Language guide

Swedish is a Germanic language, which is mainly spoken in Sweden but also in parts of Finland. It’s closely related to Danish and Norwegian and has strong influences from English, German, and Dutch.

Written Swedish looks similar across the country. On the other hand, spoken Swedish varies slightly depending on where you are in the country. The language is typically divided into six dialect areas.

Other languages

There are five official minority languages in Sweden: Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Yiddish and Romani Chib. Swedish Sign Language also has a strong position. The town of Örebro aims at being Europe’s sign language capital, which means that the municipality is actively working to strengthen the position of sign language users in society at large.

Many speak English

Since English is one of three compulsory core subjects at school, you can communicate with most people in English. In addition, many have also studied French, Spanish or German.

The Swedish alphabet

The Swedish alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet, supplemented by three letters: Å, Ä and Ö.

  • Å is like the vowel sound in "for"
  • Ä is like the vowel sound in "hair"
  • Ö is like the vowel sound in "earn"

A simple daily glossary

Here are a few useful Swedish words and phrases in English:

Hej – Hi or hello 
God morgon – Good morning 
Tack – Thank you 
Varsågod – You’re welcome
Ursäkta – Excuse me
Förlåt – I’m sorry
Hej då – Goodbye 
Norrsken – Northern lights  
Lagom – a typical Swedish expression  which roughly means “just enough” or “just right”
Fika – Coffee break

Useful phrases

Hur mår du? – How are you?
Hur är läget? – What’s up? 
Pratar du engelska? – Do you speak English?  
Kan du hjälpa mig? – Can you help me? 
Jag jobbar på universitetet. – I work at the university.

Curious and want to learn more?