Foreign Service Institute Swedish Basic Course

Unit 1: Getting Around

Listen to or download audio (right click and choose Save As...). First you will hear the phrases below in bold, then all of the words and phrases will be pronounced twice.

Basic Sentences

Useful Words and Phrases

good	god, gott, goda
day	dag -en -ar
Hello (how do you do?)	Goddag.
Hi.	Hej. [1]

morning	morgon -en, mor(g)nar
Good morning.	God morgon.

night	natt -en, nätter
Good night.	God natt.

Good-bye.	Adjö.

Mr.	Herr
gentleman	herr/e -en -ar
Mr. Berg.	Herr Berg.

Mrs., wife	fru -n -ar
Mrs. Stromback.	Fru Strömbäck.

Miss (also to waitress or salesgirl)	fröken, fröken, fröknar
Miss Hansson.	Fröken Hansson.

how	hur
to stand	att stå -r, stod, stått
stand(s)	står
it	det
to	till
How are you?	Hur står det till? [2]

thank you	tack
fine, well	bra
to feel	att må -r, mådde, mått
feel(s)	mår
you (sing.)	du
self	själv
Thanks, fine. How are you?	Tack, bra. Hur mår du själv? [2][3]

to speak	att tal/a -ar -ade -at
speak(s)	talar
Swedish (the language)	svenska -n -ø
Do you speak Swedish?	Talar du svenska?

yes	ja
little	lite
bit	grann
Yes, a little bit.	Ja, lite grann.

no	nej
not	inte
at all	alls
No, not at all	Nej, inte alls.

to understand	att förstå -r, förstod, förstått
understand(s)	förstår
me	mig
Do you understand me?	Förstår du mig?

I	jag
you (obj. form)	dig
No, I don't understand you.	Nej, jag förstår dig inte.

to be	att vara, är, var, varit
be (imperative)	var
kind, good	snäll -t -a
please	var snäll
and	och
speak (imperative)	tala
slowly	långsamt
Please speak slowly.	Var snäll och tala långsamt.

now	nu
Thanks, I understand now.	Tack, jag förstår nu.

Excuse (me).	Ursäkta.

where	var
to be found, exist	att finnas, finns, fanns, funnits
is (found)	finns
there is (are)	det finns
a, an	en, ett
telephone	telefon -en -er
Where is there a telephone?	Var finns det en telefon?
restaurant?	Var finns det en restaurang -en -er
hotel?	Var finns det ett hotell -et -ø
restroom?	Var finns det en toalett -en -er
room?	Var finns det ett rum -met -ø [4]

bus	buss -en -ar
stop	hållplats -en -er
here	här
in	i
in the vicinity, nearby	i närheten
subway	tunnelban/a -an -or
station	station -en -er
Is there a bus stop nearby?	Finns det en busshållplats här i närheten?
a subway station?	Finns det en tunnelbanestation här i närheten?
a train station?	Finns det en järnvägsstation här i närheten?

there	där
away	borta
Yes, over there.	Ja, där borta.

right	höger
To the right.	Till höger.

left	vänster
To the left.	Till vänster.

straight	rakt
ahead, forward	fram
Straight ahead.	Rakt fram.

to be able to	att kunna, kan, kunde, kunnat
can	kan
to help	att hjälp/a -er -te -t
Can I help you?	Kan jag hjälpa dig?

to say, to tell	att säg/a -er, sade, sagt
one, you	man
to walk, to go	att gå -r, gick, gått
walk(s)	går
to	till
the American Embassy	amerikanska ambassaden
Can you tell me how you get to the American Embassy?	Kan du säga mig hur man går till amerikanska ambassaden?

walk (imperative)	gå
just, only	bara
to see	att se -r, såg, sett
see(s)	ser
Just walk straight ahead. You'll see the Embassy on your left.	Gå bara rakt fram. Du ser ambassaden till vänster.

so, very	så
much	mycket
Thank you very much.	Tack så mycket.

no	ingen, inget, inga
cause, reason	orsak -en -er
Don't mention it. (You're welcome.)	Ingen orsak.

to be allowed (to); to receive	att få -r, fick, fått
may	får
to buy	att köp/a -er -te -t
some, a few, any	någon, något, några
postcard	vykort -et -ø
I would like (to buy) some postcards.	Kan jag få köpa några vykort. [5]

many	många
to want	att vilja, vill, ville, velat
want(s)	vill
you (polite form, and plural)	ni
to have	att ha -r, hade, haft
How many do you want?	Hur många vill ni ha? [6]

what	vad
to cost	att kost/a -ar -ade -at
cost(s)	kostar
How much does it cost?	Vad kostar det?

crown	kron/a -an -or
fifty	femtio
ore	öre -t -n
One crown and 50 ore.	En krona och femtio öre (en och femtio). [7]

to give	att ge -r, gav, gett
give (imperative)	ge
day	dag -en -ar
news	nyhet -en -er
too, also	också
Please give me a Dagens Nyheter too.	Var snäll och ge mig en Dagens Nyheter också. [8]

Here you are. (Be so good.)	Var så god. [9]

to become, to be	att bli -r, blev, blivit, blir
become(s), will be	blir
How much will it be?	Hur mycket blir det? [10]

four	fyra
It will be four crowns. please.	Det blir fyra kronor, tack.

