[Swedish, basically]

Updates!

2010-01-21T17:23:00.003+01:00

Hello again. It's almost been a year since my last post, which is really embarrassing.

First of all, I'd like to thank every visitor who finds their way to this blog. I get about 100 unique visitors every day, mostly directly from a Google search.

Second of all, I promise to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis. At the moment I'm re-recording all the MP3 files with a better microphone. After that's done, I'll post a new lesson.

Take care! And remember, tell your friends about this place :)

English names that are words in Swedish

2009-03-28T12:33:00.003+01:00

Fester - Parties
Rita - To draw (most verbs in Swedish ends with -a)
Ben - Leg AND Legs (this word stays the same in plural)
Tina - To unfreeze, thaw

(in progress, as always...)

English words that mean something else in Swedish

2009-03-11T18:03:00.003+01:00

Barn - Children
Eleven - The student
Faster - Father's sister
From - Gentle, Pious, Churchy
Gift - (Married or Poisonous)
God - (Tasty)
Kiss - Wee
Mage - (Stomach AND Tummy)
Man - ('One' in the sense of [one would think so...]) We still share the same word for the gender.
Master - Masts (plural)
Sedan - (Ago, Since, Then)
Ska - Shall, Will
Skull - (Sake, Benefit)
Spark - Kick
Talk - Talcum (powder)
Tar - (Taking)

(this list will always be in progress...)

More verbs

2009-01-28T15:49:00.007+01:00

Admire - Beundra
Annoy - Irritera
Construct - Konstruera
Copy - Kopiera
Criticise - Kritisera
Discuss - Diskutera
Disturb - Störa
Release - Frigöra, Släppa
Reflect - Reflektera

Konstruera

photo by Lawrence Whittemore

Verbs

2008-06-16T18:36:00.005+02:00

Most Swedish verbs always end with -a (in its first form/base form, e.g "to throw", "att kasta").

Buy - Köpa
Clean - Städa
Dance - Dansa
Draw - Rita
Drink - Dricka
Eat - Äta
Erase - Radera
Kill - Döda
Laugh - Skratta
Lie - Ljuga
Live - Leva
Paint - Måla
Place - Placera
Read - Läsa
Sing - Sjunga
Speak - Prata
Talk - Tala
Think (about something) - Tänka
Think (opinion-based) - Tycka
Throw - Kasta
Watch - Titta
Water - Vattna
Write - Skriva

Sjunga

Kasta

Some verbs don't end with an "a", and the ones I can think of right now are:

Hit - Slå
Flee - Fly
Pray - Be
See - Se
Sew - Sy
Stand - Stå

Some adjectives in Swedish

2008-05-04T16:29:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the delay (again). I never seem to post stuff here at a regular basis.
Here are a couple of adjectives:

Big - stor
Small - liten
Fast - snabb
Slow - långsam
Fat - fet, tjock
Thin - smal
Hairy - hårig

Snabb

Liten

Young, younger, the youngest - Ung, yngre, yngst
Old, older, the oldest - Gammal, äldre, äldst
Good, better, the best - Bra, bättre, bäst
Bad, worser, the worst - Dålig, sämre, sämst

100 Höjdare (video clips)

2008-04-10T13:24:00.002+02:00

"100 Höjdare" is a Swedish television show made by the journalists Filip Hammar & Fredrik Wikingsson. It means "100 highlights", sort of. The show is based on funny moments, people or events, and has just gone onto its 6th season now.
Here are some clips that I found on Youtube:

For this season, they travel across USA to meet extraordinary people. If you want to see more of these guys, you could do a search for "100.Hojdare.S06" on your favorite torrent site.

