More likely than not you will at some point have to ask for directions or be asked for them. At times like that who wouldn’t want a couple of good phrases up their sleeve? There are some basic phrases which will most likely help you in understanding what the other person is saying.

In this blogpost I’m going to take up a lot of things. Giving directions and understanding them, some simple phrases to use so you can ask for the person to repeat what they said or just to say it a little slower. All these things and more will hopefully make your life a little easier if you live in Sweden already, make it a little more exciting if you want to try asking somebody who you know speaks Swedish.

We’ll start by a simple conversation like:

“Ursäkta, Var finns närmaste mataffär?” 

“Hmm… Gå förbi det gula huset på din högra sida. Korsa övergångsstället och sväng till höger igen. 

“Jag förstår”

“Sedan ser du en ICA butik bredvid trafikljusen.”

“Tack”

“Det var så lite så”

“Excuse me, Where is the closest supermarket?”

“Hmm… Walk past the yellow house on your right hand side. Cross the pedestrian crossing and turn right again.”

“I understand”

“Then you’ll see a ICA store next to the trafic lights.”

“Thank you”

“No worries”

The words in the table below can help you variate the sentences used in the example above.

Svenska	English	Comments
Javisst	Of course
Självklart	Of course
Inga problem	No problem
Jag förstår inte	I don’t understand
Jag förstår	I understand
Kan du säga det en gång till?	Could you say it one more time?
Kan du säga det lite långsammare?	Could you say it a little slower?
Tack	Thank you
Okej	Alright
Ursäkta (mig),	Excuse me	*In Swedish you don’t need to say the “me” in the “excuse me”

 

Svenska	English
Gå rakt fram	Walk straight ahead
Gå förbi	Walk passed
Sväng till vänster	Turn left
Sväng till höger	Turn right
Sväng vid	Turn at
Korsa	Cross
Fortsätt	Continue
På din högra sida ser du	On your right hand side you’ll see
På din vänstra sida ser du	On your left hand side you’ll see
Efter _____ m	After _____ m
Det ligger ca. _____ m härifrån	It is about _______ m from here
Var finns _______?	Where is ______ ?
Var finns närmaste _____?	Where is the closest ____?
Vet du var _____ finns?	Do you know where __ is?
Vet du var närmaste _____ finns?	Do you know where the nearest _________ is?

Here is another example conversation of giving directions.

“Ursäkta mig, Vet du var det finns en toalett?” 

“Javisst. Fortsätt rakt fram och sväng vänster efter 100m”

“Okej”

“Så ser du den bredvid banken”

“Tack så mycket!”

“Varsågod”

“Excuse me, Do you know where there is a bathroom?”

“Of course. Continue straight ahead and turn left after 100m.”

“Alright”

“You’ll find it next to the bank.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Your welcome”

Hope these short dialogues give you an idea of what a conversation in a situation like that would sound like. Good luck.