Jag lr mig svenska

med YFU

Dear students,
Being an exchange student for one year in Sweden doesnt just mean that you are
going to live in a Swedish family and go to a Swedish school, it is also a great
opportunity for you to learn the Swedish language!
Even though Swedish isnt a global language, previous exchanges have shown that it
is easier to embrace the culture and the mentality, and get more out of an exchange
year by learning the language spoken in the country.
Learning a new language is usually a long process, but which is easier for some and
harder for others. Either way, YFU wants to give every student the opportunity to
learn Swedish while being on an exchange year here.
That is why we have put together this booklet of Swedish material. It is divided into
different themes, where the different exercises are divided into three levels, to suit
beginners as well as students who have studied Swedish before. As a beginner,
dont be intimidated by all the exercises and grammar. Learning Swedish is not easy
and this booklet is made for you to keep and to learn from throughout your whole
exchange year.
Lycka till!
/YFU Sweden

1. The alphabet and letters (Alfabetet och bokstver)

a)The alphabet (Alfabetet)

If its hard to remember how to pronounce the Swedish letters, write down how the
Swedish letters sound in your own language.
b)Vowels (Vokaler)

Many foreigners that are learning Swedish usually find the Swedish vowels hard to
pronounce. Make sure to practice pronouncing the vowels an extra couple of times
understanding how the vowels are pronounced will help you a lot!

c) Exercise: Words on each letter (vning: ord p varje bokstav)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

apa
banan
cykel
drr
el
familj
groda
hem
3

I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

is
jordgubbe
katt
lampa
mamma
nsa
orm
pappa
Qvist
ros
syster
trappa
ugn
vas
Waxholm
xylofon
yxa
zon
nga
rta
ga

d) Exercise: Come up with other words (vning: kom p andra ord)

If you have time try to come up with other Swedish nouns for each letter. Go through
every letter from A- and let the group come up with as many nouns they can on
each letter.

e) Exercise: Common words with , , (vning: Vanliga ord med , och )

ra
r
s
ocks
p
sr
vr
vg

r
bra
vg
slja
hr
dr
bst
knna

ra
gra
fr
kra
hg
mjlig
strst
brja

1. Numbers (Siffror)
a) Numbers (Siffror)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Ett
Tv
Tre
Fyra
Fem
Sex
Sju
tta
Nio
Tio

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Elva
Tolv
Tretton
Fjorton
Femton
Sexton
Sjutton
Arton
Nitton
Tjugo

21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Tjugoett
Tjugotv
Tjugotre
Tjugofyra
Tjugofem
Tjugosex
Tjugosju
Tjugotta
Tjugonio
Trettio

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Trettioett
Trettiotv
Trettiotre
Trettiofyra
Trettiofem
Trettiosex
Trettiosju
Trettiotta
Trettionio
Fyrtio

10
20
30
40
50

Tio
Tjugo
Trettio
Fyrtio
Femtio

60
70
80
90
100
1000

Sextio
Sjuttio
ttio
Nittio
Hundra
Tusen

b) Exercise: what are the names of the numbers? (vning: vad heter
siffrorna?)

Work in pairs. Let one person point at different numbers below and let the other
person pronounce the numbers that get pointed at. Then switch, so that the person
who pronounced point and the person who pointed gets to ponounce. Use the a)
exercise as a key if needed, but try to guess as many numbers as possible before
looking at the right answers.

c) Exercise: Switch phone numbers and addresses (vning: Byta

telefonnummer och adress)
Work in pairs. Tell your partner your phone number and your address using the
Swedish numbers.
d) Exercise: Money Swedish bills and coins (Pengar svenska sedlar och
mynt)
Try matching the words with the pictures by writing the right word below each picture.
Then practice pronouncing the words (either with a partner or the group leader).

En krona
En tjugolapp (en tjuga)
En femhundralapp
En femma
En hundralapp (en hundring)

En tia
En femotiolapp

6 .

