The Swedish alphabet consists of 29 letters. The last three are \u00e5,\u00e4 and \u00f6. These are the only ones that differ from the English alphabet.<\/p>\n
The Swedish \u00e5-sound can either be a long sound or a short one. When being long it is pronounced like the English word fore. The short sound as in yonder.<\/p>\n
Listen to the pronunciation of the different sounds through the links below.<\/p>\n
Example (long): spr\u00e5k (language)<\/a><\/p>\n Example (short): \u00e5lder (age)<\/a><\/p>\n In the county Blekinge you\u2019ll find that a lot of people don\u2019t pronounce the r-sound hardly at all. For example: Korv (sausage) is pronounced k\u00e5\u00e5\u00e5v. (with a very long \u00e5-sound). The Swedish o-sound can often sound a lot like the \u00e5-sound making spelling a little difficult at times. In G\u00f6teborg (Gothenburg) people don\u2019t say korv or k\u00e5\u00e5\u00e5v, instead they say k\u00f6rv.<\/p>\n Continuing, the \u00e4-sound can also be pronounced a long and a short way. The long way sounds much like the ai in fair. The short \u00e4-sound as the e in best.<\/p>\n Example (long): b\u00e4ra (carry)<\/a><\/p>\n Example (short): v\u00e4n (friend)<\/a><\/p>\n Lastly to the \u00f6-sound. There are three different pronunciations for \u00f6, two long and one short. The first long sounds like eu in the french word deux.<\/p>\n Example (long nr.1): r\u00f6d (red – the color)<\/a><\/p>\n The second long sound mostly found before the letter r, sounds like the u in fur.<\/p>\n Example (long nr. 2): k\u00f6ra (drive)<\/a><\/p>\n The short \u00f6-sound is like the e in her.<\/p>\n