6 verbs in present, imperfect and past tense

2008-03-17T12:52:00.004+01:00

ta, tog, tagit - take, took, taken
lära ut, lärde ut, lärt ut - teach, taught, taught
riva, rev, rivit - tear, tore, torn
berätta; säga till, berättade; sade till, berättat; sagt till - tell, told, told
tänka; tycka; tro, tänkte; tyckte; trodde, tänkt; tyckt; trott - think, thought, thought
kasta, kastade, kastat - throw, threw, thrown

Possessive pronouns in Swedish 1 - Sin, sitt, sina

2008-03-14T08:37:00.006+01:00

Possessive pronouns (Possessiva pronomen)

1. my - min, mitt, mina
2. your - din, ditt, dina
3. his - hans; sin, sitt, sina
4. her - hennes; sin, sitt, sina
5. its - dess; sin, sitt, sina
6. our - vår, vårt, våra
7. your - er, ert, era
8. their - deras; sin, sitt, sina

The words "sin", "sitt" and "sina" are reflexive possessive pronouns in Swedish. According to Wikipedia, "A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun or pronoun to which it refers (its antecedent) within the same clause".
Sin is used when defining singular objects, like this:
Han flyttade sin stol - He moved his chair
or
Hon flyttade sin stol - She moved her chair

As you can see, it doesn't differ between genders. But here's the tricky part. Remember en, ett, den and det? The reflexive possessive pronoun changes because of the noun being used in the sentence (in this case, stol becomes stolen when defined, since it's "en stol - a chair" and "stolen - the chair").

Sitt is also used with singular objects, like this:
Hon skadade sitt knä - She hurt her knee

As with sin, sitt doesn't differ between genders either. And the only reason for using sitt in this example is because knä becomes knäet when defined (as the Swedish language doesn't have a word for "the", I hope you know that by now :)

Sina is used with two objects or more, plural. It doesn't change form at all.
Han skrev ett brev till sina föräldrar - He wrote a letter to his parents
Mamman kramade sina barn - The mother hugged her children
Katten slickade sina tassar - The cat was licking its paws

At placement in Umeå

2008-03-14T08:21:00.004+01:00

At the moment I'm having placement at Hagaskolan in Umeå, Sweden. I'll be there for a total of 6 weeks, planning lessons and teaching English to 13-year-olds.
Yesterday I prepared 20 English words for my 7th grade students (they're around 13 years old). These are the words they will be tested on next Thursday:

skeleton - skelett
closet - garderob
hide-and-seek - kurragömma
scary - skrämmande
basement - källare
rotten - rutten
janitor - vaktmästare
cleaning - städning
electricity - elektricitet
a couple of - några
doorknob - dörrhandtag
pull - rycka, dra
hinge - gångjärn
cloud - moln
dust - damm
(to) scream - skrika
slumped - hopsjunken
finally - till slut
identify - identifiera
champion - mästare

Swedish houses from Umeå

2008-03-01T14:41:00.003+01:00

Some Swedish proverbs/sayings

2008-02-01T20:46:00.001+01:00

Alright, I'm just translating these directly into English since I have no idea of the English equivalent for them.

Bättre fly än illa fäkta
It's better to run, than to stay and fight poorly

Alla goda ting är tre
Good things comes in three(s)

Borta bra men hemma bäst
Away is good, but home is best (Home sweet home)

Blod är tjockare än vatten
Blood is thicker than water

Den som viskar han ljuger
He who whispers is lying

En olycka kommer sällan ensam
An accident never comes alone

Många bäckar små blir en stor å
Many small brooks becomes a big stream

Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig
Old love never rusts

Låt maten tysta munnen
Let the food quiet the mouth

Shopping phrases

2008-01-28T07:31:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the posting delay, folks.

I thought of a couple of useful phrases to use when you're out shopping in Sweden. Be it clothes, appliances or food, these will impress your cashier/retailer/dealer :)

Vad kostar den här? - How much for this one?
Finns den i andra färger? - Does it come in other colours?
Tar ni kort? - Do you take credit cards?
Jag letar efter... - I'm looking for...
Var är herr-avdelningen? - Where's the mens' section?
Var är dam-avdelningen? - Where's the ladies' section?
Var finns/Var är...? - Where's/Where can I find...?