2. Presentation
a) To introduce oneself (Att introducera sig sjlv)
Hej,
Jag heter Mark
Jag r utbytesstudent
Jag kommer frn Australien
Jag r 16 r gammal
Jag bor hos en vrdfamilj i Stockholm
Jag pratar engelska
Jag pratar lite svenska
b) Countries and languages (Lnder och sprk)
Lnder

Sprk

Amerika (USA)
Argentina
Australien
Belgien
Brasilien
Estland
Finland
Frankrike
Indien
Japan
Mexico
Moldavien
Nederlnderna
Nya Zeeland
Spanien
Storbritannien
Sverige
Schweiz
Sydafrika
Tyskland
Ungern
Uruguay
Venezuela

engelska
spanska
engelska
franska, flamlndska
portugisiska
estniska
finska
franska
indiska
japanska
spanska
moldoviska
hollndska
engelska
spanska
engelska
svenska
tyska, franska, italienska
afrikaans
tyska
ungerska
spanska
spanska

c) Greetings (Hlsningsfraser)
Hej
Hejsan
Hall
Tjena
Tja

God morgon
God natt
Ha det bra
Vi ses
Hej d
7

d) Exercise: Introduce yourself (vning: Presentera dig sjlv)

Work in pairs. Introduce yourself to you partner and let your partner introduce
herself/himself to you by using the expressions and words above (exercise a-c).

e) Exercise: Introduce your partner (vning: presentera din partner)

Introduce your partner to the rest of the group. Start with Det hr r and then
continue with Hon/Han heter Hon/han bor etc,

f) Useful phrases (Anvndbara fraser)

I can only speak a little Swedish
I dont understand
Thanks for the food
Youre welcome
Sorry
Excuse me
I like
I dont like

Jag kan bara prata lite svenska

Jag frstr inte
Tack fr maten
Varsgod
Frlt
Urskta mig
Jag tycker om
Jag tycker inte om

g) Interrogatives (Frgeord)
Vad?
Vilken/vilket?
Vem?
Varfr?
Nr?

Hur?
Var?
Vart?
Varifrn?

The difference between var and vart - vart is used when there is a movement, for
example: vart ska vi? = where are we going?. Compare with var ligger
stationen? = where is the station?

h) Useful questions (Anvndbara frgor)

Engelska

Svenska

Whats your name?

What does that mean?
What is In Swedish?
What is that?

Vad heter du?

Vad betyder det?
Vad heter p svenska?
Vad r det?
8

What time does school start?

Who was that?
How are you?
Where do you live?
Where are we going tonight?

Vilken tid brjar skolan?

Vem var det?
Hur mr du?
Var bort du?
Vart ska vi ikvll?

i) Exercise: Ask each other questions (vning: frga varandra frgor)

Work in pairs and let one person ask random questions (for example; Which is your
favorite color, where are you from etc) in Swedish and let the other person answer.
Try to come up with questions for all the questioning words. Ask your leader if you
have questions.

3. Grammar: nouns (Grammatik: Substantiv)

a) A noun (Ett substantiv) is a word to name a thing, a person, an animal, a
place
b) Indefinite articles (En och ett)
Nouns in Swedish have two genders, common and neuter. These genders are
signified by the indefinite articles: en and ett. In most cases, you cant tell if a noun
is a neuter or a common gender you just simply have to memorize the gender for
each noun you learn. The majority of nouns in Swedish are common gender
though.
ett barn
en flicka
en pojke
en man
en kvinna
en bok
en telefon
en stol
en penna
ett rum
ett fnster
en blomma
en skola

child
girl
boy
man
woman
book
telephone
chair
pencil
room
window
flower
school

c) Definite articles (Den och det)

In swedish the definite form isnt a separate word like in many other languages,
instead it is formed by an article, usually en or et, which is attached to the end of
the noun. (Exceptions: If an en-word ends with a vowel, only n is added and if an
ett-word ends with an e, only t is added.)
Ett barn
En telefon
Ett trd
En banan
En blomma
Ett ga

barnet
telfonen
trdet
bananen
blomman
gat

d) Plural
An en-word takes one of the following endings when it is pluralized: or, ar, er.
An ett-word takes an n or no ending at all.
10

Indefinite Plural
En words that end in -a
En words that end in -e
En words with stress on
last vowel
Ett words that end in a
vowel
Ett words that end in a
consonant

drop -a and
add -or
drop -e and
add -ar

en klocka klockor

a watch - (some)
watches

en pojke - pojkar a boy - (some) boys

en kamrat kamrater

a friend - (some)
friends
a place - (some)
ett stlle - stllen
places
a room - (some)
ett rum - rum
rooms

add -er
add -n
no ending

Definite plural
To form the definite plural, you must first form the indefinite plural and then add
these endings to that word.
Indef. Plural En words