Eating and Drinking in a Restaurant

to eat	att ät/a -er, åt, ätit
eat(s)	äter
lunch	lunch -en -er
dinner	middag -en -ar
breakfast	frukost -en -ar
We are having lunch.	Vi äter lunch.
dinner	Vi äter middag.
breakfast.	Vi äter frukost.

to look, to see	att se -r, såg, sett
at, on	på
menu	matsedel -n, matsedlar
May I look at the menu?	Kan jag få se på matsedeln?

a couple, pair	ett par -et -0
cheese	ost -en -ar
sandwich (open faced)	smörgås -en -ar
May I have a couple of cheese sandwiches?	Kan jag få ett par ostsmörgåsar? [11]

waitress	servitris -en -er
to drink	att drick/a -er, drack, druckit
coffee	kaffe -t -ø
Waitress: What would you like to drink?	Servitrisen: Vad vill ni ha att dricka?
Coffee?	Kaffe?

glass	glas -et -ø
milk	mjölk -en -ø
water	vatt/en -net -ø
beer	öl -et -ø
wine	vin -et -er
May I have a glass of milk, please?	Kan jag få ett glas mjölk?
water?	Kan jag få ett glas vatten?
beer?	Kan jag få ett glas öl?
wine?	Kan jag få ett glas vin?

cup	kopp -en -ar
tea	te -et -ø
A cup of coffee, please.	En kopp kaffe, tack.
tea	En kopp te, tack.

some, a little	lite
butter	smör -et -ø
bread	bröd -et -ø
Some bread and butter.	Lite smör och bröd.

Numbers

0	noll	20	tjugo
1	en, ett	21	tjugoen, tjugoett
2	två	22	tjugotvå
3	tre	23	tjugotre
4	fyra	24	tjugofyra
5	fem	25	tjugofem
6	sex	26	tjugosex
7	sju	27	tjugosju
8	åtta	28	tjugoåtta
9	nio	29	tjugonio
10	tio	30	trettio
11	elva	31	trettioen, trettioett
12	tolv	32	trettiotvå
13	tretton	40	fyrtio
14	fjorton	41	fyrtioen, fyrtioett
15	femton	50	femtio
16	sexton	60	sextio
17	sjutton	70	sjutio
18	arton	80	åttio
19	nitton	90	nittio

100	(ett)hundra
200	tvåhundra
1,000	(ett)husen
2,000	tvåtusen
100,000	(ett)hundra tusen
1,000,000	en miljon
2,000,000	två miljoner
1,000,000,000	en miljard
2,000,000,000	två miljarder
one trillion	en biljon

Notes on Basic Sentences

At this point we'd like to call your attention to some of the things you've been learning to say in the Basic Sentences. Sometimes it will be important for you to practice grammatical patterns from the sentences; for this purpose we are including a Points to Practice section, where you will find explanations as well. However, there are some other points which you should understand now, even though you don't need to work with them intensively yet. Read through this section carefully, and then go back over the Basic Sentences once more to be sure you are fully aware of what we are pointing out.

[1] Goddag, Hej. While in English "Good day" is an expression used upon taking leave of someone, Goddag is used by Swedes as a greeting approximately corresponding to "Hello." The informal Hej is more widely used but it implies also the use of the informal du.

[2] stå till, må. Stå till is more formal than må. Hur står det till is therefore more appropriately asked of a person whom one does not call du.

[3] Du. "You" can be translated with du (sing.) or ni (formal sing. and plural of du/ni) in Swedish. The use of the informal du is rapidly growing in Sweden and will most likely soon be the only form of addressing a person. Most young people nowadays call everyone du (however, eyebrows were raised when a young journalist interviewing the king called His Majesty du) and du is used between all employees and management in many factories and offices. However, with conservative and older Swedes it is wise for a newcomer to be cautious and let the Swede indicate how he or she prefers to be addressed.

[4] Var finns det ... Det finns is the Swedish equivalent of English "there is" and "there are". The reversed word order used here is a result of the question pattern (compare English "Where is/are there ... ?").

[5] Kan jag få ... corresponds to the English "may I have". Example: Kan jag få en kopp kaffe? (May I have a cup of coffee?). Another infinitive may be added to kan jag få. In that case få loses its meaning of "have". The second infinitive becomes the key word and kan jag få takes on the meaning of "may I". Examples: Kan jag få köpa ... (May I buy ... ); Kan jag få se ... (May I look ... ). This is one of a number of Swedish equivalents of English "please". Another way of saying "please" is var snäll och ...

[6] Vill. In Swedish vill = "want" and should never be confused with "will" in English.

[7] Krona, öre. The krona is the Swedish currency unit; there are 100 öre per krona.

[8] Dagens Nyheter is one of the two Stockholm morning newspapers.

[9] Var så god has two different uses: 1. meaning "here you are" (a bit of graciousness) when handing over something; 2. meaning "you are welcome" in answer to "thank you".

[10] Hur mycket blir det? Note that the present tense of the verb att bli (blir) is used with the same meaning as the English "will be". Be sure to learn this expression now; a grammatical explanation will come later.

[11] Ett par ostsmörgåsar. In English we express quantity with the preposition "of", for example "a glass of milk, a cup of coffee". In Swedish the quantifier simply precedes the noun directly, and no preposition is used.
Examples: ett par ostsmörgåsar, ett glas mjölk, en kopp kaffe.

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