you hear the right pronunciation.
We will start off with basic Swedish phrases with pronunciation that you will feel grateful to know!
| English | Swedish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? | Hur mår du? | |
| I'm fine, thanks | Jag mår bra, tack | |
| Excuse me, where is the restroom? | Ursäkta mig, var ligger toaletten? | |
| Do you speak English? | Talar du engelska? | |
| It's nice to meet you! | Trevligt att träffas! | |
| Have a nice day! | Ha det bra! |
When you learn Swedish phrases practice really does make perfect! The first time you attempt these basic phrases will be much like a baby taking its first steps. They're wobbly and unstable at first, but soon you will be running free!
We should also take a look at some important Swedish phrases that will be useful to master when you are carrying out simple day-to-day tasks such as visiting the supermarket, getting fika or go into public transport.
Here are some more Swedish phrases for beginners. It takes up to 600 hours of practice to learn Swedish, start challenging yourself to use your new skills as you go.
Phrases for shopping
Whether you need to pay a visit to the grocery store, or are in the lookout for a new pair of shoes, learning some Swedish language basic phrases will make things a whole lot easier for you!
Some general pointers when it comes to shopping in Sweden may also be good to know. Language isn't always the only thing causing confusion when starting your life in a new country!
- Prices in Sweden always include taxes which means you will not experience any additional costs at the checkout.
- When purchasing bottled water, soda or other drinks coming in plastic bottles or aluminum cans an additional 1 or 2 SEK will be added. This is called pant and is a sustainability act where you pay the pant when purchasing your bottles and cans, once you are finished with the bottles and cans, you recycle them (pantar) in your grocery store. When the cans and bottles are recycled you will get your pant back.
- Alcoholic drinks are only sold at specific stores, Systembolaget, in Sweden and only to people over 20 years of age. This means you won't be able to buy alcohol of any kind at your local grocery store.
- In order to use a shopping cart at the grocery store, you may need to deposit a 5 SEK or 10 SEK coin during your shopping. You will get it back when you return the cart to the stall.
Now, let's look into some commonly used phrases. Most of these are questions a cashier or shop assistant might say to you or ask, rather than you saying. But knowing what they mean and know how to answer them might be very helpful to you!
| English | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Would you like help? | Vill du ha hjälp? |
| I'm just looking | Jag tittar bara |
| How much does this cost? | Vad kostar det här? |
| Cash / Card | Kontanter / Kort |
| Is that everything? | Är det bra så? |
| Would you like a receipt? | Vill du ha kvittot? |
| Yes, please / No, thank you | Ja, tack / Nej, tack |
| I'm looking for... | Jag söker efter... |
| Sale / Reduced price | REA [re`a], Extra pris [ek`stra pris] |
| Would you like a bag? | Vill du ha en påse? |
In most cases the cashier or shop assistant is fine communicating in English. But seeing as your goal is to learn Swedish, I encourage you to at least try speak in Swedish first. Chances are you're doing better than you think! Stepping out of your comfort zone is also a good way of learning the language.
However, if you're going to stay here, you need to learn the proper fika-traditions. So let's look into some useful phrases for ordering food and drinks at restaurants and cafés.
Basic phrases for the restaurant or café experience
If you haven't already, you will soon notice Swedes love for food. And especially fika. We even have national theme days dedicated to multiple pastries and foods. Våffeldagen (waffle day), fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday) and kanelbullens dag (cinnamon bun day) are only a few good examples of these.
Fika [fee-ka]. A moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life.
Whether you are a foodie appreciating a good meal, or just curious about the fika-traditions here are some useful words and phrases.
| English | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Can I please have... | Jag skulle vilja ha... |
| Thank you very much | Tack så mycket |
| What is that? | Vad är det? |
| Coffee | Kaffe [kaff`e] |
| Tea | Te |
| Cinnamon bun | Kanelbulle [kane`lbulle] |
| Cardamom bun | Kardemummabulle [karde‑mum`abulle] |
| Mud cake | Kladdkaka [kladd`kaka] |
| Take away / Eat here | Ta med / Äta här |
As long as you can order yourself a cup of coffee and a bun, you are good to go!
Get around with public transport
Navigating the public transport can be daunting and you might appreciate knowing a few Swedish phrases and words to make the experience run a little smoother. Even though many Swedish cities are popular to bike in, being able to use the local system of trains, busses and if you're in Stockholm, the underground.
Let us have a quick look at some useful words and phrases to help you figure it out!
| English | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Central station | Centralstation [centra`lstation] |
| Bus | Buss |
| Train | Tåg |
| Subway | Tunnelbana [tunn`elbana] |
| Trolley | Spårvagn [spå`rvagn] |
| Bus stop | Hållplats [håll`plats] |
| Ticket | Biljett [biljett´] |
| When does the bus/train leave? | När går bussen/tåget? |
| How do I get to..? | Hur kommer jag till..? |
| Where is..? | Var ligger..? or Var finns..? |
If you are using a language learning app to learn Swedish you might face practices where these kinds of words and phrases are brought up. Consider this article your head start!
How to count in Swedish
Now, we have talked about how to place your fika order. But let's assume you are ordering fika for a friend too, it might be useful knowing some Swedish numbers.