Words related to computers & Internet

2007-12-05T14:38:00.001+01:00

Game - Spel
Computer - Dator
Keyboard - Tangentbord
Motherboard - Moderkort
Mouse - Mus
Program - Program
Printer - Skrivare
Search engine - Sökmotor
Folder - Mapp
Upload (verb) - Ladda upp
Upload (noun) - Uppladdning
Download (verb)- Ladda ned, ladda hem
Download (noun) - Nedladdning
Harddrive - Hårddisk
Desktop wallpaper - Skrivbordsbakgrund
Memory - Minne
"The web" - "Nätet"

Anatomy - face parts

2007-11-23T19:22:00.000+01:00

Anatomy - basic

2007-11-23T19:09:00.000+01:00

Some basic anatomy for you.

How to pronounce å, ä and ö

2007-10-20T20:23:00.000+02:00

Åå
What you could think of here is the English word "afford". The 'o'-sound is very close to what 'å' sounds like. A fun fact is that "ha råd med" in Swedish means to afford something, so the word "råd" actually contains the letter defined here. "Råd" by itself means "a piece of advice".

Å - Stream (the noun)
Åkomma - Disease
Råtta - Rat
Får - Sheep
Påle - Pole

Ää
The word "hair" works well for this letter. "Här" sounds exactly the same (except for our r's, of course) and means "here".

Ärlig - Honest
Träd - Tree
Kärlek - Love
Färdighet - Skill

Öö
Think of the vowel sound in words like "bird" and "girl". That's the closest sound I can think of that resembles 'ö'. By itself, "ö" means "island".

Öva - Practice
Försöka & pröva - Try
Ödslig - Deserted, desolate
Frö - Seed

MP3

Swedish words spelt the same way in English

2007-09-21T23:59:00.007+02:00

...and that also mean the same thing :)

Arm
Band (as in a rock band)
Bank
Finger
Funk
Information
Idiot
Lust
Monitor
Monster
Ombudsman
Park
Pedal
Pilot
Position
Post
Poster
Process
Ring
Situation
Social
Smart
Smorgasbord (Smörgåsbord with Swedish spelling)
Station
Stress
Student
Tradition
Under

Do you know any words that I can add to this list? Leave a comment! :)

Var & Vart

2007-09-12T19:21:00.000+02:00

Var and vart is used in questions. It means where, but in different ways.
Say you wanted to know where you and your friends were going (a location).

Vart ska vi gå nu?
Where shall we go now?
In this case you should use "vart" because theres' activity involved in the question. You're asking about where you're going; wherever it is, you're *going* to get there.

"Var" is used in questions that asks where a certain thing is located:

Var är min strumpa?
Where is my sock?
Therefore, "Var" is used in questions about something static, not moving from its place.

Most swedes are lazy with these two words, they only use "Vart" in both cases which is wrong. I don't know what's up with them people :)

Att & Som

2007-09-08T17:01:00.000+02:00

Roughly translated, both att and som means that.
But they are different in one way,

Att is used in questions or statements that refers to possible or definite outcomes. "Is this going to happen?", "Will he make it?", "This is what we'll do." and so on.

Tror du att han klarar av det?
Do you think that he will make it?

In parts:

Tror du att - do you think that
han klarar av det - he will make it

Som on the other hand is a word to use when you're talking or asking about a subject, a place or an action, but not any kind of question. For example, questions with a request doesn't apply: "Could you fetch me my towel?". Instead, sentences like "There's that girl who won the game last night", and "Is that the dog who bit you?", "The man who would be king".
I hope you understand what I mean, because it is very difficult for me to explain.

Är det den där skivan som du så gärna ville ha?
Is that the album that you wanted so badly?

In parts:

Är det den där - Is that the
skivan - album
som du - that you
så gärna ville ha - wanted so badly

But the words kommer att together means will or going to, gonna:

Jag kommer att köpa en bil idag
I will buy a car today or
I'm going to buy a car today

I hope all this made sense!
Til next time, see you!

