Life In Sweden • Swedish Language Blog

Swedish Words for Work Part 2

September 21, 2020September 19, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Etymology Chart for work words, from Proto-Germanic, to Old Norse, Old English, Modern English, and Modern Swedish

Swedish Words for Work – Part 2 This is a continuation of my previous post on how to more accurately translate words for “work” from Swedish to English, and vice versa. In that post I covered a few different cases where we would say “work” in English, but Swedish has several options that are not quite as interchangeable. This is one instance where I find I have to choose my Swedish words carefully (probably something I could improve in English to be honest…) to express what I want to say. This is my favorite kind of nerdy post, where I dig into the history and etymology of “work” words and explore interesting offshoots. If you’re interested in this kind …

Swedish Words for Work

September 19, 2020September 11, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

A compass containing the Swedish flag, with an arrow pointing to the word Job

Swedish Words for Work, and How to Use Them Like so many others right now, over the last few months I’ve once again found myself searching for a job. Having moved to Sweden just over a year ago, this is a pretty big challenge. Part of the reason I started this blog has been as a way to structure my Swedish study to quickly get up to a work-fluent level. As this has been a looming topic on my mind, I naturally started to wonder about the different Swedish words and phrases for work, jobs, and employment. This one has …

“To Do” Words in Swedish

September 19, 2020August 24, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

To do list, Swedish words for To Do, att göra

Swedish words and phrases to express “doing” something I’d like to talk about something I’ve struggled with as a Swedish learner, and that is how to translate (or when not to translate) phrases that contain the word “do”. At first glance this seems like an easy concept, but in English we unknowingly use the word “do” in many contexts where it either wouldn’t exist at all in Swedish, or would be replaced by a different word. Lately I’ve been listening to the phenomenal History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud. (go check it out!) As so often happens, he brought …

2nd Hiking and Camping trip in Tyresta National Park

September 12, 2020August 15, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

An amazing blueberry patch in Tyresta National Park

Lately we’ve been trying to take advantage of as much Swedish summertime as humanly possible, so we decided to grab a couple friends and go for another hike and overnight camping trip at Tyresta National Park to follow up the first one of the year. If you’re looking for other places to camp near Stockholm, I also recommend Björnö Naturreservat. Trail Route and Conditions As usual, I tried to log as much of the route as possible. On the way there we took a more direct path to our campsite, but one that crosses through the middle of brandområdet. In …

English Movie Quotes in Swedish

September 15, 2020July 30, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Inigo Montoya thinks about how to deliver his lines in Swedish

Understanding how to translate English quotes to Swedish If you’re like me, you’ve spent a ton of time building up your Swedish vocabulary. You’ve studied sentence structure, grammar, memorized those pesky “en or ett” words, and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself. When you build up the confidence to finally talk to a native Swedish speaker, you get nothing but a blank stare. Maybe they’ll answer you… in English. This is the point I’ve become stuck in my learning, and I’ve finally figured out what is going on. Even though what I’ve said is technically correct, I may be translating …

Swedish Words to Keep in Your Pocket

September 22, 2020July 20, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Swedish Words to Keep in Your Pocket Today I have another word history post for you guys! I’ve been saving interesting etymology as I come across it, and I recently stumbled across a web of intertwined meanings between words for pockets, pouches, bags, and purses. I’d like to take a look at some practical scenarios involving bags and pockets, then dive into the history. To start out, here’s a practical phrase you’ll need to know when moving to Sweden. When I first started to venture out to stores on my own with my very limited Swedish I became weirdly nervous …

Exploring nature in Björnö

September 7, 2020July 16, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Björnö Naturreservat – Hiking, Camping, and exploring nature. Yesterday we went hiking in Björnö Naturreservat. This is a nice spot to start exploring if you’re limited on time and just want to make a quick day trip out somewhere, or stay overnight. I thought I’d do a quick overview of our Björnö camping experience. It took us around 2.5 hours to get around the long side of the trail at a slowish pace, and only about an hour to take the main road through back to the bus stop. A Swedish lesson – Don’t fear the bears There are a …

Wizards and Words

September 15, 2020July 12, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Magic Swedish Letters coming out of a wizard cauldron, surrounded by books

Swedish vocabulary magic Hej allihopa! Lately I’ve been working on getting back to the nerdier side of word origins while also doing a basic review of my last year worth of Swedish homework. The plan is to do a mix of both to keep things interesting. I’ve compiled a huge amount of notes on related words between English, French, and Swedish. This post will be a mix of that, and diving into related interesting words in my reading material. As always, the goal is to increase your Swedish vocabulary by associating interesting historical bits with certain words. Once again, I’m …

Top 10 Swedish phrases to help you study

October 1, 2020July 8, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Swedish flag puzzle pieces in front of a classroom

Basic Swedish phrases to help you learn faster. I’d like to do a bit of a different post today. It’s fun to keep moving on to advanced material, but sometimes it helps to take a break and do a review of the basics. This helps as a refresher on words and phrases you may have forgotten, learned new contexts for, or maybe skipped by without fully understanding. It’s also a nice confidence boost to realize how easy it is to read text that just a few short months ago you probably struggled through. These are some common Swedish phrases that …

Solving Swedish

September 22, 2020July 6, 2020 by Benjamin Soper

Hey all! I’ve gone down another rabbit hole of Swedish words while I was studying, and wanted to share my findings with you. Today’s topic will be on the origins of words relating to “solve, solution, and setting loose”. The ultimate goal is to be able to build up a larger vocabulary by knowing the roots of a few simpler words. As always, I’m not a professional and am still learning Swedish myself. Sometimes these posts are me thinking out loud and making connections as I study, so please jump in with corrections! Swedish word origins The first building block …