add -na

Indef. Plural Ett words that end in

add -a
a vowel

klockor klockorna

(some) watches - the

watches

stllen stllena

(some) places - the

places

(some) rooms - the

Indef. Plural Ett words that end in
rooms
add -en rum - rummen
a consonant

There are some nouns that change their vowel in the plural. These nouns usually
take the -er ending when forming the indefinite plural.
en natt - ntter

en bonde - bnder

a farmer - farmers

en stad - stder a town - towns

en ledamot ledamter

a member members

en hand hnder

en fot - ftter

a foot - feet

en rot - rtter

a root - roots

a night - nights

a hand - hands

en tand - tnder a tooth - teeth

en strand strnder

a beach - beaches en bok - bcker

en rand - rnder a stripe - stripes

ett land - lnder

a country countries

a book - books

en man - mn

a man - men

mannen - mnnen

the man - the men

e) Genitive (showing possession)

is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. Example: Anders har en bok

Anders bok
11

4. Time and weather (Tid och vder)

a) Months/ seasons/ weekdays (Mnader/rstider/veckodagar)

12

rstider

Mnader

Hst
Vinter
Vder
Vr
Sommar

Januari
Februari
Mars
April
Maj
Juni
Juli
Augusti
September
Oktober
November
December

Veckodagar
Mndag
Tisdag
Onsdag
Torsdag
Fredag
Lrdag
Sndag

b) Exercise: what time is it? (vning: Vad r klockan?)

Work in pairs and let one person point at one of the clocks frn 1-10 and ask Vad
r klockan?. Let the other person answer Den r and what time the clock
shows. Then switch.

13

c) Weather (vder)

14

d) How often? For how long? (Hur ofta? Hur lnge?)

Hur ofta?

Hur lnge?

En gng:
I sekunden /minuten / timmen
I veckan/mnaden
Om dagen
Om ret

I en vecka
I en mnad
I ett r
I en timme
I fyra mnader

Varje:
Dag/vecka/mnad/r
Aldrig
Sllan
Ibland
Ofta
Alltid

Answer the following questions:

Hur ofta pluggar du?
Hur lnge ska du stanna i Sverige?
Hur ofta gr du p bio?
Hur ofta lyssnar du p musik?
Hur ofta sporta du?
Hur lnge sportar du varje gng?
Hur ofta stdar du?
Hur ofta borstar du tnderna?

15

5. At home (Hemma)
a) Family (Slkt, familj)
Mamma
Bror
Mormor/Farmor
Barn
Dotter
Syskon
Svrdotter
Svger

Pappa
Syster
Morfar/Farfar
Kusin
Son
Svrson
Barnbarn
Svgerska

b) Exercise: whos related to whom? (vning: Vem r slkt med vem?)

Work in pairs. Look at the picture and explain how the different people in the
picture are related to each other, using the words in exercise a).

16

c) Grammar: pronouns (Grammatik: Pronomen)

Personliga pronomen
Singular
Jag
Du
Han
Hon
Det

Plural
Vi
Ni
De

Possessiva pronomen
Singular
Min
Din
Hans
Hennes
Dess

Plural
Vr
Er
Deras

d) Exercise: tell the others about your family (vning: Bertta om din familj)
Work in pairs. Tell your partner about your family (either natural family or hostfamily)
using the vocabulary in exercise a) and the right pronouns in exercise c).
Example:
Min mamma heter
Jag har tv systrar
De heter

17

e) Hall, livingroom and bedroom (Hall, vardagsrum och sovrum)

18

f) Kitchen (kk)
Match the numbers in the picture with the words below

Ett vattenglas
En kaffekanna
En handduk
Ett skp
Ett vinglas
Ett diskstll

Bestick
Tallrikar
En kopp
En visp
En spis
En slev

En stekpanna
En kastrull
En kniv
En diskbnk
En diskmaskin
En mikrovgsugn

19

En stekspade
En skrbrda
En lda
En osthyvel
Ett kylskp

g) Badrum
Put the right numbers for every word in the circles in the picture on next page
1.Handfat
4.Dusch/Badkar
7.Tvttkorg
10.Badrumsskp

2.Tvttmaskin
5.Toalett
8.Toalettpapper
11.Torktumlare

20

3.Spegel
6.Handduk
9.Tandborste

6. Verb
a) Common verbs
vara
ha
kunna
ska
f
bli
komma
gra
finnas
ta
sga
g
ge
se
mste
vilja
ta
visa

be
have
be able to/ can
will/ shall
get
become
come
do/make
be/exist
take
say
walk
give
see
have to
want
take
show

b) Infinitive and the present tense (infinitiv och presens)

