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Swedish is written with the Latin alphabet, and its spelling is far more regular than English spelling: a letter has few sounds, and the rules for choosing between them are short. An English speaker meets four things that are new: vowels that are either long or short, with the length shown by the spelling; the letters y, u, å, ä and ö, whose sounds English lacks or spells otherwise; k and g, which are said softly before e, i, y, ä and ö; and the sj-sound, a sound with no English spelling. A double consonant is not read twice: it marks a short vowel before it.
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The Swedish alphabet
The alphabet has twenty-nine letters: the twenty-six of English, followed by å, ä and ö after z. The letters q, w, x and z are found mostly in foreign words and names (quiz, webb, taxi, zoo); w is counted as a letter of its own, and is said as v. The letters å, ä and ö are letters in their own right, with their own place in the alphabet and in the dictionary, not a and o with an accent. The letter c is found in loanwords such as cykel and café.
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /ɑː/ | /ɑː/ · /a/ | dag katt | like “a” in “father” when long (dag); short, like “a” in northern English “cat” (katt) said a, like “a” in “father” |
| B b | be /beː/ | /b/ | bok | as in English (bok) said be, like “bay” without the glide into “ee” |
| C c | se /seː/ | /s/ · /k/ | cykel café | “s” before e, i, y (cykel); “k” elsewhere (café) said se, like “say” without the glide; never “see” |
| D d | de /deː/ | /d/ | dag | as in English (dag), with the tongue against the upper teeth said de, like “day” without the glide |
| E e | e /eː/ | /eː/ · /ɛ/ · /ə/ | leva sex pojke | long, like “ay” in “day” without the glide into “ee” (leva); short, like “e” in “bed” (hett); at the end of a word, a weak “a” as in “about” (pojke) said e, like “ay” in “day” without the glide |
| F f | eff /ɛfː/ | /f/ | far | as in English (far) said eff, like English “eff” |
| G g | ge /ɡeː/ | /ɡ/ · /j/ | gå göra | “g” of “go” (gå); before e, i, y, ä and ö it is said like “y” in “yes” (göra) said ge, “gay” with the “g” of “go” |
| H h | hå /hoː/ | /h/ | hus | like “h” in “hat” (hus) said hå, “haw” |
| I i | i /iː/ | /iː/ · /ɪ/ | fin vinter | long, like “ee” in “see” (fin); short, like “i” in “bit” (vinter) said i, like “ee” in “see” |
| J j | ji /jiː/ | /j/ | ja | like “y” in “yes”; never the “j” of “jam” (ja) said ji, “yee”, with the “y” of “yes” |
| K k | kå /koː/ | /k/ · /ɕ/ | katt köpa | “k” of “key” (katt); before e, i, y, ä and ö it is a soft hiss, like “h” in “huge” (köpa) said kå, “kaw” |
| L l | ell /ɛlː/ | /l/ | land | as in English (land), clear and light said ell, like English “el” |
| M m | emm /ɛmː/ | /m/ | mor | as in English (mor) said emm, like English “em” |
| N n | enn /ɛnː/ | /n/ | nej | as in English (nej) said enn, like English “en” |
| O o | o /uː/ | /uː/ · /ʊ/ · /oː/ · /ɔ/ | bok ost son kort | long, like “oo” in “food” (bok); short, like “oo” in “foot” (ost); also like “o” in “more” (son) and short “o” in “hot” (kort) said o, like “oo” in “food”; never “oh” as in English “go” |
| P p | pe /peː/ | /p/ | pojke | as in English (pojke) said pe, like “pay” without the glide |
| Q q | ku /kʉː/ | /k/ | quiz | “k” (quiz); a letter of loanwords said ku, like “kew” with the lips rounded as for u |
| R r | ärr /ærː/ | /r/ | röd | a rolled or tapped “r” at the front of the mouth (röd); never the English “r” said ärr, like “air” with a rolled “r” |
| S s | ess /ɛsː/ | /s/ | sol | “s” of “sun”, always (sol); never “z” said ess, like English “ess” |
| T t | te /teː/ | /t/ | tre | as in English (tre), with the tongue against the upper teeth said te, with the vowel of “day” without the glide |
| U u | u /ʉː/ | /ʉː/ · /ɵ/ | hus ung | long, a sound English lacks: say “ee” with the lips pushed forward and rounded (hus); short, close to “u” in “put” with the lips rounded (ung) said u, the long sound of hus |
| V v | ve /veː/ | /v/ | vatten | as in English (vatten) said ve, with the vowel of “day” without the glide |
| W w | dubbel-v /ˈdɵbːɛlˌveː/ | /v/ | webb | “v” (webb); a letter of foreign words said dubbel-v: “dubbel” and the name of v |
| X x | ex /ɛks/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” as in “box” (taxi) said ex, like English “ex” |
| Y y | y /yː/ | /yː/ · /ʏ/ | by syster | long, the vowel of French tu or German ü: say “ee” with the lips rounded as for “oo” (by); short, the same with a shorter vowel (syster) said y, the long sound of by |
| Z z | zäta /ˈsɛːta/ | /s/ | zoo | “s” of “sun” (zoo); never “z” said zäta, “SEH-ta” with the “e” of “bed” |
| Å å | å /oː/ | long, like “o” in “more” with rounder lips (gå); short, like “o” in “hot” (sång) said å, like “o” in “more” | ||
| Ä ä | ä /ɛː/ | long, like “e” in “bed” but held longer (äta); short, like “e” in “bed” (bäst) said ä, like “e” in “bed”, held longer | ||
| Ö ö | ö /øː/ | long, round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day” (öl); short, close to “u” in “fur” without the “r” (söndag) said ö, the long sound of öl |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: hus (“house”) is spelt hå – u – ess. A double letter is named twice: katt is spelt kå – a – te – te. The letters å, ä and ö are named with their own names. The question Hur stavas det? means “How is that spelt?”.
