1. There are two words for “grandfather” and “grandmother”.
Curiously enough, Swedish differentiates between your grandfather on your mother’s and your father’s side. Paternal grandfather is referred to as farfar, which translates to “father father”. Maternal grandfather is referred to as morfar, and means, yes you guessed right – “mother father”. The same rule applies to grandmothers, too.
2. There’s no way to say “please”.
For the most part, Swedish people are considered to be polite. Surprisingly, there is no direct translation of the word “please” in the Swedish language. “Tack” (=thanks) or “snälla” (=kindly) are usually used instead, with “tack” being the more usual one.
3. En or ett
Every noun is either “en” or “ett”. Unfortunately, there is actually no solid way of telling which article goes with which noun. This is why you’re going to have to practice and memorize the appropriate pairings.
One great tool that can help you get one step closer toward proficiency at en and ett in Swedish is the “En or Ett” mobile app. By playing the “En or Ett” game you can quickly develop the skill of telling en or ett nouns apart!
Read more about “En or Ett” and download it here!
4. Swedish wasn’t even the official languages of Sweden up until recently
Did you know that Swedish was an official main language in Finland before it was in Sweden? It was only in 2009 that a law making Swedish the official main language was passed, along with five other national minority languages: Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish and Meänkieli. (Source: npld.eu)
5. Dialects in Sweden are usually divided into 6 main groups.
The groups are:
- Norrland dialects
- Finland Swedish
- Svealand dialects
- Gotland dialects
- Götaland dialects
- South Swedish dialects
The different dialects are often so localized that they are limited to individual parishes.
