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uttal, grammatik, ordkunskap för nybörjare – pronounciation,
grammar, vocabulary for beginners
uttal pronounciation
betoning och längd stress and length
one of the first things you should take notice of, is that the right syllable in words and clauses is
stressed. the stress pattern is also crucial for how vowels and consonants should be pronounced
– it affects both their quality and quantity (length):
ba:nan (the track) but banan: (banana)
the main rule for the lengthening of stressed syllables is that either the vowel sound or the
following consonant sound is lengthened. if the vowel in the stressed syllable is followed by a
doubled consonant or two different consonants, then it is usually short and the following
consonant sounds long:
ma:t (food) – matt: (faint, matt) hu:s (house) – hund: (dog)
bokstäver och ljud letters and sounds
the swedish alphabet has twenty consonant signs: b, c, d, f, g, h,j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x,
and
z. c, q, w, x and z are used only in certain words and do not represent any sounds of their own. the
letter c is pronounced as k or as s depending on which vowel that follows. q is always pronounced
as k, w as v, x as –ksand z as s. three consonant sounds do not have their own letter, namely the
sjsound, the tjsound and the ngsound. the jsound as well as the sjsound can be spelled in many
different ways: djur (animal), hjärta (heart), ljus (light), ge (give) and chef (manager), geni
(genious), sju (seven), station (station), skjorta (shirt).
r can be pronounced either as a velar sound (compare to german and french) as in the southern
part of sweden or apical, with the tip of the tongue, in the middle and northern parts.
the vowels are a, o, u, å and e, i, y, ä, ö. the reason why they come in this order and in two
groups is that the first four are so called hard vowels and the next group are the soft ones. they
have a strong influence on pronounciation of some consonants each vowel can be pronounced in
two, sometimes even three ways (see below):
vokaler/vowels ”hard”(back)lång/long kort/short
a [α:] tala [a] hall
o [u:] sol [u] blomma
u [ū:] du [ө] nummer
Å [o:] åka [Э] åska
”soft” (front)
e [e:] ge [ε] sett
i [i:] skriva [i] titta
y [y:] fyra [y] cykla
Ä [ε:] läsa [ε] mätt
Ö [ǿ:] lök [ǿ] höst
konsonanter/consonants
r – r velar (r) or tonguetip (r)
sj, skj, st, sch etc sju, station, dusch (the sjsound like the english shirt)
k, tj, kj, chetc kina, check, tjur (the tjsound like the english china) see
also “pronounciation” on the website!
ljudbyten – sound changes
as in the survey above, where several vowels change sound depending on the following consonant,
also the letter g, k and –skchange before soft vowels (e,i,y,ä,ö):
g is pronounced g in gata (street), god (good), gul (yellow), and gå (go, walk)
but as j in ge (give), gitarr (guitar), gympa (gymnastics), gärna (gladly) and göra
(do)
k is pronunced k in kaka (bisquit), koka (boil), kul (fun), and kål (cabbage)
but as –tjin kemi (chemistry) kind (cheek) kyckling (chicken), känna (feel) köpa
(buy)
sk is pronunced sk in ska (willshall), skola (school), skugga (shadow), skål (bowl;
cheers)
but as –sjin sked (spoon), skicka (send), skynda (hurry), skära (cut), sköta (take care of)
see also “pronounciation” on the website!
grammatik – grammar (basic grammar mainly connecting to the first course.)
några viktiga grammatiska termer a few important grammar terms
adjektiv adverb bestämd form bisats böja genitiv hjälpverb huvudsats imperativ infinitiv komparation komparativ
konjunktion obestämd form indefinite form objekt oregelbunden ord följd perfekt personliga pronomen plural
pluskvamperfekt pluperfect positiv possessiva pronomen preposition presens preteritum pronomen reflexiva pronomen
relativa pronomen sats satsadverb satsdel singular superlative subject substantiv supinum verb adjective adverb definite
form subordinate clause conjugate genitive auxiliary verb main clause imperative infinitive comparison comparative
conjunction
object irregular word order perfect personal pronouns plural
basic form (adjective) possessive pronouns preposition present tense past tense
pronoun reflexive pronoun relative pronouns clause sentence adverb sentence
elemant singular superlative subject noun supine verb
some classroom vocabulary
skriv! (write!), lyssna!/hör! (listen!), läs! (read!), säg!/tala! (tell!/speak!), fråga! (ask!),
arbeta tvåochtvå! (work in pairs!),
läxa (homework)
hur säger man…? (how do you say/express…?)
ursäkta, jag förstår inte. (excuse me, i don’t understand.)
kan du vara snäll och säga det igen? (could you please say that again?)
hej och välkommen! – tack!
tack för idag – tack, detsamma!
vi ses på onsdag/torsdag/nästa vecka. hej då! –hej då!
