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|Introduction to
Swedish© by Urban Sikeborg,
Stockholm (1997-98) |
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Chapter 2
Greetings
& goodbyes |
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Home | Chap. 1 | Chap. 3 | Chap. 4 | Chap. 5 | Chap. 6 | Chap. 7 | Chap.
8 | Chap. 9 | |
| On this
page |
Introduction
Salutary phrases
'How are you' phrases
Suitable answers
How to say goodbye |
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| Introduction |
It has been
said that the first impressions last. If that is true, it
may be valuable to know how to greet somebody in a proper
way (Swedes are not, for instance, very given to
cheek-kissing). Here is a list of some salutary phrases
in Swedish. Try to find a couple you think could be
useful and memorize them. |
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| Salutary phrases |
Hej! |
This is the most common way of greeting
someone, be it in a formal or informal situation,
and can be used as an equivalent of How do
you do as well as Hi (there). |
Tjéna[re]! |
Informal and friendly. Actually an
abbreviation of 17th and 18th century phrases
like Jag förbliver Eder ödmjukaste tjänare
(I remain your most humble servant). |
Tja! |
Very informal and cool. An
abbreviated form of tjenare, often in
combination with ba (tjá'ba), a
reduced form of bara (only), which in
Swedish can be used like the English
sort/kind of as a filler without a
real meaning. |
God
mórgon!
Good morning! |
Used in both formal and informal
situations. |
God
dag!
Good day! |
This equivalent to How do you
do is mostly used to people you call
Ni, e.g. elderly people, and on
formal occasions. |
God
kväll!
Good evening! |
The Swedish good evening
salute is nowadays mainly reserved for somewhat
formal meetings or to people you address with the
Ni pronoun. The synonymous expression
God afton is rather antiquated by
now. |
Notes
Tj is pronounced a bit sharper
than the English sh sound - as in
shut, but with the middle part of the tongue
pressed more towards the palate further back in the mouth
(cp. German ch in ich).
Like in English some consonants change sound
when they are followed by certain vowels (café - city;
guest - gist). These so-called soft vowels in Swedish
are: e, i y, ä, ö. The g in
angenämt, which preceeds the soft vowel
e, is therefore pronounced like y
in yes, not like g in
good. Read more about the rules for
pronounciation in chapter 9!
If you just
have been introduced to someone you might add:
Trévligt
att rå´kas/trä´ffas!
Nice to meet
[you]! |
Demonstrating that you are a polite and
well-behaved person. |
Ángenä´mt!
Pleasant/nice
[to meet you]! |
This equivalent to German
Angenehm and French
Enchanté is definitely
old-fashioned, but could be popular among mature
ladies. |
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| 'How are you'
phrases |
To ask for someone's health and well-being is
always appropriate:
Hur står
det
till?
How stands it
to? |
Has got a slight formal touch, but can
also be used in informal situations. |
Hur är
det?
How is it? |
Informal, very common. |
Hur har
du det?
How have you
it? |
Informal, very frequent. |
Hur är
lä´get?
How is the
situation? |
A bit more informal, very common. |
Lä´get?
The situation? |
An abbreviated and more informal form of
"Hur är läget?". A common combination
is: "Tjá'ba'! Lä´get?". |
Hur går
det?
How goes it? |
Could refer to life in general, but also
to a specific task or job. |
Hur mår
du?
How feel you? |
Showing concern, focusing on the
health/well-being of somebody. |
Hur är
det
med
[famíljen]?
How is it with
[the family] |
Showing more personal interest when
including someone else. |
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| Suitable answers |
Tack, [bára] bra!
Thanks,
[just/only] fine! |
Very common. Can be used no matter how
you feel ... |
Skapligt/Hyfsat
Fairly
well/Decent |
With the Swedish avoidance of
superlatives. Quite frequent. |
Så där/Det kunde vara bättre.
So there/It
could be better. |
Two variants of the same theme:
"Not very well, but I'll survive". |
Inte så bra, tyvärr.
Not so good,
unfortunately. |
(You are expected to show genuine
concern when somebody tells you this.) |
After having answered, you can return
the initiative by asking him/her: "Och
du/[du] själv?" ["And you/(you
your-) self"]. After his/her reply, the greeting
procedure would probably be considered finished.
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| How to say goodbye |
Hej då!
Hello then! |
Very common, can be used anywhere. |
Adjö´! |
Formal, dismissive. When used alone
equivalent to good day. |
Adjö´
så lä´nge! |
More informal than just
adjö: goodbye for now,
so long. |
God
natt!
Good night! |
Informal, very frequent. |
Farvä´l!
Farewell! |
Outmoded, often used in a melodramatic
way. |
Ha
det så
bra!
Have it soo
good! |
Informal, very common, like take
care. Often in combination with hej
då. |
Vi
ses:
We see [each
other] |
See
you! Used alone or together with any of the
following alternatives: |
sénare
later |
later |
i mórgon
in morning |
tomorrow |
i
kväll
in evening |
tonight |
snart
soon |
soon |
om
en stund
within a moment |
in
a while |
nä´sta
vécka
next week |
next
week |
på:
må´ndag
tísdag
ónsdag
tórsdag
frédag
lö´rdag
sö´ndag |
on:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday |
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Copyright
Urban Sikeborg,
Stockholm 1997-1998.
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