The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters: the 26 you know from English, plus Å, Ä and Ö at the end. Nine of them are vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y, å, ä, ö). The table below gives each letter, its Swedish name, how it sounds and an example word.
Å, Ä and Ö are letters in their own right, not an A or O with an accent. In a Swedish dictionary they come after Z, and swapping them for a plain a or o changes the word.
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
A a |
a | Long: like "a" in father | glas (glass) |
B b |
be | Like "b" in boy | bil (car) |
C c |
se | "s" before e, i, y; otherwise "k" | citron (lemon) |
D d |
de | Like "d" in dog | dag (day) |
E e |
e | Long: like "e" in café. Short: like "e" in bed | en (one) |
F f |
eff | Like "f" in fish | fisk (fish) |
G g |
ge | Hard "g" before a, o, u, å; like "y" in yes before e, i, y, ä, ö | gata (street), ge (give) |
H h |
hå | Like "h" in hat | hus (house) |
I i |
i | Like "ee" in see | is (ice) |
J j |
ji | Like "y" in yes | ja (yes) |
K k |
kå | "k" before a, o, u, å; a soft "sh"-like sound before e, i, y, ä, ö | katt (cat), kär (in love) |
L l |
ell | Like "l" in love | lampa (lamp) |
M m |
em | Like "m" in man | mamma (mum) |
N n |
en | Like "n" in no | natt (night) |
O o |
o | Often like "oo" in moon; sometimes like "aw" in law | bok (book), son (son) |
P p |
pe | Like "p" in pen | pappa (dad) |
Q q |
ku | Like "k"; rare, mostly in names | Qvist (a surname) |
R r |
ärr | A lightly rolled or tapped r | röd (red) |
S s |
ess | Always like "s" in sun, never "z" | sol (sun) |
T t |
te | Like "t" in top | tack (thanks) |
U u |
u | A tight, rounded "oo" with no exact English match | hus (house) |
V v |
ve | Like "v" in very | vatten (water) |
W w |
dubbel-ve | Like "v"; in loanwords and names | webb (web) |
X x |
eks | Like "ks" in taxi | taxi (taxi) |
Y y |
y | Like "ee" said with rounded lips | ny (new) |
Z z |
säta | Like "s" in sun | zoo (zoo) |
Å å |
å | Like "aw" in law | år (year) |
Ä ä |
ä | Like "ai" in air; short: like "e" in bed | äpple (apple) |
Ö ö |
ö | Like "i" in bird | öra (ear) |
Phone: press and hold A or O and pick the letter you need.
Mac: Option+A gives å. For ä and ö, press Option+U and then a or o.
Windows: hold Alt and type on the number pad: 0229 for å, 0228 for ä, 0246 for ö (capitals: 0197 for Å, 0196 for Ä, 0214 for Ö). You can also add the Swedish keyboard layout in your language settings.
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