Language/Swedish/Vocabulary/How-to-keep-a-conversation-going
The purpose of this lesson is to learn some simple expressions and questions that will help you to keep a conversation going with people you interact with.
The first thing we'll look at is ways in which you can ask people how they're doing. This is not only a good question to ask to start a conversation or keep one going, but it's also something that's nice to ask to show people that you take an interest in them. In this lesson's dialogue, Kerstin used the phrase, Hur är det med dig? ("How are you?") when meeting her acquaintance Houria. This way of asking someone how they're doing is commonly used among friends as well as acquaintances, and it is suitable for many occasions. A more casual way of asking someone how they're doing is by using the phrase, Hur är läget? or simply, Läget?, both of which correspond to the English, "What's up?" As you might suspect, this is something that's more commonly used between friends and usually between teenagers and young adults rather than middle-aged men and women or senior citizens. If you find yourself in a situation that requires you to be a bit more formal, the phrase, Hur mår du?, meaning "How are you?" or "How are you doing?" is probably a better option. Hur mår du? can be used among friends as well, but it has a more formal sound to it than, Hur är det med dig?
Next we'll look at some common Swedish interjections that can easily be used in a conversation to show the person you're listening to that you're actually listening. In this lesson's dialogue, for example, Kerstin used the interjection Jaha!, meaning "I see!" Jaha! is suitable to show that you found something the speaker said particularly interesting, fascinating, or even surprising. When using this type of interjection, it's also important to match the tone of your voice so it corresponds to an actual reaction of what someone has told you. If you exaggerate your reaction, or if the tone of your voice is too flat, it might seem like you are sarcastic or not really interested in what the other person just said. Knowing one interjection is often not enough, since repeating the same one over and over might convey a message that you are bored with the conversation. A good alternative to Jaha! is Jaså, which is basically used in the same way, and therefore, corresponds to "I see!" or "Oh!"
Finally, in order to keep a conversation going, we'll also look at some open-ended questions that can be used to encourage the person you're speaking with to continue talking. One of the open-ended questions that can easily be applied in many conversations is the one used by Kerstin in this lesson's dialogue when she asks Houria about her trip to the movies by saying, Hur var det? ("How was it?"). This question is very useful because it's very general and, therefore, can be asked as soon as someone has told you that they've done any kind of activity. Also, because it's a question that requires more than a "yes" or "no" answer, it's more likely that the person you're talking to will continue talking. Another way of keeping the conversation going is to ask people about an activity that you know they've done or experienced but that they haven't told you about yet. You might, for example, know that they had a vacation recently or that they went to a party the other weekend. One simple way of asking about this is by using the form Hur var + [noun in its definite singular form]? ("How was [noun]?") Let's illustrate this with a few examples.
For example:
- Hur var semestern? "How was the vacation?"
- Hur var festen? "How was the party?"
- Hur var klassträffen? "How was the class reunion?"
After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Feelings and Emotions, Swedish Vocabulary → Body parts and health → Symptoms and ..., Animals & Numbers above 100.
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