muntlig – oral, skriftlig – written, hör/lyssna – hear/listen don’t forget: always ”med vänliga
hälsningar” at the end of letters and emails!
personliga pronomen pronouns are used instead of peoples names or nouns:
subjective form objective form
jag i migme
du you dig you
han he honom him
hon she henne her
den it den it
det it det it
vi we ossus
ni you er you
de they dem them
the subject form is used when the pronoun is the subject: han sjunger. (he´s
singing.)
the objective form is used when the pronoun is the object or comes after a
preposition:
jag sjunger för dig. (i’m singing for you.)
hon älskar honom. (she loves him.)
har du ringt till dem? (have you called them?)
reflexiva och possesiva pronomen – reflexive and possessive pronouns
the reflexive form is used together with reflexive verbs like: daniel klär på sig. (daniel’s
dressing.)
sandra tvättar sig. (sandra’s washing herself.) vi måste skynda oss. (we’d better hurry up!)
mig myself
dig yourself
sig himself
sig herself
sig itself
sig itself
oss
ourselves
er
yourselves
sig
themselves
other common reflexive verbs are: kamma sig (comb oneself), roa sig (amuse oneself), raka sig
(shave…), lägga sig (lie down), sätta sig (sit down), känna sig (feel…), gifta sig (marry),
bestämma
sig (decide…).
possessive pronouns tells to whom a certain noun belongs: det är min väska! (it’s my bag!) den
där
är er. (that one’s yours.) they have an agreement conjugation with the noun depending on whether
it
is a enword, a ettword or plural.
enwords ettwords plural
min (my) väska mitt körkort (driving lic.) mina glasögon (spectacles) din (your/s) ditt dina hans
(his) hans hans hennes (her/s) hennes hennes dess (its) dess dess vår (our/s) vårt våra er (your/s)
ert era deras (their/s) deras deras ordfÖljd – word order a main clause can stand alone and
constitutes a whole sentence. it must include at least a subject and a verb (predicate) and can be:
•a statement: hon talar engelska. (she speaks english.)
•a question (without a question word): talar hon engelska? (does she speak english?)
•a command: tala svenska! (speak swedish!)
in a main clause the first verb always appears on place 2. in a question without question word, as
who (vem), what (vad), where (var), why (varför), when (när), hur (how) etc or in a command
place 1 is empty: imorgon blir det fint väder. då kan vi åka och bada. (tomorrow it will be nice
weather. then we can go and swim.)
in longer and more complexe sentences with objects and several verbs and adverbs you can switch
word order but the main verb will always appear on place 2.
ex: det blir fint väder imorgon, så då kan vi åka och bada.
imorgon blir det fint väder, så då kan vi åka och bada.
vädret blir fint imorgon, så då kan vi åka och bada.
bisatser/subordinate clauses
a subordinate clause always begin with an opening word – a subordinator/bisatsinledare the
subject and the sentence adverb always come before the first verb in a subordinate clause a
subordinate clause is a part of a main clause. together they may constitute a complete sentence; a
subordinate clause can never stand alone.
jag vet att ni förstår. / han älskar att åka skidor. (i know that you understand./he loves to ski.)
vi kan gå ut om det inte regnar. (we can go out if it does not rain.)
jag dricker kaffe innan jag börjar arbeta. (i drink coffee before i start to work.)
han läste tidningen medan han väntade. (he read the paper while he was waiting.
and also…
eftersom jag var sjuk kunde jag inte komma. (since/as i was ill i could not come.)
note that when you start with the subordinate clause you get reversed word order in the main
clause!
bisatsinledare/subordinators
att när innan medan sedan tills eftersom
that when before while since until since, because
därför att om fastän trots att för att som
because if although although in order to who, which, that verb
verbs tell us that someone is doing something or something happens or “is”. swedish verbs use
the same form for all persons in the singular and plural:
sing. presens plur.
jag är/har ( i am/have) du är/har (you
are/have) han/hon är/har (he/she is/has)
den/det är/har (it is/has) vi är/har (we
are/have) ni är/har (you are/have) de är/har
(they are/have)
to express different tenses the verbs can be conjugated. presens (present tense) is used for
something that happens right now and it always ends with an r: jag studerar nu (i study/i’m
studying right now.)
preteritum (past tense) is used for something that happened in the past, at a certain time: sara
tentade igår (sara had an examination yesterday.) or when an action or time period is finished:
martin bodde i lund i två år. (martin lived in lund for two years.). the preteritum endings differ
depending on which stem the verb has:
basic form preteritum
titta (look) jag tittade på tv igår. basic form + de 2 a. stäng (shut)
stängde du fönstret? basic form + de
b. läs (read) läste du
boken? basic form +
de, te after
p, k, s, t
3. bo martin bodde i lund… basic form + dde
4. gå vi gick hem från festen.
