What you will learn
You can tell which word in a sentence gets the stress, and you can recognize spoken short forms such as ja for jag.
One strong word
In a Swedish sentence, one word is said a little louder and longer than the others. It is the word that carries the news, and it is often the last one. Small words such as jag, är, i and på are said quickly and lightly.
| Swedish | Stressed word | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jag bor i Uppsala. | Uppsala | I live in Uppsala. |
| Hon är trött. | trött | She is tired. |
| Vi äter lunch klockan tolv. | tolv | We have lunch at twelve. |
In an answer, the new word gets the stress. To Bor du i Lund? you may answer Nej, i Gävle, with a strong Gävle.
When you want to point out one word, that word gets the stress instead. Jag dricker te with a strong jag means that I am the one who drinks tea, maybe not you.
Short forms in speech
Some common words get shorter when people speak. Learn to hear them, but write the full forms.
| Written | Said | English |
|---|---|---|
| jag | ja | I |
| och | å | and |
| sedan | sen | then |
| i morgon | imorron | tomorrow |
So ja can mean yes, or it can be a quick jag. The rest of the sentence shows which one it is.
Questions and melody
In Swedish, the word order shows that a sentence is a question. Du jobbar i dag is a statement, and Jobbar du i dag? is a question, because the verb comes first. The voice does not have to go up at the end, so listen for the order of the words.
Swedish words also have a melody of their own, and two words can sound different only in their melody. The recordings will show it. You can be understood without it at first.
This goal has no written questions. Listening practice starts when a checked recording exists.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ja bor i Lund. | Jag bor i Lund. | Ja is how jag often sounds. In writing, use jag. |
| Du jobbar i dag? | Jobbar du i dag? | In writing, a yes or no question normally starts with the verb. |