1. BASIC PHRASE 
| God morgon Good Morning |
Hej / God dag Hello / Good Day |
| God kväll Good Evening |
God natt Good Night |
| Hej då / Adjö (more formal) Goodbye |
Snälla Please |
| Tack (så mycket) Thank you (very much) |
Ingen orsak / Varsågod Don't mention it / You're welcome |
| Ja / Nej Yes / No |
Herr / Fru / Fröken Mister / Misses / Miss |
| Hur är det? / Hur har du det? How are you? |
Hur mår du? How are you? (How are you feeling?) |
| Bra Good / Fine |
Inte så bra. Not so good |
| Vad heter du? What's your name? |
Jag heter... I am called... |
| Mitt namn är... My name is... |
Trevligt att träffas! Pleased to meet you! |
| Välkommen! Welcome! |
|
| Varifrån kommer du? Where are you from? |
Jag kommer från... I'm from... |
| Var bor du? Where do you live? |
Jag bor i... I live in... |
| Hur gammal är du? How old are you? |
Jag är ___ år (gammal). I am ____ years old. |
| Talar du svenska? Do you speak Swedish? |
Jag talar [inte] engelska. I [don't] speak English. |
| danska, norska, franska, italienska, spanska, tyska, holländska, ryska, japanska Danish, Norwegian, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Russian, Japanese |
|
| Ja, lite grann. Yes, a little bit. |
Nej, inte alls. No, not at all. |
| Jag förstår [inte.] I [don't] understand. |
Jag vet [inte.] I [don't] know. |
| Ursäkta / Förlåt Excuse me / Pardon me |
Ha det så bra! Take care! |
| Vi ses senare / snart See you later / soon |
Hej / Hej då Hi / Bye |
| Jag älskar dig. I love you. |
Jag saknar dig. I miss you. |
Pratar du svenska? is also a common way to ask Do you speak Swedish?, though it is considered more informal.
2. PRONUNCIATION
| Swedish letter(s) | English sound |
| ch | sh |
| ck | k |
| g | g before a, o, u, å, or unstressed e |
| g | j before e, i, y, ä, ö and after l or r |
| g | k before t |
| gj | j |
| k | soft ch sound, before e, i, y, ä, ö |
| q | k |
| sch | sh |
| ti(on) | sh |
| tj | soft ch sound |
| v, w | v |
| x | ks |
| z | s |
3. ALPHABET
| a | ah | k | kaw | u | ooh |
| b | bay | l | el | v | vay |
| c | say | m | em | x | eks |
| d | day | n | en | y | ew |
| e | ay | o | oh | z | say-tah |
| f | ef | p | pay | å | aw (with lips rounded) |
| g | gay | q | koo | ä | eh (as in bed) |
| h | haw | r | air | ö | er (with lips rounded) |
| i | ee | s | ess | ||
| j | yee | t | tay |
4. NOUNS & CASES
Nouns in Swedish have two genders, common and neuter, which adjectives must agree with when modifying nouns. These genders are signified by the indefinite articles: en and ett. In the vocabulary lists, a noun followed by (n) means that it is a neuter noun and it takes the indefinite article ett. The majority of nouns in Swedish are common gender, so they take the indefinite article en.
The only case of nouns that is used in Swedish is the genitive (showing possession), and it is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. This is comparable to adding -'s in English to show possession. However, if the noun already ends in -s, then you add nothing (unlike English where we add -' or -'s). Anders bok = Anders's book
5. ARTICLES & DEMONSTRATIVES
There are two indefinite articles (corresponding to a and an) in Swedish: en and ett. En is used with most of the nouns (words denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have to learn which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a separate word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the indefinite article attached to the end of the noun. Note that en words ending in a vowel retain that vowel and add an -n instead of adding -en. And ett words ending in -e just add a -t.
En words (common) |
Ett words (neuter) |
||||||
Indefinite |
Definite |
Indefinite |
Definite |
||||
| en banan | a banana | bananen | the banana | ett bord | a table | bordet | the table |
| en stol | a chair | stolen | the chair | ett kök | a kitchen | köket | the kitchen |
| en gata | a street | gatan | the street | ett äpple | an apple | äpplet | the apple |
This, that, these and those are expressed in Swedish by using den, det or de plus the word här (here) and där (there). The noun is always in the definite form after these demonstratives. And if any adjectives follow the demonstrative, they must add an -a to the ending.
| with en words | with ett words | with plural words | |
| this / these | den här biljetten - this ticket | det här tåget - this train | de här biljetterna - these tickets |
| that / those | den där biljetten - that ticket | det där tåget - that train | de där tågen - those trains |