100 Essential Swedish Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Swedish	Type
hello	hej	interjection
goodbye	hej då	interjection
yes	ja	interjection
no	nej	interjection
please	snälla	interjection
thank you	tack	interjection
sorry	förlåt	interjection
and	och	conjunction
but	men	conjunction
or	eller	conjunction
because	därför att	conjunction
here	här	adverb
there	där	adverb
always	alltid	adverb
never	aldrig	adverb
together	tillsammans	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Swedish	Type
man	man	noun
woman	kvinna	noun
boy	pojke	noun
girl	flicka	noun
friend	vän	noun
mother	mor	noun
father	far	noun
brother	bror	noun
sister	syster	noun
son	son	noun
daughter	dotter	noun
child	barn	noun
husband	make	noun
wife	hustru	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Swedish	Type
to be	att vara	verb
to have	att ha	verb
to do	att göra	verb
to go	att gå	verb
to come	att komma	verb
to eat	äta	verb
to drink	dricka	verb
to want	vilja	verb
to need	behöva	verb
to know	veta	verb
to speak	tala	verb
to read	läsa	verb
to write	skriva	verb
to listen	lyssna	verb
to work	arbeta	verb
to buy	köpa	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Swedish	Type
good	bra	adjective
bad	dålig	adjective
new	ny	adjective
old	gammal	adjective
young	ung	adjective
tall	lång	adjective
short	kort	adjective
nice	trevlig	adjective
kind	snäll	adjective
shy	blyg	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Swedish	Type
red	röd	adjective
blue	blå	adjective
green	grön	adjective
yellow	gul	adjective
black	svart	adjective
white	vit	adjective
orange	orange	adjective
purple	lila	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Swedish	Type
one	ett	number
two	två	number
three	tre	number
four	fyra	number
five	fem	number
six	sex	number
seven	sju	number
eight	åtta	number
nine	nio	number
ten	tio	number
zero	noll	number
twenty	tjugo	number

Time

10 words

English	Swedish	Type
today	idag	adverb
tomorrow	i morgon	adverb
yesterday	igår	adverb
morning	morgon	noun
afternoon	eftermiddag	noun
evening	kväll	noun
night	natt	noun
day	dag	noun
week	vecka	noun
month	månad	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Swedish	Type
water	vatten	noun
coffee	kaffe	noun
tea	te	noun
milk	mjölk	noun
bread	bröd	noun
cheese	ost	noun
fruit	frukt	noun
apple	äpple	noun
egg	ägg	noun
rice	ris	noun

Home

4 words

English	Swedish	Type
house	hus	noun
door	dörr	noun
window	fönster	noun
bed	säng	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Swedish words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Swedish words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Swedish

Swedish vocabulary testFind your level How long does Swedish take to learn?A realistic plan

Swedish for beginners questions

What are the first Swedish words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Swedish that means words like hej (hello), tack (thank you), vatten (water) and äta (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Swedish written?

Swedish uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 31 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Swedish?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Swedish words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.