Start your Swedish here-learn basic phrases in Swedish to help you get by as a newcomer in Sweden.

If you are in Sweden for just a short visit or in the early stages of a longer stay and have no prior knowledge of Swedish, your learning focus should be on functional survival language and cultural communication basics, to get you started on your journey with the language. In this post I have prepared some of the essentials that will let you get by in daily interactions and make a good impression.

In short:

• Core politeness (Hej, tack, ursäkta)

• Getting help & orientation (I don’t speak Swedish, Do you speak English?, Where is…?)

• Food & shopping survival (coffee, beer, how much, ticket, card/cash)

• Emergency words

4. Food & Shopping

• En kaffe, tack! – One coffee, please

• En öl, tack!– One beer, please

• En smörgås, tack! – One sandwich, please

• Hur mycket kostar det? – How much does it cost?

• Kort eller kontant? – Card or cash? (Note: Sweden is very cashless, så most transactions happen digitally)

5. Emergency & Safety

• Hjälp! – Help!

• Ring polisen! – Call the police!

• Jag är vilse – I am lost

• Apotek – Pharmacy

6. Cultural Communication Tips

• Swedes are generally comfortable switching to English, so effort in Swedish is more about politeness and connection and also how long you plan to stay in Sweden. In my experience, the English speaking phase wears off quite quickly with most Swedes switching back to Swedish after a short while. So learning Swedish is essential for this intending to stay longer, if they want to avoid being left out of conversations

• Always say a quiet “Hej!” when approaching staff; silence can feel rude.

• Eye contact, queue discipline, and personal space are important, but you already know that of course from previous posts:-)

1. Politeness & Social Basics

Showing politeness is an effective way for a stranger to be accepted. Even without knowing so many words, using the little that you know politely is a good start. These are the first words/phrases Swedes expect tourists to know:

• Hej / Hej hej! – Hello / Hi

• Hej då! – Goodbye

• Tack / Tack så mycket!– Thank you / Thanks a lot/very much

• Ursäkta / Förlåt! – Excuse me / Sorry

• Ja / Nej! – Yes / No

• Snälla! – Please (less common than in English, but still polite in requests).

  Tips: Swedes appreciate a polite, “Hej” when acknowledging eye contact or starting conversations. The word, "Tack" can be used both for saying thank you and for expressing an equivalent to the English "please" in some cases, especially when requesting or asking for something, for example, "ett glass vatten, tack"- A glass of water, please"

2. Survival Phrases

• Jag pratar inte svenska – I don’t speak Swedish

• Pratar du engelska? – Do you speak English?

• Kan du hjälpa mig? – Can you help me?

• Jag förstår inte – I don’t understand

These phrases reduce stress in case conversations get tricky once one has passed the greeting phase..

3. Navigation & Getting Around

• Var är …? – Where is …?

  • …toaletten? (the toilet)

  • …busshållsplatsen? (the bus stop)

  • …tåget? (the train)

• En biljett till … tack – One ticket to … please

• Numbers 1–10 (ett, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta nio, tio) – useful for bus seats, money, counting.

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