- hushouse
- gågo
- ätaeat
Remember
The names of e and i are not the English ones: e is said like “ay” in “day” and i like “ee” in “see”. The Swedish j is “yee”, never “jay”, and g is “gay”, never “jee”.
Many consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, h, l, m, n, p, s, t and v. A Swedish p, t and k have a puff of air at the start of a stressed syllable, as in English, and none after s (sko), as in English “sky”. The vowels are pure: e and o do not glide into “ee” or “oo” as English “day” and “go” do. The vowels u, y, å, ä and ö are the ones most new to an English speaker.
Difference from English
English spells one sound in many ways, and says one letter in many ways. Swedish spells with more regularity, but two things are new. Every vowel is either long or short, and a long a is as different from a short a as “father” is from “cat”. And k and g are hard (“k” and “g”) before a, o, u, å and before a consonant, but soft before e, i, y, ä and ö: kall (“cold”) with a hard k, kär (“dear”) with a soft hiss like “h” in “huge”; gå (“go”) with a hard g, göra (“do”) with “y” as in “yes”.
Long and short vowels
A stressed vowel is usually long before one consonant (dag, tak, fin) and short before two or more consonants (katt, vinter, land); a few short words are exceptions (man, han). A stressed vowel at the end of a word is long (gå, by). A double consonant, as in katt and glass, is a mark of a short vowel before it; it is held a little longer, not read as two sounds.
- dag / kattday / cat
- fin / vinterfine / winter
- kall / kärcold / dear
- gå / görago / do
Practise
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Letter groups
Swedish writes several sounds with a group of letters. Some are said as in English: ck is a plain “k”, ng the “ng” of “sing”. Others are new to an English speaker: the sj-sound, spelt in several ways, and the sounds that r forms with the consonant after it.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ck | /k/ | tack | “k” as in “back”; a short vowel comes before it (tack) |
| ng | /ŋ/ | ung | the “ng” of “sing”, with no “g” sound after it (ung) |
| nk | /ŋk/ | bank | the “nk” of “bank” (bank) |
| gn | /ŋn/ | regn | “ng” followed by “n”, like “ngn” (regn); the g is not said as in “sign” |
| sj | /ɧ/ | sju | a breathy sound, like “sh” in “ship” said further back in the mouth, with the lips rounded; no English spelling has it (sju) |
| sk | /ɧ/ · /sk/ | skön skola | the sj-sound before e, i, y, ä and ö (skön); “sk” as in “skate” elsewhere (skola) |
| skj | /ɧ/ | skjorta | the same sj-sound (skjorta) |
| stj | /ɧ/ | stjärna | the same sj-sound (stjärna) |
| tj | /ɕ/ | tjugo | a soft hiss, like “h” in “huge” or a light “ch” (tjugo); the same sound as soft k |
| kj | /ɕ/ | kjol | the same soft hiss as tj (kjol) |
| hj | /j/ | hjälp | “y” as in “yes”; the h is silent (hjälp) |
| dj | /j/ | djur | “y” as in “yes”; the d is silent (djur) |
| lj | /j/ | ljus | “y” as in “yes”; the l is silent (ljus) |
| gj | /j/ | gjorde | “y” as in “yes”; the g is silent (gjorde) |
| rs | /ʂ/ | först | like “sh” in “ship”: r and s are said as one sound, with the tongue curled back (först) |
| rt | /ʈ/ | kort | a “t” said with the tongue curled back; the r is not said (kort) |
| rd | /ɖ/ | bord | a “d” said with the tongue curled back; the r is not said (bord) |
| rn | /ɳ/ | barn | an “n” said with the tongue curled back; the r is not said (barn) |
| rl | /ɭ/ | ärlig | an “l” said with the tongue curled back; the r is not said (ärlig) |
| -tion | /ɧuːn/ | station | “shoon”, with the sj-sound (station) |
- tackthanks
- ungyoung
- sjuseven
- skön / skolabeautiful / school
- tjugotwenty
- hjälphelp
- förstfirst
- kortshort
- barnchild
Difference from English
English has no spelling for the sj-sound. It is something like “sh”, but made further back in the mouth with the lips rounded, and no English word begins with it; a Swedish speaker hears the difference from a plain “sh”, but a learner’s “sh” is understood. The soft hiss of tj and of k before e, i, y, ä and ö is close to the “h” of “huge”, or to a “ch” said lightly.
Remember
In hj, dj, lj and gj only the j is said, as “y” in “yes”. In rs, rt, rd, rn and rl the r is not said as a rolled “r”: the two letters are said as one sound, with the tongue curled back.
Practise
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Written marks
Three letters are written with a mark: å, ä and ö. Each is a letter of its own, placed after z, and a word changes with the mark: så (“so”) and sa (“said”) are two different words, as are far (“father”) and får (“gets”).
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| å | /oː/ · /ɔ/ | gå sång | long, like “o” in “more” with rounder lips; short, like “o” in “hot” (gå, sång) |
| ä | /ɛː/ · /ɛ/ | äta bäst | long, like “e” in “bed” held longer; short, like “e” in “bed” (äta, bäst) |
| ö | /øː/ · /œ/ | öl söndag | round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day”; short, close to “u” in “fur” without the “r” (öl, söndag) |
Difference from English
The marked letters are not accented forms of a and o, as “é” is an accented “e”. They are vowels of their own, with their own place after z in the dictionary, and ö has no English counterpart: it is close to “ur” in “fur” said without an “r” when short, and to French eu.
- gågo
- ätaeat
- ölbeer
- så / saso / said