some verbs change vowel
(see below)
perfekt, the perfect, is used when something happened before now:
a. if you don’t know the exact time: tobias har skrivit på sin uppsats. (tobias has been
writing his thesis.)
b. if it’s not a finished action or time: anna har studerat den här veckan. (anna’s been
studying this week.)
perfekt consists of the verb har + the basic form + t: har skrivitstuderat. the form is called
supinum
(supine).
the infinitive form (same as in english: att tala grundform + a, to speak) is the form used as
headword in most dictionaries and always stands together with another verb, a so called auxiliary
verb
like kan, vill, ska , måste etc (see page 48 in the textbook!)
future is mostly expressed with auxiliary verbs like ska, tänker (shall, will) or just as a present
form:
jag ska/tänker åka till karlshamn imorgon. (i shall/will go to karlshamn tomorrow)
jag åker till karlshamn imorgon (i’m going to karlshamn imorgon.)
the basic form (the stem) is the imperative which is used for commands or instructions: titta på
tavlan! (look at the whiteboard!) läs högre! (read louder!) the conjugating pattern for most verbs
depends on which ending they have in the stem.
infinitive, preteritum and supinum are, like in english, the forms you use to make a “theme” of a
verb, like: åka, åkte, åkt (go, went, gone). in this example you can see that the swedish verb is
regular (regelbundet) and the english is irregular (oregelbundet) i.e. the later change vowel or
becomes a whole new word. it could, of course, be the opposite as well.
“studera” is a regular verb; as most verbs ending with a vowel –a. in the present it ends with an
–r (like all verbs), some keep their ending –a plus r, some change to an ending –e plus –r, like
skriva – skriver.
however, there are, of course, a lot of verbs that are not regular or they are conjugated in a
different way. you have to learn these verbs. below is a list of some the most common verbs of
these categories:
några vanliga oregelbundna verb – some common irregular verbs
are there any irregular verbs in the texts which you cannot find here? visit
www.kreativpedagogik.se and click the link böj verb to get the correct conjugation!
verb tempusformer
nu presens
har läser
är går
studerar
gör bor
den här veckan, idag, i år perfekt
har haft har läst
har varit har gått
har
studerat
har gjort har bott
igår, förra veckan, i fjol,, i lördags, för … sedan – preteritum
hade läste
var gick
studerade
gjorde bodde
imorgon, nästa vecka, på lördag, om ett år – futurum
ska ha läser
är tänker gå
ska studera
ska göra kommer att
bo
Övning
vi ……….. i malmö nu.
hon ska …………. biologi i lund nästa termin.
de ………….. i samma hus förra året.
jag har ………….. i ronneby idag.
han ………… annas bror.
hjälpverb och huvudverb auxiliary and main verbs
time can be expressed with simple verb forms like the present and the past as well as with
compound forms, the perfect and the future for example. the compound forms of the verb consist
of two or three verbs. the perfect is formed with har + the supine: han har åkt. (he has gone). har
is here used as the auxiliary verb and the supine form of the verb åka is the main verb.
the future is often expressed with the auxiliary verbs ska/tänker: jag ska åka till
malmö imorgon./jag tänker tvätta på torsdag. (i’m going to malmö tomorrow./i’m planning to do
the laundry on thursday.) other auxiliary verbs express modality (see also page 48 in the
textbook), bör (ought to), kan (can), få (may), vill (want): jag vill gå på puben ikväll! (i want to go
to the pub tonight!)
notice that if two verbs are used together, the second one always is an infinite (except for
har/hade)!
substantiv nouns
singular, indefinite form nouns are words for things and persons: bil (car), kvinna (woman), träd
(tree), hus (house). swedish nouns are divided into two genders: enwords like en bil , en kvinna
and ettwords like ett träd, ett hus. you use the articles en or ett (the indefinite form) when you
speak about someone or something for the first time: jag träffade en trevlig kille på tåget idag. (i
met a nice guy on the train today.) it is important to know the gender, because the definite form
and adjectiveconjugating depends on it.
it is hard to tell whether a noun is an en –or an ettword but almost 80% of all
swedish nouns are enwords, among them most words for denoting people, animals and
professions. note: when you learn a new noun, always memorize the gender and the plural form!
however, there are expressions when you do not use the article: malin tycker om kaffe. (malin
likes coffee.) stefan åker tåg. (stefan is going by train.) vi äter lunch kl 12! (we’re having lunch
at noon!) olle spelar gitarr. (olle plays the guitar.) Åsa är polis. (Åsa is a policewoman.)
singular, definite form when you speak (or write) about something or someone already known for
the listener (or reader) you use the definite form: jag har en bil och ett hus. bilen är ny men huset
är gammalt. se på månen! (i have a car and a house. the car is new but the house is old. look at the
moon!) in swedish you add the definite form as an ending –n, en, t, or –et (it has the same
function as the english “the”) to the noun depending on whether it is a enor a ettword. (note
also how the adjectives are congruated with the nouns!)