All polysyllabic Swedish verbs end with an a in the infinitive. (Others, those of
one syllable end with any vowel.) The Swedish word corresponding to the
English to in to go for example is att to go = att ka
The present tense of verbs in Swedish are very simple to conjugate. All the
forms are the same for each personal pronoun.
Regular verbs
There are two conjugations of regular verbs - group 1 adding an r to the stem in
the present tense and group two adding er to the stem.
Example:
Group
1:

Group
1:

Verb:

Tala (to
speak)

Stem:

Group
2:

Verb:

Kpa (to buy)

Tala-

Stem:

Kp-

Present
tense:

Talar

Present
tense:

Kper

Verb:

lska (to
love)

Verb:

Hjlpa (to
help)

Stem:

lska-

Stem:

Hjlp-

21

Group
2:

Present
tense:

Present
tense:

lskar

Hjlper

Irregular verbs
Almost all irregular verbs form their present tense as does groupe 2.
Example:
skriva (to write)
skriv- + er =
skriver
han skriver = He writes

The verb vara (to be) and ha (to have) are irregular and have the
forms r and har in the present tense.
(Jag r = I am, Jag har = I have)
Example:
Att vara

I am
you are
he is
she is
it is
it is
one is
we are
you are
they are

Att ha

jag r
du r
han r
hon r
den r
det r
man r
vi r
ni r
de r

I have
you have
he has
she has
it has
it has
one has
we have
you have
they have

22

jag har
du har
han har
hon har
den har
det har
man har
vi har
ni har
de har

Monosyllabic verbs are almost always irregular and form the present tense by
adding an r.
Example:
se (to see)
se + r =
ser
hon ser = she sees

c) Future tense
To form the future tense of verbs, just add ska (= will) or kommer att (= to be
going to)before the infinitive. Remember that all the forms are the same for each
personal pronoun.

Example:
Jag kommer att hjlpa dig ngon gng - I will help you some time.
Vad ska vi gra idag? - What are we going to do today?

d) Past tenses
Regular verbs (Group 1+2):
-

The imperfect tense is formed by adding -de to the stem, unless the stem ends
with a voiceless consonant (f, k, p, s, t etc.) then you attach -te.
The supine is formed by attaching -t to the stem.
Verb:

Stem:

Imperfect:

Supine:

Perfect:

Past perfect:

tala (1)

tala-

talade

talat

har talat

hade talat

ringa (2)

ring-

ringde

ringt

har ringt

hade ringt

kpa (2)

kp-

kpte

kpt

har kpt

hade kpt

Irregular verbs:

As this group consists of irregular verbs, you can't give any rule what forms
there are. But in the imperfect, most verbs get no suffix. They just change the
stem-vowel. In the supine, most verbs change the stem-vowel again, and attach it or -at
23

Verb:

Stem:

Imperfect:

Supine:

Perfect:

Past perfect:

springa (i)
spring(=to run)

sprang

sprungit

har sprungit

hade sprungit

komma (i) komm-

kom

kommit

har kommit

hade kommit

ha (i)

ha-

hade

haft

har haft

hade haft

gra (i)

gr-

gjorde

gjort

har gjort

hade gjort

e) Interests (intressen)
Try to understand by looking at the different picture what the corresponding verbs
mean and see if theres one interest that suits you (if theres an interest that isnt
presented, ask your leader what its called).

24

7. School (Skolan)
a) Useful words (anvndbara ord)
En skola
En klass
En lrare
En elev
En mentor

Ett klassrum
Ett schema
En lektion
Ett mne
En studievgledare

En rast
En klasskompis
En hltimme
En matsal
En termin/ett lsr

b) Subjects (mnen)
Sprk:

Svenska
Engelska
Franska/Spanska/Tyska

Naturvetenskap:

Fysik
Teknik
Biologi
Kemi

Samhllskunskap:

Samhllskunskap
Geografi
Historia
Religion

vrigt:

Idrott
Musik
Bild
Drama /teater

c) In the classroom (I klassrummet)

Put the number for each word next to the right picture.

