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About Swedish Pronunciation Rules
Pronunciation in Swedish is definitely the best way the Swedish word or simply a Swedish language is actually spoken, or the method by which someone articulates the single phrase. If one is said to have the”correct Swedish pronunciation”, this means both of these within a particular Swedish language. Learn More
The Swedish word might be talked in another way by a variety of men and women or communities which varies according to various factors, for instance: the time period of the cultural exposure associated with their first few years, the place that the someone resides, their own cultural family, his or her social position, and / or their own knowledge. Learn the rules
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Within Swedish, the same letter present in two diverse words could make two distinct sounds. Many letters in Swedish language are not pronounced at all. Usually, it is possible to sound out words. Hence, many experienced non native Swedish speakers (and occasionally some native speakers) often mispronounce Swedish words.
Similar to English, Swedish pronunciation can be quite challenging, mainly because of intricacies such as silent letters, many sounds for a single letter, together with endless exceptions to whichever rules you find in all of the Swedish pronunciation. This excellent website has several internet pages which describes the Swedish pronunciation regulations not to mention exclusions in perfect detail. This is often great for advanced students, but it really can be very unclear education of Swedish language. We make sure to ease Swedish pronunciation rules to make it easier for one to begin Swedish, even though you may not necessarily understand how each and every Swedish letter blend is normally said in every circumstance. We understand that sooner or later, you will want to understand far more in-depth Swedish instruction on Swedish pronunciation rules.
Learn How to Pronounce Swedish Words
| If going to Sweden, especially if going to any other place than Stockholm, probably the most important thing you should know in Swedish is the name of the place you are going to. Most people speak very good, fluent English, but are oblivious about the English pronunciation of the town/city you may want to visit - and this may cause significant issues at train stations, airports or bus stations since many places have pronunciations that are very different from what an English speaker would expect when looking at the written name. | |
| Pronunciation of places | |
| Gothenburg | Göteborg (YOO-te-bore-eh) with the 'te' as in Television or ten. Some may understand the English pronunciation, but don't take that for granted. |
| Umeå | (YOU-meh-oh, or YOU-meh in the northern accent that is spoken close to Umeå). Note that neither pronunciations here are really close approximations of the actual way a Swede will pronounce, but the å sound really has no correspondent in most standard English accents. Do not pronounce it Oo-mej-aah, as nobody will understand you, and you will be asked to show on the map) |
| Luleå | (Lyu-leh-oh). Lyu sounds close to how some dialects of English would read the lu in luminous, or to the way others would read the lew in lewd. If you find this hard, try to pronounce Skellefteå (Huell-eff-teh-oh or Shell-eff-teh-oh). Note that the u and the second h in the first pronunciation are nearly unsounded. |
| Växjö | (Vac h'oh), as if the two would be different words. The oh sound is close to the French eau, so don't stress the o in 'ho' though (as you would do in ho-ho-ho). Don't pronounce it as Vaks-joe, since no one will have any clue what that is. |
| Köping | (is pronounced almost like English 'shopping'). There are many köpings in Sweden (Norrköping, Nyköping, Köping, Söderköping), and in all, the köping part is pronounced identically. Nyköping (the small Ryanair airport for Stockholm, also known as Skavsta) is pronounced Ne-Shopping, with the Ne as in Nemo. |
| Öland | (eau-land) and |
| Åland | (O'-land), two rather large islands off the Eastern coast of Sweden. For an English speaker, their pronunciation can sound very, very similar. A confusion between the two can easily be a disaster, so if in doubt over the exact pronunciation, either write them down, or refer to something that would distinguish them (their biggest cities, Åland to be the 'Finnish island' or the 'Ferry island', Öland the 'Swedish island' or the 'Island with the bridge'), so that you don't accidentally end up in the wrong place. |
| Götaland | (Yootalaand) and |
| Gotland | (Got laand or even 'Got land', as it would sound in English). Again two very different places in Sweden, this time looking very different in spelling, but pronounced in a very different fashion. |
| Åre | - Oh-reh, not Ah-reh. |
| Many other places are pronounced in rather simpler, less tongue twisting fashions. Stockholm, Kiruna, Malmö sound in Swedish very much like they do English. If taking the train or plane to Copenhagen, remember the Swedish spelling is Köpenhamn, and is pronounced Shop-en-hamn. As most trainstations do not have public announcements or information boards in English, this may be useful. Similarly, in Sweden, Helsinki is always referred to as Helsingfors (Helsing-forsh), and all roadsigns and announcements within Sweden use this term. If going to Norway, Oslo is pronounced in a fashion rather close to the one in English. And if you want to take the ferry to Turku in Finland, remember the Swedes call the city Åbo (a close pronounciation being Oh-boh). |
Click on the links directly below to find a list of helpful Swedish travel words and phrases which are organized by group. For every holiday word or phrase in Swedish, you will find the actual English interpretation.
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