Swedish Basics

👋

Section 1

Greetings & Common Phrases (Vanliga fraser)

When it comes to learning Swedish, there are simply some words and phrases you have to know. If you want to visit our Swedish Hub page, click here.

Hej

Hello / Hi

Hur mår du?

How are you?

God morgon

Good morning

God kväll

Good evening

God natt

Good night

Vi ses snart

See you soon

Jag heter…

My name is…

Ja, tack

Yes, please

Nej, tack

No, thank you

Ibland

Sometimes

Aldrig

Never

Alltid

Always

🔢

Section 2

Numbers (Siffror)

Learn how to count in Swedish from 1 to 20:

1

Ett

One

2

Två

Two

3

Tre

Three

4

Fyra

Four

5

Fem

Five

6

Sex

Six

7

Sju

Seven

8

Åtta

Eight

9

Nio

Nine

10

Tio

Ten

11

Elva

Eleven

12

Tolv

Twelve

13

Tretton

Thirteen

14

Fjorton

Fourteen

15

Femton

Fifteen

16

Sexton

Sixteen

17

Sjutton

Seventeen

18

Arton

Eighteen

19

Nitton

Nineteen

20

Tjugo

Twenty

Ordinal Numbers — In Order (Ordningstal)

1stFörsta

2ndAndra

3rdTredje

4thFjärde

5thFemte

6thSjätte

7thSjunde

8thÅttonde

9thNionde

10thTionde

⚡

Section 3

Common Verbs (Vanliga verb)

Verbs are the engine of every sentence. Here are 12 essential Swedish verbs to get you started:

💬

Tala / Prata

to speak / to talk

🍽

Äta

to eat

🥤

Dricka

to drink

🔨

Göra

to do / to make

🚶

Gå

to go / to walk

👀

Se

to see / to watch

✨

Vara

to be

✏

Skriva

to write

🤚

Ha

to have

🛍

Köpa

to buy

😴

Sova

to sleep

💼

Arbeta

to work

🤔 Swedish Verb Superpower — No Person Conjugation!
Unlike most European languages, Swedish verbs do not change by person. The same present-tense form is used for everyone:
Jag talar (I speak) • Du talar (You speak) • Han/hon talar (He/she speaks) • Vi talar (We speak)
This makes Swedish one of the most learner-friendly languages for English speakers!

🎨

Section 4

Colors (Färger)

Röd

Red

Orange

Gul

Yellow

Grön

Green

Blå

Blue

Lila / Violett

Purple

Svart

Black

Vit

White

Grå

Gray

Brun

Brown

Ljus–

Light

Mörk–

Dark

🧠 Grammar Note — Two Genders & Agreement:
Swedish has two grammatical genders: common (en-words) and neuter (ett-words). Color adjectives change to match: en röd bil (a red car, common) vs ett rött hus (a red house, neuter).
Ljus- and Mörk- work as prefixes: ljusblå (light blue), mörkgrön (dark green) — just like German!

📅

Section 5

Days, Weeks & Months (Dagar, veckor och månader)

📆 Days of the Week

Måndag

Monday

Tisdag

Tuesday

Onsdag

Wednesday

Torsdag

Thursday

Fredag

Friday

Lördag

Saturday

Söndag

Sunday

⏰ Time Words

Dag

Day

Vecka

Week

Månad

Month

År

Year

Decennium

Decade

📅 Months of the Year

Januari

January

Februari

February

Mars

March

April

Maj

May

Juni

June

Juli

July

Augusti

August

September

Oktober

October

November

December

💡 Norse Gods in Your Weekly Planner! Swedish weekdays are named after Norse mythology: Måndag (Moon), Tisdag (Tyr — god of war), Onsdag (Oden/Odin), Torsdag (Tor/Thor), Fredag (Freja — goddess of love). Lördag means “washing day” and Söndag is “Sun day.” English borrowed the same Norse names, so Tuesday through Friday are nearly identical!

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