Would like to know what are the consonants when it comes to Swedish language? In articulatory phonetics, a Swedish consonant is a speech sound that is articulated by using total or simply partial closure of the vocal region. The word consonant is usually employed to relate to a letter of the Swedish alphabet which represents a consonant sound. Learn More
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Consonants are closer to English, but some combinations can be downright tricky, i.e. 'sj' in "sjutton." Some pronunciations depend on the vowel following it, and so the vowels are divided into "soft" and "hard" vowels. A, o, u, and å are the hard vowels, and e, i, y, ä, and ö are the soft vowels. | |
b | like 'b' in "bed" |
c | like 'c' in "cat", but a 'ch' combination is pronounced like English 'sh.' Sometimes 's' like the first c in circus. |
d | like 'd' in "dog" |
f | like 'f' in "for" |
g | like 'g' in "go", when preceding a hard vowel, like 'y' in "yellow" when preceding a soft vowel. A 'gn' pronunciation is pronounced like an English 'g', except for when it follows a vowel, in which case it is pronounced 'ngn.' |
h | like 'h' in "help" |
j | like 'y' in "yell," and if there is a d, g, or h before a 'j' then that letter is silent. |
k | like 'k' in "king" before a hard vowel, like 'sh' before a soft one. 'Kj' is pronounced 'sh' as well |
l | like 'l' in "love," but 'lj' is pronounced like a 'y' |
m | like 'm' in "mother" |
n | like 'n' in "nice" |
p | like 'p' in "pig" |
q | like 'q' in "quest" (with "u", almost always) |
r | like 'r' in "row", and like 'r' in "feather." Swedes tend to roll their r's in certain words. 'Rs' is pronounced 'sh'. (Not comparable to an English 'r'. Sounds more like a Spanish one.) |
s | like 'ss' in "hiss," but 'skj' and 'stj' are pronounced 'sh.' 'Sj' is hard for non-native speakers - try rounding your lips and saying "hwoo" to get the gist of it. 'Sk' is also pronounced this way before soft vowels. |
t | like 't' in "top," but 'tj' is pronounced 'sh' |
v | like 'v' in "victory" |
w | like 'v' in "victor," but w's in Swedish are uncommon. |
x | like 'cks' in "kicks", like 'ehcks' at beginning of a word. |
z | like 's' in "saw" |
Select the links directly below to find out a number of useful Swedish travel key phrases which are sorted by category. For every travel phrase in Swedish, there’ll be the actual English translation.
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