Archive for 'Swedish Language'
The mysterious Swedish “sk” Posted by Stephen Maconi on Dec 5, 2016
Swedish pronunciation is known by language learners as having rather particular rules, but rules nonetheless. The idea is that once you’ve mastered the rules, you can pronounce most words naturally without having heard them pronounced by someone else. The pronunciation of the consonant combination <sk> in Swedish is one thing that often trips up…
Old Norse words in English Posted by Tibor on Nov 28, 2016
We know that English is a mixture of a lot of languages like Celtic, Gaelic, Latin languages and also some Old Norse. Have you ever thought about it that there is a deeper connection to the Nordics in Scotland and England than you would think? There are plenty of traces of Old Norse in different…
The Ultimate Swedish Fika Post Posted by Marcus Cederström on Nov 22, 2016
Fika. If you’ve been studying Swedish, have a Swedish friend, taken a business trip to Sweden, or even read one of those popular Swedish crime novels, you’ve probably heard that word. There’s a lot behind it. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place to find out more. Did you know that a few years ago…
Greetings, Swede-lings: Five Posts on Swedish Greetings Posted by Marcus Cederström on Aug 24, 2016
We’re reaching back into the vault here on the Transparent Swedish blog to bring you five different posts on greeting someone in Swedish. Below you’ll find the basics, like saying “hello” and “hej” to people you see. You’ll learn some phrases to help you meet new people in Sweden. You’ll even learn how to address…
The currency of Sweden is “spänn”?! Posted by Stephen Maconi on Aug 3, 2016
The Swedish “crown”, as some English-speakers refer to it, is called den svenska kronan in Swedish. The international currency code for the Swedish krona is SEK. When you start spending a lot of time with Swedes, you’ll notice that they don’t always call their currency by its proper name (krona/kronor [plural]). In the Western…
Washing and rinsing in Swedish Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jul 22, 2016
When we talk about washing something in English, it can mean various things in various contexts. For example, we use the word wash when we’re talking about washing clothes or washing dishes, or when you’re in the kitchen, washing the vegetables. You wash your hair and wash the car. Well, in Swedish, there are…
Chimneys and pillowcases in Swedish: Weird Swedish compounds Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jul 13, 2016
Swedish, like a lot of languages, has many words in its vocabulary which make sense as a whole but not as parts. In many cases, this is because the original meaning has been wiped out over time. In English, we have the word “highlight”. When we use this word, we aren’t referring to a…