Archive by Author
Swedish Possessive Pronouns – Min, Mitt, Mina Posted by Marcus Cederström on Apr 12, 2016
In my last post, The Swedish Definite Form – Demonstrative Pronouns, I messed up. I wrote the following sentence: Detta röda hus är min. This red house is mine. See what I did wrong? Min. It should have been mitt. Detta röda hus är mitt. Why? Because hus is an ett-word. Ett hus. When…
The Swedish Definite Form – Demonstrative Pronouns Posted by Marcus Cederström on Mar 31, 2016
The Swedish language can be a bit tricky when working with the definite to describe something. As Stephen points out in “Why the double-definite in Swedish?” you’ll notice, if you haven’t already, that when you’re using an adjective to describe a noun in the definite form you’re going to double up on your definiteness. For…
Leap Year in Sweden Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 29, 2016
February of 2016 has twenty-nine days instead of twenty-eight. In Swedish, that’s called a skottår and February 29 is called skottdag. Nothing too exciting about that. Skott, according to Institutet för språk och folkminnen [the Institute for Language and Folklore], essentially means “to add” in this case. So skottdag is just a day that is…
Swedish Vocabulary List for the Refugee Crisis Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 26, 2016
If you’ve been paying attention to the news in Europe and in Sweden anytime over the last couple of years, and especially recently, you’ve probably heard about the refugee crisis. There’s been a lot going on in Sweden with regards to migration policies. Borders are being tightened, residence permits are tough to come by, and…
Swedish Blueberry Soup Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jan 29, 2016
First, to clear things up, blåbärssoppa is technically made with bliberries. Bilberries, sometimes known as European blueberries, are the berries that Swedes call blåbär, which translates directly to blueberry. But blueberries that we find in the United States are not the same. I know. It’s all very confusing. The blåbär that you find in Sweden…
Swedish Lego Soldiers Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jan 25, 2016
Lego was founded in 1932 in Billund, Denmark. The name of the company is a portmanteau combining the Danish words leg (play) and godt (well). Play well. Lego. Cute, right? But the word lego has existed in Swedish for quite some time, albeit in a much more sinister context. Legosoldat is the Swedish word for…
Top 10 Swedish Posts of 2015 Posted by Marcus Cederström on Dec 31, 2015
For a lot of people, today is the last day of 2015, which means it’s time for the requisite retrospective. Let’s take a look at the top ten posts with the most visitors on the Swedish language blog. We’ll start at ten and work our way backwards to the most popular post of 2015. Swedish…