Meaning & use
Swedish
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to Sweden, its people, or its language.
Grammar: Used before a noun: Swedish food, a Swedish writer.
Patterns
- Swedish noun
- be Swedish
She studies Swedish history at university.
My neighbor is a Swedish engineer.
They serve Swedish meatballs at that café.
noununcountable
The language spoken in Sweden and parts of Finland.
Grammar: No article and no plural: I speak Swedish, not 'a Swedish'.
Patterns
- speak Swedish
- learn Swedish
- in Swedish
He learned Swedish while working in Stockholm.
The film is in Swedish with English subtitles.
Do you speak Swedish or Norwegian?
nounplural
The people of Sweden considered as a group.
Grammar: Takes a plural verb: the Swedish are known for...
Patterns
- the Swedish
The Swedish are famous for their design and furniture.
The Swedish have a strong tradition of outdoor life.
Common combinations
- Swedish language
- The Swedish language has three extra letters: å, ä and ö.
- speak Swedish
- She can speak Swedish and German.
- Swedish meatballs
- We ordered Swedish meatballs with cream sauce.
- Swedish people
- Swedish people often speak excellent English.
- in Swedish
- Could you say that again in Swedish?
Synonyms and how they differ
- Swede
- A Swede is a person from Sweden, not the language or the adjective.
Word family
- Swede noun
- A person from Sweden.
- Sweden proper noun
- The country in northern Europe.
Commonly confused: Swedish or Swiss? Swedish or suede?
Swedish vs Swiss
Swiss means from Switzerland, a different country; Swedish means from Sweden.
Swedish vs suede
Suede is a soft leather; it sounds similar but means something completely different.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
Language names are uncountable and take no article, so 'speaks Swedish' is correct. 'A Swedish' and 'the Swedish' are wrong because they refer to a person or the people, not the language.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Swedish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.