Pronunciation
The pronunciation of Swedish words is not difficult as it usually agrees with the spelling. It is enough to learn a few general rules and master specific Swedish sounds to communicate with Swedes without major problems.
The easiest way to learn correct pronunciation is to listen to the spoken language frequently. Swedish radio programs and movies - if they are not dubbed - can be very helpful in learning. Swedish radio programs are broadcast everywhere on shortwave, and in almost all of Europe they can be received on several frequencies, for example on the average wave of 1179 kHz 254 m. The quality of reception of these programs is, unfortunately, poor.
When pronouncing words, we should remember that all sounds must be articulated very clearly, even unstressed final vowels and vowels and consonants at the end of a word, e.g .: a secret(boy), före(before), trädet(tree).
The Swedish alphabet consists of 29 letters:
- Aa (in Swedish pronunciation and)
- Bb (be)
- Cc (se)
- Dd (de)
- Ee (e)
- Ff (eff)
- Gg (ge)
- Hh (hå)
- II (and)
- Jj (ji)
- Of the Penal Code (kå)
- Ll (ell)
- Mm (em)
- Nn (en)
- Ooh (at)
- Pp (pe)
- Qq (to)
- Rr (ärr)
- Ss (ess)
- Tt (these)
- Uu (at)
- Vv (ve)
- Above (dubbel ve)
- Xx (ex)
- Yy (y)
- Zz (säta)
- Åå (and)
- Ää (and)
- Öö (about)
The last three letters stand for vowels - so the Swedish language has nine vowels in total: and, e, and, about, at, y, and, and, about.
Vowels
Swedish vowels can be long or short - the length of the vowel is related to the stress. We pronounce the stressed vowel more forcefully than the others.
The stressed vowel is long:
- as a final vowel in monosyllabic words: I, vi, nu, se, två;
- before a single consonant in the same syllable: plague, far, vara, heta, pants, Jul.
The stressed vowel is short:
- before two or more consonants: flicka, gubbe, äpple, kall, kopp (except when the consonant is r: barn, lärd);
- in some monosyllabic words, especially in pronouns: han, hon, den, min, din, sin;
- often in monosyllabic words ending in a consonant m or n: vem, hem, com, som, man, in, men, mun, än.
An unstressed vowel is always short: and at the end of words - tala, resa; e in the final syllable - Pojken, åker, etc.
Vowels are divided into two groups:
- and, about, at, and - hard vowels;
- e, and, y, and, about - soft vowels.
This division becomes important when we explain the differences in pronunciation of consonants g and k and the pronunciation of combinations of consonants sk before groups of vowels.
| Swedish phone | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| long a | is pronounced like and in English father, with a large opening of the mouth and lowering of the jaw | far(father) |
| short a | it is pronounced briefly, like Polish and in but, coffee | katt(cat) |
| long e | a vowel close to German e in the word Leben, similar to Polish e in the word glue; however, pronounced with more stretched and tense lips | med(With) |
| short e | similar to Polish e after soft consonants, e.g. v takes | penna(pen, pen) |
| long and | resembles Polish and in words hit, stickhowever longer | liv(life) |
| short and | pronounced like Polish and in the word letter | hiss(elevator) |
| long st | rounded vowel, articulated like Polish at in the word hut - though more tense | side(book) |
| short st | sounds like Polish at in the word soup | blomma(flower) |
| long u | a tight vowel, the lips are rounded and drawn towards the teeth | hus(House) |
| short u | rounded vowel, similar to Polish at in the word soupbut slightly shorter | hund(dog) |
| long y | strong vowel resembling German at in words lügen, über; the lips are forward and rounded | ny(new) |
| short y | pronounced more or less like Polish y in the word live, however, with forward and rounded lips | syster(sister) |
| long å and long sts | similar to Polish about in the word Volgabut more taut and more rounded | up(to go), son(son) |
| short å and short sts | resembles Polish about in the word Eagle | åtta(eight), a secret(boy) |
| long ä | pronunciation similar to Polish e in the word Eve | äta(eat) |
| short ä and short e | a short version of the previous sound | lätt(light, easy), fem(bake) |
| long ö | a strongly tense vowel, the lips are arranged in the shape of an ellipse, similar to the German about in the word schön | söt(sweet) |
| short ö | weaker rounding of the lips than in the long about | böcker(books) |
When in Swedish po and or about followed by a consonant rthese vowels become even more open.
