Talking about specific years in Swedish Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jun 5, 2015 in Grammar, Swedish Language
In English, when you want to say that something happened during a specific year, you say, for example:
IKEA was founded in 1943.
In Swedish, you express this slightly differently; namely, you leave out the preposition “in”. The same sentences is said in Swedish as this:
IKEA grundades 1943.
In other words, it would be wrong to say *i 1943. The same goes for if you choose to add the word for “year”, år:
IKEA was founded in the year 1943.
IKEA grundades år 1943.
Notice that the article “the” is not translated into Swedish in this case. In other words, it is incorrect to say *IKEA grundades året 1943.
Just as in English, you can also say “during the year 1943”, but the article “the” is, again, not translated:
IKEA grundades under år 1943.
IKEA was founded during the year 1943.
Now you know how to talk about specific years in Swedish. Stay tuned for more Swedish posts!
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
About the Author: Stephen Maconi
Stephen Maconi has been writing for the Transparent Swedish Blog since 2010. Wielding a Bachelor's Degree in Swedish and Nordic Linguistics from Uppsala University in Sweden, Stephen is an expert on Swedish language and culture.
Comments:
Ali:
Some people come to this world with a special mission. Mr Maconi is one of them. Stephen is serving humankind!
Ali Hakam
Mats:
The same thing applies to dates:
Jag föddes den fjärde juli.
I was born on the fourth of July.
In English, the preposition “on” is optional, as opposed to in Swedish, where no preposition is possible here.
However, if talking about a month, and not a specific date, the preposition “i” is mandatory:
Jag föddes i maj.
I was born in May.
Katie:
To say ‘IKEA grundades 1943’ would you actually say ‘IKEA grundades etttusenniohundrafyrtiotre’ or do you use conjunctions with the numbers? Tack.
Stephen Maconi:
@Katie Hej Katie! Please see this post regarding how years are pronounced in Swedish.