What you will learn
You can read and write a short message or invitation, and you can see the main patterns of A1 together.
The parts of a message
| Part | Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|
| A greeting | Hej Greta! | Hi Greta! |
| What | Ska vi gå på teater? | Shall we go to the theater? |
| When | På fredag klockan sju. | On Friday at seven. |
| Where | Hemma hos mig. | At my place. |
| A request for an answer | Kan du komma? | Can you come? |
| A sign off | Hälsningar, Noor | Best wishes, Noor |
A short message often has these parts, in this order. Hej alla! greets everyone. Hälsningar fits any message. Kram means hug, and at the end of a message to family or friends it works like love or hugs in English.
An example
Noor invites her friend Greta.
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Hej Greta! | Hi Greta! |
| Ska vi fika på söndag? Jag är ledig hela dagen. | Shall we have a coffee on Sunday? I am free all day. |
| Vi kan gå till Kafé Lyktan klockan tre. Kan du komma? | We can go to Kafé Lyktan at three. Can you come? |
| Kram, Noor | Love, Noor |
Greta answers.
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Hej Noor! Ja, gärna! Vi ses klockan tre. | Hi Noor! Yes, I would love to! See you at three. |
| Hälsningar, Greta | Best wishes, Greta |
Hela means the whole. After hela the noun usually takes the definite form, as in hela dagen and hela kursen.
Grattis means congratulations, and Grattis på födelsedagen! means happy birthday.
A1 in one table
| Pattern | Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|
| The verb comes second | I dag jobbar Tariq på kaféet. | Today Tariq is working at the café. |
| Inte after the verb | Greta dricker inte te. | Greta does not drink tea. |
| En and ett | en tårta, ett meddelande | a cake, a message |
| The definite form | tårtan, meddelandet | the cake, the message |
| More than one | två tårtor, tre meddelanden | two cakes, three messages |
| Adjective endings | en rolig film, roliga filmer | a funny film, funny films |
| A verb after måste, kan or vill | Jag måste städa i dag. | I have to clean today. |
| Instructions | Ring mig i kväll! | Call me tonight! |
| Plans | Vi ska simma på söndag. | We are going to swim on Sunday. |
| Liking to do something | Han gillar att cykla. | He likes cycling. |
| Mig, dig and the others | Hugo hämtar oss. | Hugo picks us up. |
| Asking when and who | När börjar filmen? Vem kommer? | When does the film start? Who is coming? |
This table reviews the patterns taught so far. The Learning Path rounds practise messages and invitations, and chapter tests combine earlier material. Chapters 7 to 9 add more A1 topics before the final review.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hej Greta! at the start and Kram, Noor at the end | The greeting comes first and the sign off comes last. | |
| Grattis på födelsedag! | Grattis på födelsedagen! | The phrase uses the definite form födelsedagen. |
| Jag är ledig hela dag. | Jag är ledig hela dagen. | After hela, use the definite form here. |