Svenska

Swedish

Germanic

FamilyGermanic Speakers~10M ScriptLatin CountriesSweden, Finland (Finnish-Swedish ~290K), Estonia (Estonian-Swedish historical) Official inSweden, Finland (alongside Finnish), EU Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3swe

Also known as: Swedish, Svenska

Swedish (Svenska) is a North Germanic language with ~10M speakers — sole official language of Sweden, co-official with Finnish in Finland (Finland-Swedish minority ~290K, especially Åland Islands). Sister to Danish and Norwegian (mutually intelligible Scandinavian dialect continuum, especially in writing). Distinguished by pitch-accent system (acute vs grave on stressed syllables, contrasting words like ánden "the duck" vs ànden "the spirit"). Latin orthography from 13c. Christianization. Standardized 1526 Bible translation. SVO with V2 main clause / V-final subordinate.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Swedish

Water

vatten

/vatːɛn/

Fire

eld

/ɛld/

Sun

sol

/suːl/

Moon

måne

/moːnɛ/

Mother

mamma

/mamːa/

Father

pappa

/papːa/

Eat

äta

/ɛːta/

Drink

dricka

/drɪkːa/

Love

kärlek

/ɕæːɭɛk/

Heart

hjärta

/ˈjæʈːa/

Tree

träd

/trɛːd/

House

hus

/hʉːs/

Dog

hund

/hɵnd/

Cat

katt

/katː/

Hand

hand

/hand/

Eye

öga

/øːɡa/

Hello

hej

/hɛj/

Thank you

tack

/takː/

One

en

/eːn/

Good

bra

/brɑː/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Germanic languages

Meaning SwedishNorwegianNorwegian NynorskMiddle EnglishOld SaxonOld FrisianFaroese
Water vatten /vatːɛn/ vann /vɑnː/ vatn /vɑːtn/ water /watər/ watar /ˈwatar/ wetir /vetiɾ/ vatn /vahtn/
Fire eld /ɛld/ ild /ilː/ eld /ɛld/ fyr /fyːr/ fiur /fiur/ fiur /fjuːɾ/ eldur /ɛltʊɹ/
Sun sol /suːl/ sol /suːl/ sol /suːl/ sonne /sɔnːə/ sunna /ˈsunːa/ sunne /sunːe/ sól /sɔuːl/
Moon måne /moːnɛ/ måne /moːnə/ måne /moːnə/ mone /moːnə/ māno /ˈmaːno/ mōna /moːnɑ/ máni /mɔaːnɪ/
Mother mamma /mamːa/ mor /muːr/ mor /muːr/ moder /moːdər/ muoder /ˈmuodər/ moder /moːdeɾ/ móðir /mɔuːɪɹ/
Father pappa /papːa/ far /fɑːr/ far /fɑːr/ fader /faːdər/ fader /ˈfadər/ feder /fædeɾ/ faðir /fɛaːjɪɹ/
Eat äta /ɛːta/ spise /spiːsə/ eta /eːtɑ/ eten /eːtən/ etan /ˈetan/ eta /etɑ/ eta /eːta/
Drink dricka /drɪkːa/ drikke /drɪkːə/ drikka /drɪkːɑ/ drinken /drɪŋkən/ drinkan /ˈdrinkan/ drinka /dɾinkɑ/ drekka /tɹɛhka/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
Swedish
Jag vill prova en kostym som jag såg i en butik mittemot hotellet
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Ek wil 'n pak aanpas wat ek gesien het ‌in 'n winkel oorkant die hotel
Jeg vil prøve et jakkesæt som jeg i en butik overfor hotellet
Ik wil een pak passen dat ik zag ‌in een winkel tegenover het hotel
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Swedish
Jag vill prova en kostym som jag såg i en butik mittemot hotellet

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