What you will learn
You can talk about the weather, the seasons and the temperature, and say where in the country a town is.
The weather
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Hur är vädret i dag? | What is the weather like today? |
| Det regnar. | It is raining. |
| Det snöar i Gävle. | It is snowing in Gävle. |
| Det blåser mycket. | It is very windy. |
| Solen skiner, och det är varmt. | The sun is shining, and it is warm. |
| Det är soligt i Lund och molnigt i Knivsta. | It is sunny in Lund and cloudy in Knivsta. |
| Det är tjugo grader. | It is twenty degrees. |
| Det är minus fem grader. | It is minus five degrees. |
| I går regnade det hela dagen. | Yesterday it rained all day. |
Weather verbs such as regnar, snöar and blåser have det as the subject, like it in English. When a time word comes first, det comes after the verb, as in I går regnade det. After det är, an adjective takes the ett form, as in soligt, molnigt and varmt. Grader is the plural of en grad, and minus comes before the number.
The seasons
| Every year | This year | The one that has passed | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| på våren | i vår | i våras | in spring |
| på sommaren | i sommar | i somras | in summer |
| på hösten | i höst | i höstas | in autumn, in the fall |
| på vintern | i vinter | i vintras | in winter |
På vintern is about every winter, as in På vintern snöar det ofta i Kiruna. I vinter is this winter, the one that is here now or coming soon. I vintras is the winter that has passed, and it goes with the past, as in I vintras var det mycket kallt. Vår also means our, as you saw in chapter 8, but på våren is about spring.
Kiruna ligger i norr, och Malmö ligger i söder. Kiruna is in the north, and Malmö is in the south. The four directions are norr, söder, öster and väster, and they take i, as in i väster.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regnar i dag. | Det regnar i dag. | A weather verb needs det as the subject. |
| I dag det snöar. | I dag snöar det. | The verb comes second, right after the time word. |
| Det är solig. | Det är soligt. | After det är, use the ett form. |