Things to find in a kitchen

2007-08-30T04:59:00.000+02:00

KITCHEN - KÖK [ʃeu:k]
Plate, plates - Tallrik, -ar
Glass, glasses - Glas (the words is the same in plural)
Cutlery - Bestick
Knife, knives - Kniv, -ar
Spoon, spoons - Sked, -ar [sche:d]
Fork, forks - Gaffel, gafflar
Table, tables - Bord (same in plural)
Napkin, napkins - Servett, -er
Fridge - Kylskåp [ʃy:lskau:p]
Freezer - Frys
Chair, chairs - Stol, -ar
Dishwasher - Diskmaskin [disc maʃeen]
Sink - Diskho
Tap - Kran
Oven - Ugn [uŋn]

MP3

"Dåligast" and some verbs

2007-08-30T04:24:00.000+02:00

At the moment I'm reading a book called "Världens dåligaste språk" (World's baddest language) written by a Swedish author named Fredrik Lindström. He's also a comedian and a director. The title of the book is a play with words, because the word "dåligaste" doesn't exist in the Swedish language. Although it is often used by kids, because they think of this rule:

Stark, starkare, starkast
Strong, stronger, strongest

A sentence could look like this:
Olof var den starkaste pojken i klassen
Olof was the strongest boy in the class
(it is written starkaste with an 'e' added, because it's a description of the boy)

But, take a look at this:
dålig, sämre, sämst [dawh-lihg, saemre, saemst]
bad, badder, baddest

All of a sudden, we've got two other words instead of expected "dåligare, dåligast". I don't know why this was decided, but it's just the way it is.
Fredrik Lindström doesn't know either, but he'd like to see a change.

Here are some verbs that the Swedish language helps making shorter:
Make the bed - bädda [baeddA]
Do the dishes - diska
Put out the cigarette - fimpa
Taking off clothes - näcka [naecka]
Sending a text message - sms:a
Sending a fax message - faxa
Having lunch - luncha

Basically, you could add an 'a' after almost every action in Swedish. It's useful! :)

The Northerner

2007-08-28T23:19:00.000+02:00

My girlfriend Rachael sent me this link a while ago. I was thinking that maybe it would be something interesting for the readers of this blog to see, so I'm putting it up.

The Northerner is an online store where you can order all sorts of Scandinavian things. Foodstuff, crafts, jewelry and other things. Check it out!

Dates and different times of day

2007-08-21T15:20:00.000+02:00

As requested by Rachael, I will explain a little about dates and times in this post.

First these:
First - Första
Second - Andra
Third - Tredje
Fourth - Fjärde
Fifth - Femte
Sixth - Sjätte
Seventh - Sjunde
Eighth - Åttonde
Ninth - Nionde
Tenth - Tionde
Eleventh - Elfte
Twelfth - Tolfte
Thirteenth - Trettonde
Fourteenth - Fjortonde
Fifteenth - Femtonde
Sixteenth - Sextonde
Seventeenth - Sjuttonde
Eighteenth - Artonde
Nineteenth - Nittonde
Twentieth - Tjugonde

And now some times of day:
Morning - Morgon, Förmiddag (said about the time before 12)
Midday - Mitt på dagen
Afternoon - Eftermiddag
Evening - Kväll
Night - Natt

MP3

Clock:
Twelve o'clock - Klockan tolv
(The movie starts at twelve o'clock - Filmen börjar klockan tolv)
Five minutes past twelve - Fem minuter över tolv
Ten past twelve - Tio över tolv
Quarter past twelve - Kvart över tolv
Twenty past twelve - Tjugo över tolv
Twentyfive past twelve - Fem i halv ett
Twelve thirty (Half twelve) - Halv ett
Twenty five to one - Fem över halv ett
Twenty to one - Tjugo i ett
Quarter to one - Kvart i ett
Ten to one - Tio i ett
Five to one - Fem i ett
One o'clock - Klockan ett

MP3

Holidays and events:
Christmas Eve & Day - Julafton, Juldagen
Midsummer's Eve - Midsommarafton
Easter - Påsk
Halloween - Allhelgonadagen
First day of May - Första Maj

MP3

What would you like to learn?

2007-08-19T20:14:00.000+02:00

It was harder than I first thought to come up with stuff for this blog.
If there's something you would like to know, words, phrases, names, just leave a comment on this post or send me an email. I'd love to hear from my readers :)

Take care!