Greetings and politeness in Swedish
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the ten openers everything else builds on. Play the ten Swedish words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 11 Swedish phrases in this lesson
- Hejhey
- Hello
- God morgongoo MOR-ron
- Good morning
- God kvällgoo KVELL
- Good evening
- Hej dåhey DAW
- Goodbye
- Vi sesvee SEHS
- See you
- SnällaSNEL-lah
- Please
- Tacktahk
- Thank you
- Varsågodvar-shaw-GOOD
- You're welcome
- Förlåtfur-LAWT
- Sorry
- Ursäktaoor-SHECK-tah
- Excuse me
- Trevligt att träffasTREHV-leet at TREF-as
- Nice to meet you
The Swedish greeting for every situation. With the doctor, the king, a child, a shop assistant: hej works for all of them. Swedish has almost no formal register in daily greetings. Doubled as "hej hej" it is a warm goodbye, exactly like Danish.
The double r in morgon is rolled lightly. Used until around 10 or 11, then "hej" takes over. In offices you often hear "morron" (MOR-ron) as a clipped good morning from colleagues who have already had their first coffee.
Said arriving anywhere in the evening. Hej works at any hour.
Literally "hi then". The standard goodbye in all but formal situations. "Vi ses" (vee SES, we see each other/see you) is equally common. "Adjö" (ah-DYUR) is the formal goodbye, used for departures with emotional weight or when leaving a country.
Literally "we'll be seen", what friends say on parting. Hej då works for everyone.
Literally "kind". Swedish has no everyday please; snälla is for asking a favor, and tack at the end of an order does the rest: en kaffe, tack.
The single most useful word in Swedish. Tack for ordering, tack for paying, tack when you leave, tack when something is handed to you. It never wears out. The elaborate Danish tak-system has its mirror image here.
One word: var (be) + så (so) + god (good). Also used when handing something over: you give someone their coffee and say "varsågod". As a you're welcome after thanks: "ingen orsak" (ING-en OR-sahk, no reason/no problem) is equally common.
Literally "forgive", the real apology.
For attracting attention, apologizing, and squeezing past people. The abbreviated "förlåt" (fur-LAWT) is for apologies. For getting someone's attention on the street, "hej" followed by ursäkta is also completely natural, because hej first is just reflexive.
Literally "nice to meet".