| Long vowels | Short vowels |
| här(here) | härja(destroy) |
| lära(teach) | lärde(taught -a, -o) |
| hör(hears) | hörde(heard -a, -o) |
| dör(dies) | dörr(door) |
Consonants
| Swedish phone | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| b | at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as Polish b in to be; does not lose its sonority at the end of a word | because(to live), SAAB |
| c | this sound usually appears in words of foreign origin; before soft vowels (e, and, y, and, about) is pronounced like Polish NS, before hard vowels (and, about, at, and) and in stressed syllables and before a consonant k it is pronounced like Polish k | cycle(bicycle), cancer(cancer, tumor), flicka(girl) |
| d | at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as Polish d in House; does not lose its sonority at the end of a word | I will give(lady), bred(wide) |
| f | pronounced like Polish f in movie | fem(bake) |
| g | in a stressed syllable before hard vowels and, about, at, and and consonant sounds like Polish g in pigeon; does not lose its sonority at the end of a word | god(good), Gud(God), up(to go), gris(pig) |
| g | before soft vowels e, and, y, and, about in the stressed syllable it is pronounced like j | ge(give), gissa(to guess), gyttja(mud), gäss(goose), Mountain(to do) |
| g | articulates how j at the end of a word after NS and r | älg(Moose), berg(Mountain) |
| h | is pronounced like English have - similar to Polish h in Bohdan | het(hot) |
| j | pronounced like Polish j into an apple | I(Yes) |
| k | in a syllable accented before hard vowels and, about, at, and and before the consonant articulation similar to Polish k; however, remember to breathe, especially at the beginning of a word | caste(throw), komma(come), kunna(power), feces(cabbage), klo(claw) |
| k | in the stressed syllable before soft vowels e, and, y, and, about pronounced like Polish NS | kedja(chain), kind(cheek), kyss(kiss), kär(in love), köpa(buy) |
| NS | pronounced like Polish NS in the word summer | liv(life) |
| m | like Polish m in the word hammer | plague(mother) |
| n | like Polish n in the word leg | ny(new) |
| p | similar to Polish p in the word later, however, with more breath | plats(place) |
| q | pronounced like Polish k | quisling(traitor, collaborator) |
| r | pronounced like Polish r in the word dew; in southern Sweden there is also a lingual variant r | resa(trip) |
| NS | like Polish NS in the word Sun | se(see) |
| vol | resembles Polish volusually with strong breath | tand(tooth) |
| v | sounds like Polish in in the word equality | vem(who) |
| in | like Polish in; it appears in words of foreign origin | Toilets |
| x | is pronounced (e) Fr. | herr X(Mr. X) |
| With | articulates like Polish NS; occurs in words of foreign origin | zoo |
| ng | long, nasal consonant - sound similar to Polish meadows in the word flour | många(A lot) |
| gn | is pronounced ngn (very soft!) | regn(rain) |
| sk | sounds like sk in the Polish word leather before hard vowels (and, about, at, and) or consonants in stressed syllables | skam(shame), sko(shoe), skulle(should), skål(cheers!), skriva(write) |
| sk | it is pronounced in a manner similar to Polish ch before soft vowels (e, and, y, and, about) in stressed syllables | sked(spoon), nods(shine), skygg(shy), skär(pink), skön(beautiful, pleasant) |
| sch, sj, skj, stj, si (he), ti (he) | like Polish ch | marsch(march), sjö(Lake), skjuta(shoot), stjärna(star), passion(passion), station(station) |
| kj, i.e. | how NS in seventh, laughter | kjol(skirt), tjock(fat) |
Caution:
- d, g, h is not pronounced before j at the beginning of words djup(deep), gjort(made), ljud(sound) and in compounds when these consonants belong to one and the same syllable: bakhjul(rear wheel);
- q, w, x, z appear only in first names and loanwords: q is pronounced like kand the connection qu how sq, e.g: Qatar, Quist, quinnan (in older texts or jokingly - woman): x articulates how Fr., e.g.: extra(extra, extra);
- in nation(nation) and motion(movement exercises)ti is pronounced like tsz;
- rs sounds like Polish in central and northern Sweden ch in the word mouse. In the southern part of the country, consonants y / s are pronounced separately, e.g .: person(person),
- in connections rd, rt, rl, rn consonant r it is assimilated in central and northern Sweden with the consonants that follow d, vol, NS, n. In the southern part of the country, consonants are pronounced separately, e.g .: hård(hard), svårt(hard), härlig(Excellent), barn(kid),
- NS is not pronounced w karl(man) and värld(world).
