Swedish Language Blog

Just around about this time of year, at least in the south of Sweden, talk of spring is one of the most popular conversation topics. This blogpost will equip you with good phrases for “vårprat” (spring talk).

Here comes a standard phrase which you can exchange the adjective for any number of synonyms.

“Visst är det _fint_ väder ute!” (“Isn’t it nice weather outside.”)

“Visst har det blivit varmt på sistone.” (“It’s been warm outside lately hasn’t it.”)

Replies:

“Ja, det är det verkligen” (“It sure has.”)

“Ja, eller hur” (“Yeah, it really has.”)

“Ja, det tycker jag _med/också/verkligen/absolut_.” (“Yeah I agree/think so too.”)

And if it should snow again after a warm spell these phrases can come in handy.

“Såg du att det snöade idag/igår igen?” (“Did you notice it snowed again today/yesterday?”)

Replies:

“Ja, jag tror knappt det är sant!” (This can be used for both good and bad things) (“Yes, I can’t believe it.”)

“Ja, usch vad _hemskt_!” (Yes, it’s quite awful.”)

“Ja, _hemskt_ är det!” (Yes, it’s quite awful.”)

“Jag hoppas snön smälter bort snart igen” (“I hope the snow melts again soon.”)

“Ja, det hoppas jag också”  (“I hope so too.”) Do you see a pattern forming here? The conversation goes very much by safe statements about the weather and the reply usually just being a repetition of what the first person said. You can use the exakt same phrase just exchanging the verb. Eg. from tycker to hoppas.

“Åh vad jag längtar till våren/sommaren” (“I’m really looking forward to summer now.”) Here we are talking about a specific summer/spring so we use a particle for that. While if you are talking about summer in general as a season then we don’t use the -en ending as in the following example.

“Vad _fint_ det ska bli med vår/sommar.” (“It will be so nice when summer comes.”)

Hopefully these phrases will help you to at least start up a conversation in Swedish. Lycka till!

Here is a short dialog which you can practice by yourself or with a partner. Believe me, pets or small children are very good audiences as well.

A “Nejmen hejsan”

B “Hej! Hur är läget?”

A “Bara bra tack. Själv?”

B “Med mig är det bara fint! Tack som frågar.”

A “Visst är det _fint_ väder ute!”

B “Ja, eller hur. Det är det verkligen.”

A “Jag längtar verkligen efter sommaren.”

B “Ja det gör jag också. Det ska bli så skönt med lite värme.”

A “Ja absolut!”

B “Vi får hoppas att sommaren kommer snart.”

A “Ja, det får vi verkligen.”

B “Måste gå nu men det var kul att ses!”

A “Ja, det var ju ett tag sedan. Ha det så bra.”

B “Ja, tack det samma!”

A “Hejdå!”

B “Hejsvejs!”

A “Why hello.”

B “Hi, how are you doing?”

A “Good, and you?”

B “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

A “Isn’t it gorgeous weather outside.”

B “Yes, isn’t it!”

A “I’m really looking forward to the summertime.”

B “Me too. It will be nice with some heat.”

A “Yes definitively.”

B “We’ll just have to hope summer is around the corner.”

A “Yeah, that’s right.”

B “I have to go now, but great seeing you.”

A “Yeah, it’s been a while. Take care!”

B “Thanks. You too!”

A “Bye”

B “Bye”

Hi there all readers. How are your nyårslöften coming along? Kämpa på! (For the translation of these phrases and words see Jan 3rd’s post).

Just one bridge away from one of the most southern tips of Sweden is Denmark. The bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark is called Öresundsbron and is 7.85 Km long. The project was started in 1995 and the bridge was officially opened 2000. 30 years ago, when the only way for people to get to Denmark was by ferry, it wasn’t easy to be a Swede living in Denmark. There was a lot of discrimination against Swedes and snide and mean remarks were not unusual. One of the main reasons Swedes crossed the water to the shores of Denmark was for the cheap alcohol and tobacco, products which the Swedish state had put high taxes on. Therefore the image of Swedes was one of drunkards lying on the street no longer able to stand straight. However, talking to Danes today that image seems to have almost disappeared completely.

Many people think that the building of the bridge has opened up the two countries and improved their relationship with each other. In just the past couple of years a new term has even arisen: Öresundsmänniskan, Öresund is the name of channel between Denmark and Sweden, and människa is person. Öresundsmänniska therefore is a new term for people who constantly cross the boarder between the two countries, maybe working in one and living in the other.

While most would say that the relationship between the countries has gotten considerably better since the bridge was built others would say that the cultural differences between them have gotten stronger. People on the Swedish boarder want to keep their Swedish customs and the people in Denmark theirs. So in general there isn’t a feeling of a “joint culture” even though the two countries are very close to each other. But that having been said many people in the most southern parts of Sweden are geographically closer to Copenhagen than they are to Stockholm, and have most likely gone shopping or on holiday there.

What to begin with only seems to be a bridge connecting to pieces of land is actually a whole lot more. Something effecting two nations identities, to say the least.

This post will not be about how to say so many rude things as possible even though rude words seem to be some of the first people learn in a new language. The aim of this post is to give you phrases you can use when looking for a bathroom or you need to excuse yourself from an engagement to pay a visit to the ladies/mens room. Everybody has been in the situation where you really need to go, desperately needing to find a toilet quickly. That is why these phrases might help you reach your destination a little bit more quickly.

You might have heard, if you are a speaker of the English language, many Swedes say “Can I borrow your toilet?”. Did you also think on reflection “Are you going to give it back?”. It isn’t strange however that Swedes often make this mistake because in Swedish the most common phrase to use is:

Kan jag få låna toaletten? 

The main verb used being “borrow”.

Ursäkta, var finns toaletten?                          (Excuse me, where is the toilet?) 

It is not uncommon to say, “may I use the bathroom?” using “bathroom” instead of “toilet” to be more polite in English. In Swedish this is however not so good. We just don’t say “badrummet” instead of “toilet”, but this does not make you rude, even though it might feel that way in the beginning. So just remember not to use the two phrases below.

Kan jag låna badrummet? 

Var finns badrummet?

After having asked where the bathroom is you often want to thank the person. Here come some phrases of thanks to help you. They all mean just about the same thing.

Tack så mycket!

Tusen tack!

Tack tack! 

Tack så jättemycket! 

There are also a couple of different words, synonyms for “toilet” which can be very useful to know. In everyday conversations you might hear the word “toalett” be substituted by; muggen, toa, dass. 

One final pointer about public toilets in Sweden is that you have to pay to use them, so a piece of advice is to keep some loose change on you whenever you go out and see the city. You usually have to pay about 10 Swedish crowns but consequently they are clean and in good shape. To avoid paying many people started using the public toilets in fast food restaurants, so it is not uncommon to have to pay to use the bathroom at places like McDonald’s or Frasse.