plural, indefinite there are five different ways to make the plural in swedish:
1. –or en flicka, två flickor (a, one girl, two girls)
2. –ar en säng, tre sängar; en pojke, fyra poj kar; en tidning, fem tidningar (bed, boy,
newspaper)
3. –er en gardin, sex gardiner, ett bageri, sju bagerier (curtain, bakery)
4. –n ett frimärke, åtta frimärken (stamp)
5. ett hus, nio hus; en lärare, flera lärare
plural definite form (using like the singular definite form)
indefinite plural definite plural
flickor, bilar flickorna, bilarna (add the plural ending –na)
hus husen (add the plural ending –en)
yrken (professions) yrkena (add the plural ending –a)
example
genitive the genitive form tells about someone who owns something, just add an –s to the
singular or plural noun: johans cykel. (johans bicycle.) studenternas böcker. (the student’s
books.) note that names ending with an –s doesn’t get another s and an apostrophe like in
english: anders ryggsäck. (anders’ backpack.)
adjektiv
the adjective tells us how someone or something is. like the possessive pronouns they
have an agreement conjugation with the noun:
enwords ettwords plural definite form
gul gult gula gula (yellow)
most adjectives have the regular form as above, but some have special forms:
en gul bil. ett gult hus. många gula cyklar. den gula bollen.
en liten pojke. ett litet äpple. fyra små tomater. det lilla barnet.
the definite form of the adjectives is used after den, det, de (the), den här/där (this/that),
det här/där (this/that), de här/där (these/those), denna, detta, dessa (this/theese), samma
(the same), förra (the previous), nästa (next), the possessive pronouns and the genitive
form:
den stora bussen. min nya dator. annas långa klänning är vacker. det lilla huset.
mitt nya jobb är roligt. den här restaurangen var bra! de små röda stolarna. mina
nya skor är dyra.
e) Övningar – exercises
1.1. en ……………. sommardag. (varm)
2.2. ett ……………. spel. (rolig)
3.3. en ……………. film. (bra)
4.4. ett par …………….. skor. (billig)
5.5. en ……………. flicka. (ung)
6.6. en ……………. kvinna (gammal)
7.7. två …………… bilar. (stor)
8.8. en …………….. pojke (liten)
9.9. en ……………. övning (lätt)
10.10. ett ……………. problem (svår)
comparison of adjectives
most adjectives use the regular forms of comparison:
basic form comparative superlative superl. def. form
kort kortare kortast kortaste (short) (shorter)
(shortest) (the shortest)
dagarna är kortare nu än i början på sommaren men kortast är de i december.
there are also adjectives with a different comparison:
stor större lång längre ung yngre gammal äldre liten
mindre bra bättre dålig sämre många flera störst största
(big, large) längst längsta (long) yngst yngsta (young)
äldst äldsta (old) minst minsta (small) bäst bästa (good)
sämst sämsta (bad) flest flesta (many)
some adjectives, like in english, use mer (more) and mest (most) in the comparative and
superlative, for example:
praktisk mer praktisk mest praktisk
intresserad mer intresserad mest intresserad
2. possessiva pronomen (note! always followed by a noun in indefinite form!)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (jag)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (du)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (han)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (hon)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (vi)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (ni)
________ bil _________ rum _________ nycklar (de)
key: see the survey in the grammar compendium!
adverb sentence adverbs usually appears right after the subject or the first
verb: jag kan inte komma i morgon! (i can not come tomorrow!) here is a
list of some common sentence adverbs
aldrig (never) kanske (maybe)
alltid (always) också (also, too)
bara (only, just) ofta (often)
egentligen (really) redan (already)
faktiskt (actually, as a matter of fact) snart (soon)
gärna (gladly, i’d be happy to…) tyvärr (unfortunately)
inte (not) väl (maybe,probably)
some vocabulary for university students
swedish english
student utbildning högskola/universitet magister utbytestermin Ämne/program vetenskap
forskning utvärdering uppsats/avhandling doktorand akademiker/isk filosofie kandidat
studentkåren uppgift uppsats presentation/redovisning rapport grupparbete tentamen
examensarbete föreläsning lektion lärare student education institute/university master
exchangesemester subject/program science research evaluation thesis ph. d. graduate
bachelor degree the student union assignment essay presentation report group sessions
examination exjob lecture lesson, class teacher
vad studerar/läser du? (what are you studying?)
några andra viktiga ord – some other important words:
apotek (pharmacy), bank (bank) posten(post office), tåg (train), buss (bus)
sjukhus (hospital), läkare (doctor), sjuksköterska (nurse),
remember: if you’re not badly injured or ill – call the student’s nurse or vårdcentralen (the
medical
centre) and make an appointment!
prepositioner
…..