Swedish accent
The Swedish language has expressive and sentence intonation (we give the voice an appropriate melody) and a dynamic accent (we highlight one of the syllables of the word by increasing the strength of the exhalation).
Dynamic accent
The dynamic stress most often falls on the first syllable - with the exception of words borrowed from foreign languages, which, however, are often pronounced like Swedish. It is difficult to rule here, because many borrowings retain their original accent. This happens most often with words of French or Latin origin, e.g. restaurang(restaurant), novell(short story), museum(Museum), studera(study).
If there are prefixes at the beginning of a word be-, för-, ge-, the stress is on the next syllable, e.g .: betala(pay), förstå(understand), gedigen(reliable).
Intonation
The Swedish language, unlike the Polish language, has tonic accent, or expressive intonation. This is where the characteristic singing of the language comes from. There are two types of tonic accent: single accent (also called accent 1 or accent) and compound accent (also called accent 2 or grave accent).
The single stress resembles an English accent and occurs in monosyllabic words: the tone drops at the end of the word. Note that even if a monosyllabic word gets an ending, it always maintains a single accent, e.g .: boll(ball) - bollen (balldefined form).
The single stress also occurs in many two-syllable words ending in -el, -en, -er, e.g.: cycle (bicycle), vatten (water), vinter (winter) and in the present tense forms of verbs ending in -er, e.g. reser (travels).
The compound stress arises because at the end of the first syllable the voice drops to rise very clearly in the last syllable. It occurs in words with more than one syllable and in most compounds, e.g .: flicka (girl), trädgård (garden). It also appears in verb forms ending in with -and, -ar, -ade, -at, -ad, e.g.: tala, thaler, talade, talat/talad (talking, talking, talking).
Colloquial pronunciation
The written language of Swedish differs significantly from the spoken language. So let's remember the following forms of commonly used words:
- The last consonant is not pronounced in many words: i / g(I), va / d(What), me / d(With), de / vol(this), mycke / vol(A lot).
- Oh(i, a) is most often pronounced as and.
- Reflexive pronouns blink(me), dig(you), sig(myself) are pronounced my, my, my, myand sometimes even so spelled. Pronouns de(they) and dem(their) is pronounced like dåmm. Någon, något, några(someone, something, some) - how nån, nåt, nåra. Sådan(such) sounds like sån, whereas sedan(later) - how dream.
- Adjectives ending in -ig they usually lose in the final spoken language g, e.g. role / g(funny), tråki / g(boring).
- In the past tense verbs saga(to talk) and lägga(place) is spelling sade and any, but is pronounced there are and la. Auxiliary verb scall sounds ska and most often it is also written in this form. Imperative forms tag(take) and pole(pull) is pronounced yeah and dr, a är(is) - how e.
Expressions
Basic
- Good day. (early morning)
- God morgon.
- Good day. (at noon)
- God middag.
- Good day. (afternoon and general greeting)
- God dag.
- Good evening
- God afton./God kväll.
- Hi! Hi!
- Hi! Hejsan!
- Hi!
- Tjänare!
- Welcome!
- Välkommen.
- Welcome!
- Välkomna.
- How do you do? What's up?
- Hur står det till?
- How do you do? How are you?
- Hur mår du?
- Well thank you and you?
- Tack, bra, oh hur står det till själv?
- Thank you, very well.
- Tack, bara bra.
- How nice to meet you. (when using the words Mr., Mrs., Miss you must add the name or the title)
- Så trevligt att få träffa dig
- Goodbye!
- Adjö!
- Good night!
- God natt!
- Goodbye! Farewell!
- Farväl!
- Hi!
- Hi!
