Swedish Cheatsheet
Unique Features
- One of the North Germanic languages, closely related to Norwegian and Danish
- Vowel length distinguishes word meaning
- Grammatical gender for nouns (common and neuter)
- Verb conjugation based on tense, mood, and subject
- Pronunciation differences between regions
- Some loanwords from English and other languages
Letters and Sounds
- Swedish uses the Latin alphabet with three additional letters (å, ä, ö)
- Vowel length distinguishes word meaning
- Swedish has several sounds that don’t exist in English, such as the “sj” sound
Example
- The word for “good” is “bra”
- The word for “well” is “väl”
- The difference in vowel length distinguishes the two words
Vocabulary
- Swedish words are often formed by combining words or adding prefixes and suffixes
- Swedish has many loanwords from English and other languages
- Some words have different meanings in different regions
Example
- The word for “train” is “tåg”
- The word for “subway” is “tunnelbana”
- Both words are used in Sweden, but “subway” is more common in Stockholm
Grammar
- Swedish has two grammatical genders: common and neuter
- Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify
- Swedish verbs are conjugated based on tense, mood, and subject
- Swedish has a subject-verb-object word order
- Swedish has a formal and informal register, with different verb conjugations and vocabulary
Example
- The sentence “I am a student” is “Jag är student”
- The adjective “student” is in the common gender form because “student” is a common gender noun
- The word order is subject (I), verb (am), and object (student)
Resources