Swedish/Lesson 1

Swedes like to know to whom they are speaking, and this means that when speaking to a Swede, introductions are in order. While Swedish used to be more formal and included a strict use of titles indicating social, and marital status, this is completely abolished. Even very old people expect to be addressed as du "you" and only occasionally is Ni "you (plural)" used by sales clerks to address customers.

The simplest way to greet a Swede is to establish eye-contact, followed by a simple hej "hi". It should not be confused with the English "hey", the use of which is more to attract attention, a meaning the Swedish greeting does not contain. A variation and more informal variant of this word is hejsan. To show enthusiasm, you can repeat words; hej hej. Shaking hands is the most common way of greeting a stranger in Sweden. More informal and friendly forms of greeting are the words tja, tjena or tjenare. Though more common among younger people, they are often used by considerably older speakers to establish familiarity or intimacy with the listener.

God dag "good day" has a formal tone to it, but is very seldom used in everyday life, and is mostly seen in formal speeches and likewise. In the morning, god morgon "good morning", is commonly used and is not perceived as particularly formal, if polite. In the evening god kväll "good evening" can be used, but like god dag it's quite uncommon either with strangers or friends, but is entirely appropriate for a TV host to say in the introduction of a show.

Dialogue

Two students are meeting in a university cafeteria in Sweden. One of them is Sven - a Swedish student - and the other one is Peter - an American exchange student.

Sven: Hej. Hur mår du?
English: Hi. How are you?

Peter: Bara bra, tack. Förlåt, jag har glömt, var är du från?
English: Just fine, thanks. Sorry, I have forgotten, where are you from?

Sven: Jag är från Sverige, du då?
English: I'm from Sweden, how about you?

Peter: Jag är amerikan, jag är från USA.
English: I am American, I'm from the USA.

Sven: Ja, just det! Förlåt, vad heter du igen?
English: Oh, that's right! Sorry, what's your name again?

Peter: Jag heter Peter och du heter Sven.
English: My name is Peter and your name is Sven.

Sven: Tack. Vi ses!
English: Thank you. See you later!

Long and short vowels

Not unlike many other Scandinavian languages, Swedish distinguishes quite clearly between long and short vowels. English doesn't have the same clear distinction, but the phonetic sound differences are in the language. Compare for example the A in "haha" with the A in "heart," the former being short and the latter being long. The short A in "haha" matches the short Swedish A pretty well, as does the A in "heart" but with the long A.

To distinguish long or short vowels in written language, the consonants immediately after the vowel are repeated to indicate a short vowel, and only written once to indicate a long. "Kommer" (coming) has a short O, because there are two M's, but it also has a short E, because more often than not, a word ends in a short vowel to aid in language flow when spoken. K is an exception to this rule, as you write "CK" when you want to indicate a short vowel.

There are traces of a similar system in English, for example "rock" has a short O, compared to "rookie" which has a long O, but instead of letting the single consonant indicate a long O, "rookie" has two O's, unlike Swedish, where something along the lines of "rokie" would have been enough to say that the O is probably a long O.

Phrases

H u r är det? -- How is it?
Hur mår du? -- How are you?
Var bor du? -- Where do you live?
Jag bor i ___ -- I live in ___
Vad heter du? -- What's your name?
Jag heter ___ -- My name is ___
Varifrån kommer du? -- Where are you from?
Jag kommer ifrån ___ -- I'm from ___
Och du [själv]? -- And you?
Ha det bra! -- Have a nice day!
Vi ses! -- See you (later)!*
Vi hörs! -- We'll keep in touch!*
Tack! -- Thanks!
Jag har glömt -- I've forgotten

Note that "hörs" and "ses" use a verb form that English does not have, a reciprocal form. It expresses a reciprocal action, signifying that people will hear from or see each other.

Vocabulary

Bra -- Good.
Förlåt -- Sorry. Literally "pardon (me)".
Igen -- Again.
Och -- And.
Heter -- a verb for 'be named', there is no exact translation.

Amerika -- America*
Chile -- Chile
India -- Indien
England -- England
Kina -- China
Italien -- Italy
Nederländerna -- Netherlands
Peru -- Peru
Polen -- Poland
Somalien -- Somalia
Sverige -- Sweden
Tyskland -- Germany
Tjeckien -- Czech Republic
Turkiet -- Turkey
Ungern -- Hungary
Vietnam -- Vietnam
Japan -- Japan
Sydkorea -- South Korea
Nordkorea -- North Korea
Spanien -- Spain

U.S. is USA (never US) in Swedish. It can also be called Amerikas Förenta Stater; and (very frequently) just Amerika.

Family in Swedish

parents -- föräldrar mother -- mamma / mor / moder Father -- pappa / far / fader son -- son daughter -- dotter Brother -- bror Sister -- syster Grandpa -- farfar / morfar grandma -- farmor / mormor grandson -- sonson / dotterson granddaughter -- sondotter / dotterdotter niece -- brorsdotter / systerdotter nephew -- brorson / systerson cousin -- kusin uncle -- farbror / morbror aunt -- faster / moster boy -- pojke girl -- flicka child /baby / infant -- barn / baby / bebis / spädbarn adult -- vuxen (n) man -- man woman -- kvinna Friend -- vän girlfriend -- väninna

you can listen to this swedish vocabulary on its source on learnswedish.nu

Exercise

Write a short dialogue, or practice with a friend. In the dialogue, use the phrases for greeting someone, telling them your name and where you're from. Finish it by using one of the phrases for telling the other person goodbye.