The Zen of Swedish or Sweedish the E-Z Way*
last updated: den 29 januari 1999
Learning a new language can be overwhelming. This page is dedicated to simplifying things (or ting in Swedish) by showing you how many Swedish words you already know. There is also a group of words that are a bit of a stretch but if you use the memory pegs or word associations, it'll help you to remember them.
Swedish is an easy language to learn - trust me - I've heard 3 year olds speaking it… Stop thinking like an adult, stop caring about understanding the grammar. Learn as a child does with lots of pictures and actions and everything else will fall into place later.
Hej! [hej:] {hey} Hi!
See? You've been saying hello in Swedish all the time without even realizing it, as in “Hey Gober, is my car fixed yet?” Caution: Swedes also use Hej or Hej då when saying goodbye. Follow their body language and you'll catch their drift.
Key to the symbols: Words in brackets [ ] are international phonetic transcriptions. Words in { } are the regular American English word that they sound like. [ : ] indicates where the stress should be.
Quick Zen Index:
Pronounciation and Spelling Tips
Zen Language Tips
Zen Words and Verbs
Zen Sentences
Zen Confusion - False Cognates
Strange Observations
Disclaimer
Pronunciation tips:
If it says SWINGLISH { }, it SOUNDS LIKE ENGLISH, just add a little bounce to the way you say it in English. Think of how a Swede mispronounces English words and put that same spin on it.
Don't let the Swedish spelling fool you, many words appear unrecognizable but if you could hear them you'd easily know what they mean: köp = {shop} purchase. “k” before the closed vowels e,i,y,ä,ö is pronounced sh tajm = {time} the “aj” combination gives the long i sound. sajt = {site}
The great sk debate: (also applies to sj, skj, stj, s/tion) Depending upon where you come from in Sweden, this consonant cluster is pronounced differently. The majority of people pronounce it like the wh sound in the word “whew!” So number 7, sju, sounds like whoo. Others, including Finns from the south of Finland where Swedish is their native language, use more of a sh sound. There is no right or wrong here - it simply identifies you as to where you come from, just like someone from Brooklyn might be spotted by saying “dirty-dird” street (33rd).
Swedes don't say the consonant cluster “th” so…drop the “h” törstig {torsh-tig} - thirsty, ting = thing, termometer = thermometer
They don't use “w,” except when asking for whisky so…change it to a “v” varning = warning, vild = wild, varm = warm, vind = wind (n), vatten = water, vi = we, vinter = winter. ex. Vi har en varm vinter = We are having a warm winter. Easy, huh? And naturally then their information seeking questions are not wh-questions they are v-questions: vem - who, vad - what, varför - why, var - where, när -when (opps, missed one). And since you asked, hur = how.
Spelling tips:
No, not really. But klicka här for Mark Twain's and Lars Lindgren's suggestions for spelling reforms for English and Swedish:
Hookt on fonicks werkt fer me!
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Easy language tip:
Swedish doesn't conjugate verbs. What a break!
In the present tense kommer means “come,” and the form of the verb doesn't change:
(I) jag kommer, (you) du kommer, (we) vi kommer, (he) han kommer, etc.
They don't use the progressive form either (-ing), so “he comes every day,” and “he is coming now” is still han kommer.
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Easy Words:
vi - we
du - you
han - he, think of “Hans” without the “s”
måndag, tisdag, torsdag, fredag, söndag - Just don't make plans on Wednesday or Saturday (onsdag, lördag).
Swedish Swinglish English Translation Comments and memory pegs
absolut absolute (adj) absolutely (adv.) if capitalized: vodka
ägg {agg} egg it doesn't get any easier than this.
badrum {bad rum} yep, it's the bathroom where you spend a lot of time after consuming a lot of bad rum.
gaffel fork In case you didn't know, a gaff is an iron hook attached to a long pole, used for landing large fish. Btw… Swedes do eat a lot of fish.
gång {gang} path, walkway Think of walking off a gang-plank. And who knows? Maybe all those rawdy people waiting to walk the plank, formed a gang…
glad {glad} happy
kniv [kni:v] knife They say the “k.” Trust me, you don't want a spoon.
kram {cram} hug Think of someone hugging you too hard, cramming you into a small space.
hungrig hungry
mjölk m-yell-k milk
pulver powder When you pulverize something, you make it into powder.
puss {puss} kiss Just a friendly one.
Easy Verbs:
Swedish Swinglish English
kan {can} can
kom { come} come
gå {go} go
se {see} see
säg {say} say
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Easy Sentences:
Vi kan gå och se Alf. We can go and see Alf. (Alf is not an Alien Life Form, it's a common name.)
