Swedish/Spelling

Grammar

The ng-sound

tung, tvinga, sväng

regn, lugn, ugn, inhägna

An exception is tvungna because the ng spelling of this word is herited from the particip form tvungen.

The tj-sound

English examples of the tj sound: wash, fish, flush, shallow, ship

Before hard vowel, (at the beginning of words), the tj-sound is spelled tj.

tjusa, tjäna, tjalla, tjog

Before soft vowel, (at the beginning of words), the tj-sound is spelled k.

Kina, kela, kind, kärlek, kyrka, körsbär

When not at the beginning of words the tj-sound is spelled sch or rs.

dusch, usch

fors, färsk, kurs

Exceptions with tj-sound kjol, kiosk

The skj-sound

Before soft vowel the skj-sound is spelled sk.

skepp, skinn, sky, skärm, sköld

Before hard vowel the skj-sound is spelled skj.

skjorta, skjul, skjuta

Before the soft vowel ä the skj-sound is sometimes spelled stj.

stjärna, stjärt, stjälk

For some exceptions the skj-sound is spelled sj.

sju, sjätte

For some exceptions in beginning of words, before a soft vowel the skj-sound is spelled g.

generell, generös, giraff

Before hard vowel in some borrowed words spelled ch.

choklad, chock, chans

Before o in some borrowed words spelled ti.

station, situation, aktion

Initial sch

schack, schampo

The j-sound

jord, boj,

djup, djungel, djärv, djur

gärna, ge

gjuta, gjorde

hjärna, hjälp

ljuvlig, ljus

The rd and rt-sounds

Pronounced with soft r and long preceding vowel ord, börda

kort, art

The r-sound

This sound depends strongly on dialect. There are five variants.

The s-sound

sång, stilla, bas

cykel, cyklop, cyanid, Cecilia

Z is pronounced like s.
zick-zack, zebra, zon

Example Sentences

Många ugnar finns i Kina. Many owens are in China.

Hjärnan är jättestor. The brain is huge.

I djungelns djup finns många djärva djur. Deep in the djungle there is a lot of brave animals.

I skjulet finns skjorta. In the shed there is shirt.

Exercises

Pronounce these words

juni, hjul, jul, djur, gjuta, gubbe, galt, hjort, hjässa, ge, ljuvlig

kurva, tjusig, köra, kärv, kär, tjäle, tjockis, varsel, mars, kjol

skalle, sjal, stjälpa, skjorta, sko, skinn, generad, gumma, gäst, ljus

vart, färd, fart, hord, rabbla, borra, bura in, barrikad

vagn, dunge, djungel, ting, stygn, tvungna, ringla

bastu, vass, central, Barsebäck, morsning, kross, brons

Glossary

en aktion, flera aktioner	a political action, several political actions
en boj, flera bojar	a buoy, several buoys
en chans, flera chanser	a chance, several chances
en chock, flera chocker	a chock, several chocks
en choklad, flera choklader	a chocolate, several chocolates
en djungel, flera djungler	a jungle, several jungles
djup, djupare, djupast	deep, deeper, the deepest
ett djup, flera djup	a depth, several depths
ett djur, flera djur	an animal, several animals
djärv, djärvare, djärvast	brave, braver, the bravest
en dusch, flera duschar	a shower, several showers
en fors, flera forsar	a stream, several streams?
färsk, färskare, fäskast	ripe, riper, the ripest
(att) ge, ger gav, givit	to give, gives, gave, given
(att) göra, gjorde, gjort	to do, does, did, done
generell, mer generell, mest generell	general, more general, the most general
generös, mer generös, mest generös	generous, more generous, the most generous
en giraff, flera giraffer	a giraf, several girafs
(att) inhägna	to fence off
(att) kela	to caress
en kind, flera kinder	a cheek, several cheeks
ett Kina, flera Kina	a China, several China
en kiosk, flera kiosker	a kiosk, several kiosks
en kjol, flera kjolar	a shirt, several shirts
en kurs, flera kurser	a course, several courses
en kyrka, flera kyrkor	a church, several churches
en kärlek, flera kärlekar	a love, several loves
ett körsbär, flera körsbär	a ?, several ?
ett schack, flera schack	a chess, several chesses
ett schampo, flera schampo	a schampoo, several schampoos
den sjätte	the six:th
ett skinn, flera skinn	a skin, several skins
en situation, flera situationer	a situation, several situations
en skjorta, flera skjortor	a shirt, several shirts
ett skjul, flera skjul	a shed, several sheds
en station, flera stationer	a station, several stations
en stjälk, flera stjälkar	a ?, several ?
en stjärna, flera stjärnor	a star, several stars
en stjärt, flera stjärtar	a but, several buts
(att) tjalla	to betray someones secret
ett tjog, flera tjog	an amount of twenty, several amounts of twenty
(att) tjäna	to earn
(att) tjusa	to amaze
lugn, lugnare, lugnast	calm, calmer, the calmest
ett regn, flera regn	a rain, several rains
ett skepp, flera skepp	a ship, several ships
en sväng, flera svängar	a turn, several turns
tung, tyngre, tyngst	heavy, heavier, the heaviest
(att) tvinga	to force
en ugn, flera ugnar	a owen, several owens
usch!	ouch!

Language classification: this is a Swedish language resource.