The Vowels a, o, å and u

What you will learn

You can read a word with a, å, o or u and say if its vowel is long or short, and spot an o that sounds like å.

A and å

Long a is said far back in the mouth, a little like the a in father. Short a is quick and said further forward. Long å is a round sound, a little like the o in go, but held steady. Short å, as in åtta, is more open.

The rule from chapter 1 helps here. One consonant or none after the vowel usually means a long vowel, as in bra and år. Two consonants usually mean a short one, as in katt and åtta.

O has two sounds

When o is long, it usually has its own sound, close to the oo in food, with very round lips. It is not the sound of the letter u. When o is short, it often sounds just like a short å. So dotter and åtta have the same vowel sound, even though they are spelled with different letters.

In a few words, such as son and sovrum, a long o also sounds like å. The audio will help with these.

U

The Swedish u has no sound quite like it in English. For a long u, as in hus and nu, round your lips a little and keep your tongue forward, near where you say the ee in see. A short u, as in hund and kurs, is quicker and more open.

The letter and the word

When you talk about spelling, bokstaven means the letter and ordet means the word, as in bokstaven o and ordet bok. They are the definite forms of en bokstav and ett ord.

Listening comes later

This lesson has no practice questions yet. Audio is planned, and listening practice will follow when checked recordings exist.

Common mistakes