Before I send you on your way to speak Swedish with the locals, we are going to practice how to count to ten in Swedish, or why not twenty! Some numbers might even be easy to guess!
| Number | Swedish | Number | Swedish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ett | 11 | Elva |
| 2 | Två | 12 | Tolv [tål´v] |
| 3 | Tre | 13 | Tretton |
| 4 | Fyra | 14 | Fjorton [fjo`rt-] |
| 5 | Fem | 15 | Femton |
| 6 | Sex | 16 | Sexton |
| 7 | Sju | 17 | Sjutton |
| 8 | Åtta | 18 | Arton |
| 9 | Nio | 19 | Nitton |
| 10 | Tio | 20 | Tjugo [tju`go] |
Counting in Swedish might be more of a struggle when it comes to the Swedish numbers pronunciation than the structure of the numbers itself. Once you have learned the Swedish numbers 1-10 pronunciation, learning to count to 100 isn't that difficult.
To start with, there is how you count from zero to ten in swedish:
As you can see, YouTube is a great resource to learn Swedish and improve your language skills.
Hopefully this can help you learn Swedish numbers. A little practice goes a long way and soon you can order how many cinnamon buns you want by simply saying "Hej, jag skulle vilja ha tre kanelbullar, tack".
Do you want to learn to count in Swedish all the way to 100? Okay, buckle up!
| 20 | Tjugo | 30 | Trettio | 40 | Fyrtio | 50 | Femtio | 60 | Sextio | 70 | Sjuttio | 80 | Åttio | 90 | Nittio | 100 | Ett hundra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Tjugoett | 31 | Trettioett | 41 | Fyrtioett | 51 | Femtioett | 61 | Sextioett | 71 | Sjuttioett | 81 | Åttioett | 91 | Nittioett | 101 | Ett hundra ett |
| 22 | Tjugotvå | 32 | Trettiotvå | 42 | Fyrtiotvå | 52 | Femtiotvå | 62 | Sextiotvå | 72 | Sjuttiotvå | 82 | Åttiotvå | 92 | Nittiotvå | 102 | Ett hundra två |
| 23 | Tjugotre | 33 | Trettiotre | 43 | Fyrtiotre | 53 | Femtiotre | 63 | Sextiotre | 73 | Sjuttiotre | 83 | Åttiotre | 93 | Nittiotre | 103 | Ett hundra tre |
| 24 | Tjugofyra | 34 | Trettiofyra | 44 | Fyrtiofyra | 54 | Femtiofyra | 64 | Sextiofyra | 74 | Sjuttiofyra | 84 | Åttiofyra | 94 | Nittiofyra | 104 | Ett hundra fyra |
| 25 | Tjugofem | 35 | Trettiofem | 45 | Fyrtiofem | 55 | Femtiofem | 65 | Sextiofem | 75 | Sjuttiofem | 85 | Åttiofem | 95 | Nittiofem | 105 | Ett hundra fem |
| 26 | Tjugosex | 36 | Trettiosex | 46 | Fyrtiosex | 56 | Femtiosex | 66 | Sextiosex | 76 | Sjuttiosex | 86 | Åttiosex | 96 | Nittiosex | 106 | Ett hundra sex |
| 27 | Tjugosju | 37 | Trettiosju | 47 | Fyrtiosju | 57 | Femtiosju | 67 | Sextiosju | 77 | Sjuttiosju | 87 | Åttiosju | 97 | Nittiosju | 107 | Ett hundra sju |
| 28 | Tjugoåtta | 38 | Trettioåtta | 48 | Fyrtioåtta | 58 | Femtioåtta | 68 | Sextioåtta | 78 | Sjuttioåtta | 88 | Åttioåtta | 98 | Nittioåtta | 108 | Ett hundra åtta |
| 29 | Tjugonio | 39 | Trettionio | 49 | Fyrtionio | 59 | Femtionio | 69 | Sextionio | 79 | Sjuttionio | 89 | Åttionio | 99 | Nittionio | 109 | Ett hundra nio |
Before I send you on your way, let's also have a look at Swedish phone numbers. Knowing how they're structured and what differentiates a mobile phone number from a landline might help a lot!
Swedish phone numbers
Swedens country code for phone numbers are +46 which means that whenever a phone number begins with +46 it's a Swedish phone number. When dialing a number starting with +46 or 0046 you cut out the first 0 of the number. Meaning that 0738-45 45 45 should be dialed +46 738- 45 45 45 if you are calling from outside of Sweden or using a phone that isn't registered in Sweden. Also, if you are ever in a situation where you need to call emergency services, such as police, ambulance or fire trucks, you call 112.
When a phone number is attached to the landline it always begins with the area code consisting of 2-4 numbers that always begin with 0, followed by 7 numbers. For example 040-XXX XX XX.
Mobile phone numbers follow the same structure and consist of 10 numbers in total. However mobile phone numbers always start with 07. The example of country codes a bit further way up is an example of a mobile phone number.
These are only Swedish phone number examples. Some phone numbers, such as those of authorities or charity organisations might have special phone numbers. But these are simply the exceptions that makes the rules.
Wow, that was information overload! Feel free to revisit this article whenever you need to fresh up on these basic words, phrases and numbers in Swedish. Until you do, I take this opportunity to wish you the best of luck on your journey to learn Swedish and get to know your new place of home.
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