- Bye then! See you!
- Hey då! Hey så länge!
- See you!
- På återseende! Vi ses!
- When we meet again?
- När träffas vi igen?
- Hope to see you again soon.
- Jag hoppas att vi snart ses igen.
- I'm sorry, but I have to leave. (officially)
- Jag beklagar, men jag måste bryta upp nu.
- I'm so sorry, but I have to go now.
- Jag beklagar, men jag måste gå.
- I came
to say goodbye to you, mister ..., . - Jag har kommit för att säga adjö till er, herr ...,
. - Lady (and) allow me to introduce myself.
- Tillåter ni, herr ...,
att jag presenterar mig. - My name is... (enter first name, then last name)
- Jag heter ... Mitt namn är ...
- I'm from Poland.
- Jag är från Poland.
- What is your name?
- Vad heter ni?
- What is your name?
- Vad heter du?
- Name?
- Hur var namnet?
- I live constantly in ...
- Jag är bosatt and ...
- Would you like to meet my friends?
- Skulle ni
vilja lära känna mina vänner? - I will be very pleased.
- Det skulle glädja mig.
- I have the honor of introducing Mr. ... Mrs. ...
- Får jag lov att presentera her ..., för fru ...
- Could I
speak to Mr. ...? - Skulle jag kunna få tala med herr ...
? - Wait a minute, please, please.
- Var god och dröj ett ögonblick.
- Mr. ...
from Warsaw asked me to extend my heartfelt greetings to you. - Her ...
från Warsaw bad mig framföra sina hjärtligaste hälsningar. - Thank you very much. Can we meet?
- Tack så mycket. Skulle vi kanske kunna träffas?
- Gladly!
- Ja tack, top.
- Sorry, I would like to ask you something.
- Förlåt, får jag fråga?
- Please tell me when ...?
- Kan ni säga mig, när ...?
- Would you please tell me where you are ...?
- Kan ni säga mig, var herr ... är?
- Excuse me, would you please tell me where the post office is?
- Ursäkta! Kan ni säga mig var postkontoret ligger?
- Where is the telegraph?
- Var ligger telestationen?
- May I ask you
- Kan jag be er
om en tjänst? - Excuse me, Mr.
- Förlåt, ett ögonblick.
- I would like to ask Mr.
- Får jag be er
om ... - Thank you.
- Tack!
- Thank you very much.
- Tack så mycket!
- Thank you, you are very kind.
- Tack, det var mycket vänligt av er
. - You're welcome, you're welcome.
- För all del det var ingenting.
- That is very kind of you. I don't know how to thank you
you. - Det var mycket vänligt. Jag vet verkligen inte hur jag skall kunna tray er
. - Trifle. There is nothing to talk about.
- For all del. Ingenting att tala om.
- I would like to thank you for ...
- Jag ska be att få tacka för ...
- I am so grateful for the kindness you have shown me.
- Jag är så tacksam för all visad vänliget.
- Thank you for your help.
- Tack för hjälpen.
- You haven't been writing for a long time.
- Det var länge sedan jag hörde något ifrån dig.
Exceptions
Numerals
1 - ett 2 - tva 3 - tre 4 - fyra5 - fem 6 - sex 7 - sju 8 - atta9 - nio 10 - tio 11 - elva 12 - tolv 13 - tretton14 - fjorton15 - femton 16 - sexton 17 - sjutton18 - arton 19 - nitton20 - tjugo21
Time
- Now
- Nu
- Yesterday
- Igår
- Today
- Idag
- Tomorrow
- Imorgon
Hours
- 7.00 a.m.
- Klockan sju
- 6.00 p.m.
- Klockan arton
Pickling
Days of the week
- Monday
- Måndag
- Tuesday
- Tisdag
- Wednesday
- Onsdag
- Thursday
- Torsdag
- Friday
- Fredag
- Saturday
- Lördag
- Sunday
- Söndag
Months
- Januari
- Februari
- Mars
- April
- May
- Juni
- Juli
- Augusti
- September
- Oktober
- November
- December
Record the date and time
Transport
Train and bus
Directions
Taxi
Accommodation
Money
Food
Bars
Shopping
Driving a car
Authorities
More on the Swedish language
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