Chapter 1, lesson 7

Spelling Your Name

The names of the 29 Swedish letters in alphabet order, with å, ä and ö last, how to ask Hur stavas det? and how to spell a name one letter at a time.

What you will learn

You can recognise the Swedish letter names, ask how a name is spelled and write the name from its letters. Written exercises show the letter names. Listening exercises will let you recognise them by ear once the recordings are ready. This course does not test your speaking.

The alphabet

The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters. The first 26 are the same as in English, and å, ä and ö come last, in that order. En bokstav means a letter of the alphabet. Each letter has a Swedish name, which you use when you spell.

LetterSaidLetterSaidLetterSaid
AaKkåUu
BbeLellVve
CseMemmWdubbel-ve
DdeNennXex
EeOoYy
FeffPpeZsäta
GgeQkuÅå
HhåRärrÄä
IiSessÖö
JjiTte

Names to watch

The nine vowels, a, e, i, o, u, y, å, ä and ö, are called by their own sound. In Swedish words y is a vowel, not a consonant as in yes. Most other letters add a vowel to their sound, after it as in be and te, or before it as in ell and ess.

A few names surprise English speakers. H is hå and k is kå, with the sound of å. J is ji, q is ku, r is ärr and z is säta. W is dubbel-ve, which means double v.

How is that spelled?

SwedishEnglish
Hur stavas det?How is that spelled?
Hur stavas Kenji?How is Kenji spelled?
Kå, e, enn, ji, i.K, e, n, j, i.

Hur stavas det? asks how a word or a name is spelled. You can also put the name in place of det, as in Hur stavas Kenji? The answer gives the letters one at a time. For the town Gävle it is ge, ä, ve, ell, e.

A short example

SpeakerSwedishEnglish
ElinVad heter du?What is your name?
TariqJag heter Tariq.My name is Tariq.
ElinTariq? Hur stavas det?Tariq? How is that spelled?
TariqTe, a, ärr, i, ku.T, a, r, i, q.
ElinTack!Thanks!

Common mistakes

Not like thisLike thisWhy
ö, ä, åå, ä, öThe three extra letters come last, in the order å, ä, ö.
dubbel-udubbel-veW is called double v in Swedish.
ha for the letter hhåH is called hå, with å.

Check yourself

A few questions from the Learning Path on this lesson. Answer, then check, or show the answer with its explanation.

  1. Skriv bokstaven som heter "hå".
  2. De svenska bokstavsnamnen är "enn, o, ärr, a". Skriv namnet de bildar.
  3. Skriv bokstaven som heter "ji".
  4. De svenska bokstavsnamnen är "a, ell, i". Skriv namnet de bildar.
  5. Skriv bokstaven som heter "ku".
  6. De svenska bokstavsnamnen är "å, ess, a". Skriv namnet de bildar.

How this lesson connects

Used later in

Learning Path

Practice and review

Practice this lesson, check your answers and review mistakes in a separate round. Track your results as you work through the course.

Lessons and vocabulary are free to read. Checking your practice access.

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