If English speakers have any problem with Swedish it would probably be these three little words: tycka, tänka and tro. Because in English we only have one real equivalent for them; think.

When Swedes speak English they feel a lack of nuance and overcompensate by using “I believe” as a straight translation of “Jag tror”. But in Swedish instead of saying the exact words “I think it will be a nice day” as many English speakers would logically assume it would be said like this “Jag tänker att det blir en fin dag”. But that would be incorrect. In Swedish the correct way of saying that sentence is “Jag tror att det kommer bli en fin dag”, and therefor the Swedes mistake when wanting to say it in English “I believe it will be a nice day”.

In English we just use “think” for everything, making things easy for ourselves. Another mistake is “I don’t think that’s right”, in Swedish would be “Jag tror inte att det är rätt” but a common mistake English speakers make is “Jag tänker att det inte är rätt”.

A little conversation just for you guys

“Vad tycker du? Den gula eller den röda skjortan?”

“Jag tror att den röda skulle passa dig bättre.”

“Jag tycker nog också det”

“Tänker du köpa den?”

“Jag tror det, jag tycker om den”

“Ja, jag tycker verkligen röd passar dig”.

“What do you think? The yellow or the red shirt?”

“I think the red one would suit you better.”

“I think so too.”

“Are you planning on buying it?”

“I think so, I like it.”

“Yes, I think red really suits you.”

So here “tycka” is not only think, but also “to like”.

So make sure you get the “right” think when you’re speaking Swedish. I wish you all luck with these words, just listen to a lot of Swedish and they should come naturally.