25

1.Ett bldderblock 2.En linjal 3.Ett hfte 4.En hftapparat

5.Ett lexikon
6.En prm 7.Ett gem 8. Ett suddgummi (ett sudd)
9. Ett hftstift
10. En blyertspenna
11. En whiteboardpenna
12.En whiteboardtavla

d) Exercise: Crossword (vning: korsord)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mellan lektionerna
Grupp av elever
mne d man sportar
Den som undervisar
Med denna skriver man

e) Exercise: A day in school (vning : En dag i skolan)

Work in pairs. Describe to your partner in Swedish how A normal school day is
in your home country.
If the group wants to practice to write and spell in Swedish as well, let them write
a short paragraph about it.

26

8. Food (Mat)
a) Groceries and food (livsmedel och mat)

27

b) Meals(Mltider)

c) Grammar: prepositions (Grammatik: prepositioner)

I
Framfr
Under
Bredvid
Vid

P
Bakom
ver
Mellan
Genom

28

d) Exercise: A pen and a paper (vning: Penna och papper)

Work in pairs. Use a pen/pencil and a piece of paper. Let one person put the
pen around/on/under etc the paper, and let the other person say the
preposition that corresponds to the pens place in relation to the paper. Do that
a couple of times
e) Exercise: Use prepositions (vning: Anvnda prepositioner)
Look at the picture in exercise b) and use the preopositions in exercise c) to
describe what you see in the picture.
Ex) Kakan ligger p assietten
f) Exercise: Make a play At the Caf (vning: Gr en
pjs - P Caft)
This is an exercise for all levels! Divide the group into smaller
groups with 4 persons in each group. Make up a story that
takes place in a restaurant or a caf. Pretend that one or two
servers are working at the restaurant/the caf, and that the
rest are ordering food. Try to incorporate as many of the
words for food in Swedish as possible, but remember that you
29

can also use the Swedish vocabulary for money (for more advanced groups) and
the Swedish numbers.
Phrases to help you:
Jag skulle vilja ha
Tack
Varsgod
Jag tar
Kan jag f?
More advanced groups can also use:
Jag har bestllt bord fr X personer
Det smakade utmrkt/bra/ etc
Kan ni rekommendera ngonting?
Ingr...?
Finns det?
Jag r allergisk mot...
Kan jag be att f notan, tack!
Kan vi betala var (och en) fr sig?
Jag bjuder

30

9. Clothes (Klder)
a) Words (Ord)

Keps

31

Vska

Jeans

T-shirt

Bikini

Kostym

b) Exercise: Crossword (vning: Korsord)

32

Shorts
sssss

c) Grammar: Adjectives (Grammatik: Adjektiv)

tom/ full

mrk/ljus

ltt/tung

dyr/billig

gammal/ung

mjuk/hrd

ren/smutsig

snabb/lngsam

kall/varm

stor/liten

glad/ledsen

The comparative forms of a Swedish adjective is formed in almost the same ways as
is an English adjective. In Swedish, you add -are and ast where possible, and
otherwise, you say mer and mest.
1. The adjective kort is thus compared like this:
kort- kortare - kortast
2. The adjective intressant = interesting is like in English compared with more
and most:
intressant - mer intressant - mest intressant

33

3. Adjectives ending with unstressed -en, -er or -el drop their e (like with the
definite article).
vacker - vackrare - vackrast
trogen - trognare - trognast (=faithful)
4. Some adjectives are irregular and some have umlaut:
liten - mindre - minst
dlig - smre - smst
bra - bttre - bst
stor - strre - strst
lng - lngre - lngst
hg - hgre - hgst
mycket - mer(a) - mest

d) Colors (Frger)
Vit
Svart
Rd
Grn
Bl
Gul
Orange
Lila

Rosa
Beige
Brun
Gr
Prickig
Randig
Rutig
Ljus-, Mrk-

e) Clothes and colors (klder och frger)

Work in pairs. Point at what people in your group are wearing.
Example:
En grn trja
En svart trja

34

f) The human body (Mnniskokroppen)

f) Exercise: describe a
famous person
(vning: Beskriv en
knd person)
Work in pairs and let one
person describe a famous
person (an actor, a
politician, a singer etc),
using words from the
exercises above (colors,
clothes, the human body),
and let the other person
guess. Then switch.

35

Useful links
For Swedish courses online (and some material taken from):
http://www.ielanguages.com/swedish.html

http://www.onlineswedish.com/main.php

For more links to Swedish news & media, dictionaries and courses:
http://www.kreativpedagogik.se/

36