Lesson 1

Swedish A1 – LESSON 1

Nouns (Substantiv)

Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.

Here you can read more about Swedish nouns.

👤 People & professions

en man – a husband / man
en fru – a wife
en son – a son
en dotter – a daughter
ett barn – a child
en flickvän – a girlfriend
en sambo – a live-in partner
en pensionär – a retiree
en frisör – a hairdresser
en webbdesigner – a web designer
en fotograf – a photographer
en lärare – a teacher
en servitör – a waiter
en tandläkare – a dentist
en student – a student

🌍 Places and institutions

Sverige – Sweden (no article used for countries)
Spanien – Spain
Argentina – Argentina
Australien – Australia
Tyskland – Germany
Italien – Italy
Trieste – Trieste (city)
Norrköping – Norrköping
Göteborg – Gothenburg
England – England

Other nouns

ett jobb – a job
en kurs – a course
ett språk – a language
ett universitet – a university
en restaurang – a restaurant
en förskola – a preschool
ett namn – a name (implied in introductions like “Jag heter…”)
en ekonomi – an economy (field of study in context)

🏃‍♂️ Verbs

Verbs describe actions

Infinitive	Present Tense	English Meaning
att heta	heter	to be called / to be named
att komma	kommer	to come
att vara	är	to be
att tala	talar	to speak
att prata	pratar	to talk
att bo	bor	to live / reside
att arbeta	arbetar	to work
att jobba	jobbar	to work (colloquial)
att plugga	pluggar	to study (informal, like "cram")
att studera	studerar	to study (formal)
att göra	gör	to do / to make
att ligga	ligger	to be located
att ha	har	to have
att söka	söker	to look for / to search / to apply
att bo ihop	bor ihop	to live together
att jobba extra	jobbar extra	to work extra (e.g. side job)

🙋 Pronomen (Pronouns)

Pronoun (Swedish)	English Meaning	Type
jag	I	Subject pronoun
du	you (singular)	Subject pronoun
hon	she	Subject pronoun
han	he	Subject pronoun
det	it (for ett-words)	Subject/object pronoun
vi	we	Subject pronoun
ni	you (plural)	Subject pronoun
de	they	Subject pronoun
min	my (en-word)	Possessive pronoun

🎨 Adjektiv (Adjectives)

Adjectives describe or modify nouns

Adjective (Swedish)	English Meaning	Notes
gift	married	Used with att vara
sambo	cohabiting (partner)	Often used as a noun too
singel	single	Loanword from English
bra	good	Common in positive reactions
kul	fun / nice	Informal, positive
pyttelite	tiny bit (very small)	Compound word (pytt(e) + lite)
svensk	Swedish	National adjective
schweizare	Swiss (person)	Used as a noun here, adj form = schweizisk
engelsk(a)	English	Adjective or noun (language)
tysk(a)	German	""
italiensk(a)	Italian	""
spansk(a)	Spanish	""
extra	extra	Used as an adverb here ("jobbar extra")

🚀 Adverb (Adverbs)

Adverbs describe how, when, where, or to what degree something happens.

Adverb (Swedish)	English Meaning	Notes
inte	not	Negation (e.g., "Jag arbetar inte")
också	also	Adds information (e.g., "Jag är också sambo")
såklart	of course	Conversational tone
nu	now	Time-related
då	then	Often used in responses ("Vad gör du då?")
pyttelite	a tiny bit	Often considered an adverb in context
väl (not in this text, but common)	probably / surely	Common in spoken Swedish
ju (implied)	of course / as you know	Often softens statements in speech

🔗 Prepositioner (Prepositions)

Prepositions show relationships in space, time, or association.

Preposition (Swedish)	English Meaning
från	from
i	in
på	on / at / in
med	with
till	to
om	about / if
av	by / of

❓ Frågeord (Question Words)

Frågeord (Swedish)	English Meaning	Used to ask about...	Example
Vad?	What?	things, names, languages, etc.	Vad heter du? – What’s your name?
Varifrån?	From where?	origin or starting point	Varifrån kommer du? – Where are you from?
Var?	Where?	location or position	Var ligger Trieste? – Where is Trieste located?

🗣️ Frågeuttryck (Question Expressions)

Expression (Swedish)	English Meaning	Structure / Use
Vad heter du?	What’s your name?	Vad (what) + heter* (are called) + du (you)*
Varifrån kommer du?	Where are you from?	Varifrån (from where) + kommer* (come) + du*
Vad talar du för språk?	What language(s) do you speak?	Literally: What do you speak for language(s)?

📌 1. Verb Position (Ordföljd – Word Order)

In Swedish, the verb is almost always in the second position of a sentence — even if the sentence starts with something other than the subject.

Statement (Påstående)

Swedish English

Jag heter Maria. I am called Maria.

Han bor i Göteborg. He lives in Gothenburg.

Vi talar svenska. We speak Swedish.

Inverted Statement (for focus or time)

Swedish English

Idag jobbar jag hemma. Today I work at home.

I Argentina talar de spanska. In Argentina they speak Spanish.

Daniel heter jag. Daniel is what I’m called. (focus on name)

❓ C. Question with Question Word (Frågeord)

Swedish English

Vad heter du? What’s your name?

Varifrån kommer hon? Where is she from?

Vad talar du för språk? What language do you speak?

❓ D. Yes/No Question (Ja/nej-fråga)

Swedish English

Kommer du från Spanien? Do you come from Spain?

Bor ni i Sverige? Do you live in Sweden?

Talar han engelska? Does he speak English?

📌 2. Negation with “inte” (Not)

Swedish uses inte to negate verbs. It usually comes after the verb.

Affirmative sentence Negative sentence English Translation

Jag arbetar här. Jag arbetar inte här. I do not work here.

Jag jobbar nu. Jag jobbar inte nu. I am not working now.

Jag studerar psykologi. Jag studerar inte psykologi. I am not studying psychology.

📌 3. Verb Conjugation in Presens (Present Tense)

Swedish verbs don’t change with the subject. The same verb form is used for all persons. In present tense: Most verbs end in -r

Swedish English

jag är I am

du är you are

han/hon är he/she is

vi är we are

ni är you (plural) are

de är they are

Everything you need to know about Swedish grammar