Archive for 'Grammar'
The Swedish formal “you” – does it exist? Posted by Stephen Maconi on May 21, 2018
French has “vous”, German has “Sie”, and Spanish has “Usted”. Does Swedish have a formal “you”? Many Western foreigners in Sweden will tell you that for them, the Swedish language seems rather blunt. Unlike their Western European counterparts, Swedes today, for the most part, don’t use any formal word for “you”. Whereas the Germans have…
How to express “unless” in Swedish Posted by Stephen Maconi on Apr 18, 2018
There is an infinite number of grammatical concepts in any language. Swedish is no exception. Although Swedish, in general, has a relatively simple grammatical structure compared to many other European languages (sorry English readers – it’s the truth!), there are still grammatical concepts that are relatively complicated – or so simple that they seem complicated…
Sounds in Swedish I. Posted by Tibor on Apr 16, 2018
This post is definitely for advanced learners, but of course it can be interested for anyone of you. This type of knowledge in a foreign language is required an C1 or higher level in a language. It is usually one of the hardest things to learn and use in a correct way, just like knowing…
Swedish Power Verbs: att vilja Posted by Stephen Maconi on Nov 30, 2017
Some verbs are just more useful than others. Att vilja, Swedish for “to want (to)”, is no exception! Att vilja is the full infinitive form – in other words, it includes the basic infinitive form vilja, “want (to do something)”, and att, “to” as used before a verb. (More on this in a later post.) The verb is…
Being polite in Swedish, please Posted by Stephen Maconi on Oct 11, 2017
Being polite in your target language is often a huge challenge for learners. Swedish is definitely no exception! But is it the language itself or is it the culture that decides how we express politeness? The truth is that language is strongly colored by culture, but culture can even be seen as a product of…
Argumentation templates in Swedish Posted by Tibor on Feb 20, 2017
You don’t need to ditch someone’s opinion in a rude manner just because you disagree with them. You can be objective and diplomatic in the same time, not raising your voice against or cutting off someone. In Swedish society you won’t gain much with an aggressive attitude. It is rather the opposite. You won’t be able…
Celebrate the New Year in Swedish Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jan 3, 2017
Hej, kära läsare! It’s that time of year again – the New Year! Some people will have New Year’s resolutions, which to them mean a lot and are a great way to get motivated to try something new or get back to something old, whereas other people prefer to carry on as usual without any…