Language/Swedish/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Swedish Alphabet and Pronunciation

Hello Polyglots, 👋

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Swedish alphabet, how to pronounce these letters using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or by watching a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker. 🇸🇪

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this beautiful language. 🖥️

Happy learning! 🌟

After mastering the Swedish alphabet and pronunciation, you can further enhance your language skills by exploring other related lessons such as Swedish Vocabulary: Jobs and Professions, Swedish Vocabulary → Colors and Numbers → Numbers 0-20, and Swedish Grammar → Swedish Nouns → Plural nouns. These lessons will help you build a strong foundation in Swedish and make your learning journey more enjoyable and fruitful. 📚

Swedish Alphabet and Pronunciation

Alphabet

Alphabet	Sound	Example
A a	/ɑː/	a as in ask
B b	/beː/	b as in bank
C c	/seː/	s before i,e,y else "k" as in Canada
D d	/deː/	d as in David
E e	/eː/	e as in elevated, "a" before "g"
F f	/æf/	f as in Frank
G g	/ɡeː/	s as in pleasure before e,i,y,ä,ö. Or "g" as in God elsewhere
H h	/hoː/	h as in holiday
I i	/iː/	dans le mot ink
J j	/jiː/	j as in 's' de pleasure
K k	/koː/	k as in kid
L l	/æl/, /ˈæl.læ/	l as in life
M m	/æm/, /ˈæm.mæ/	m as in mom
N n	/æn/, /ˈæn.næ/	n as in noon
O o	/oː/	o as in old
P p	/peː/	p as in pope
Q q	/kuː/	Q is no longer used
R r	/ær/, /ˈær.ræ/	as in brother
S s	/æs/, /ˈæs.sæ/	s as in Sam
Š š	/ˈhat.tuˌæs/	sh as in ship, sometimes 's' as in small
T t	/teː/	t as in table, sometimes 'd' as in mad
U u	/uː/	as in the ultra
V v	/ʋeː/	sounds as a "b" as in bike
W w	/ʋeː/	v as in vast
X x	/æks/, /ˈæk.sæ/	ks as in wax
Y y	/yː/	y as in year
Z z	/tset/, /ˈtse.tɑ/	s as in small
Ž ž	/ˈhat.tuˌtset/,	sh before e,i,y,ä,ö, "chs" before a,o,å,u
Å å	/oː/	oo as in poor
Ä ä	/æː/	ae as in ache
Ö ö	/øː/	u as in ultra

Pronunciation by a Native Speaker

Listen to the following video to help you pronounce each letter correctly

Focus on Stress and Rhythm

Swedish has a distinctive stress pattern that can be challenging for English speakers to master. In Swedish, the stress is typically on the first syllable of a word, and the rhythm is generally even. Paying attention to stress and rhythm can help you improve your Swedish pronunciation.

Examples of Swedish Pronunciation

To help you practice your Swedish pronunciation, here are some common words and phrases with their pronunciations:

• Hej! (Hello!) - "hey!"
• Tack. (Thank you.) - "tahk."
• Ursäkta mig. (Excuse me.) - "ur-sehk-tah me."
• God morgon. (Good morning.) - "gohd mor-gohn."
• Var är toaletten? (Where is the restroom?) - "vahr air too-ah-let-ten?"
• Jag älskar dig. (I love you.) - "yahg elskahr deeg."
• Välkommen. (Welcome.) - "vahl-kohm-mehn."
• Hur mår du?

Time to Practice!

Here is a practice exercise to help you improve your Swedish pronunciation:

Pronounce the following words:

• Tåg (train)
• Sjö (lake)
• Göteborg (Gothenburg)
• Ö (island)
• Fågel (bird)

Try to pronounce the following phrases:

• Vad heter du? (What's your name?)
• Jag talar inte svenska så bra. (I don't speak Swedish very well.)
• Kan du hjälpa mig? (Can you help me?)
• Jag vill ha en kopp kaffe, tack. (I would like a cup of coffee, please.)
• Var är närmaste tunnelbanestation? (Where is the nearest subway station?)

Read the following Swedish sentences aloud and focus on stress and rhythm:

• God morgon, hur mår du?
• Vi ska åka till Stockholm imorgon.
• Kan du rekommendera en bra restaurang?
• Var bor du?
• Jag tycker om att läsa böcker och titta på filmer.

I hope this exercise helps you practice your Swedish pronunciation!

Swedish Online Virtual Keyboard