Vi kan dricka kaffe om du är törstig. We can drink coffee if you are thirsty. (Pronounce kaffe like you're going to say “cafeteria” and törstig like you are from Brooklyn and thirsty.)
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VARNING! False cognates:
Swedish Swinglish English / comments
and means “wild duck.”
barn not where the animals live, but a different kind of animal - children.
butter for describing your mood - “sullen.” How Swedes feel in the winter.
egg {egg} the non-edible “edge.”
fan [fon] swear word meaning “devil.” Doesn't sound too bad too us but curses involving the devil are equivalent to ours involving anatomy.
ful full {fool} {full} These words still sound very similiar to me when Swedes say them. If you say you're full after dinner, it means your drunk. The other word means “ugly.” Connection?
gift [yift] this may not be the present you want - means “married.” It also means “poison.” No comment.
glass eat it, it's only “ice cream” (glas [gla:s] is a glass).
gymnasium upper secondary school. Evidently, Swedes only take gym in high school.
haj! {hi!} “Shark!” Explains why Swedes don't say “hi,” especially at the beach. *Also see “buy/bye” below.
hiss it isn't a sound you make, it's the elevator you take.
hugg you don't want one of these. Means “cut, slash.”
hår {whore} don't take offense, it's your “hair” they are referring to.
kissa {kiss-a} sounds a little like kiss, but it means somebody has to “pee.” See kyss below.
kitt {shit} sounds a lot like shit, but it's “putty.”
kock {cock} a cook or a chef
kyss {shish} looks like it but doesn't sound like it: “kiss.”
mus {moose} mouse. Also used as slang, like the American slang “pussy.”
ny {knee} not the abbreviation for New York, it only means “new.”
prick en trevlig prick - “a nice guy.” Quite the opposite of what you were thinking he was. Also means “spot/dot.”
sex {sex} means both “six” and “sex.” You can usually figure out which they mean.
slapp mig! {slap may!} make sure the bilingual Swede you're talking to knows your speaking Swedish when you say this. It means “let go of me!”
slut {sloot} not offensive, means “stop/terminate.”
tack not something sharp but how they say “thanks.” Use often.
vill it doesn't mean “will,” it means “want.” Very confusing. It is an auxillary or helping verb in Swedish (t.ex. must, can, will, in English), meaning it must be followed by verb (infinitive). Where in English you can say, “I want food/money/etc.,” in Swedish you have to say “I want to eat food.”
Don't fall for this:
“We buy pink wheat.” (or “sheet” – see pronunciation guide)
Kids will tell you that this sentence is Swedish and then roll on the ground laughing when you repeat it. What every barn (kid) knows is that they can say 3 nasty Swedish words by pretending to speak English. What they are really saying is:
{We} Vi - we
{buy}* baj - kiddie word for “shit”
{pink} pink - slang for “piss”
{wheat/sheet} skit - slang for “shit”
If you really do want to buy pink wheat/sheet(s), you'll have to say “Vi köper skär(a) vete/lakan,” which is not terribly funny to anyone.
*so don't say “bye!” to a Swede, say “hej då!” {hey door}
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STRANGE OBSERVATIONS:
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner… Where did Jack get that last name? Interesting when you consider that hörnor means corners in Swedish.
The farmer in the dell, the farmer in the dell… What dell? Where? It's a stretch (but what isn't on this page?) but del means a part of something. So if you want to ask someone which part of Stockholm they are from: Vilken del av Stockholm kommer du ifrån?
Ohhh, that smarts!… Don't you just hate when you bump your elbow? Smärta = pain.
In British English, a “swede” is a rutabaga. This variety of turnip is called kålrot in Swedish. This useless piece of information is only here for Americans who otherwise wouldn't get the joke about vegetarian cannibals on the Swedish Links page.
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*OPPS! DISCLAIMER: This page in no way claims to do a serious study in entomology, language influence, assimilation or transference. It doesn't even claim to teach. Just because I have a degree in linguistics doesn't mean I am any more sound than you are. The author takes no responsibility for any damage incurred by any individual applying its contents to the non-cyber world.
Copyright 1999, Mari JP Söderberg {Soda berry}
This page is updated whenever I feel frustrated with learnng Swedish. If something is wrong, consider it a typo.
Send your comments or questions (I probably don't know but I'll find out) to: xxx@aol.com
hux|HiGh
Hugi notar vefkökur til að bæta notendaupplifun á vefsíðunni og greina umferð um hana.
Einnig hefur Hugi uppfært persónuverndarstefnu sína. 