The Swedish Alphabet

The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters: the 26 of English plus å, ä and ö, which come after z. Q, w and z appear mostly in names and loanwords. Tap any letter to hear its name in Swedish.

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All 29 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Swedish.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
be say “bay” b as in “bed”
se say “say” s as in “sun” before e, i, y, ä, ö; k elsewhere (mostly in loanwords)
de say “day” d as in “dog”
e say “ay” long: like the “ay” in “say” without the glide; short: e as in “bed”
eff f as in “fun”
ge say “yay” g as in “go”; y as in “yes” before e, i, y, ä, ö
hå say “haw” h as in “hat”
i say “ee” ee as in “see”
ji say “yee” y as in “yes”
kå say “kaw” k as in “kit”; before e, i, y, ä, ö a soft, light “sh” (the tj-sound)
ell l as in “let”
emm m as in “man”
enn n as in “no”
o say “oo” usually oo as in “food”, with very rounded lips; sometimes o as in “lot”
pe say “pay” p as in “pin”, with a puff of air
ku say “koo” k (only in names and loanwords)
ärr say “air” rolled r, as in Spanish “perro”
ess s as in “sun”
te say “tay” t as in “top”, with a puff of air
u say “oo (lips tight)” long: a tight, rounded “ew” (no English equivalent); short: like the u in “put”
ve say “vay” v as in “van”
dubbel-ve say “DUB-bel-vay” v (only in names and loanwords)
eks ks as in “box”
y say “ee (rounded lips)” say “ee” with rounded lips (like German ü)
säta say “SAY-tah” s as in “sun” (Swedish has no z sound)
å say “aw” long: oh as in British “sore”, without the r; short: o as in “lot”
ä say “eh” e as in “bed”; before r, like the a in “cat”
ö say “ur (no r)” say “e” with rounded lips (like German ö)

8 letters that sound different for English speakers

Sounds like the y in “yes” en jordgubbe · strawberry
Before e, i, y, ä, ö it is a y: gäst = “yest” en gäst · guest
Before e, i, y, ä, ö it becomes a soft “sh” ett kök · kitchen
Often sounds “oo”, not “oh” en ost · cheese
Not “oo”: a tight, rounded vowel English lacks ull · wool
A vowel: “ee” with rounded lips, like German ü
Looks like an a, sounds like “oh” ett år · year
Always s, as in “sun”

Sj, tj, soft k and g, and å ä ö

Letters	Example	Sound
sj · skj · stj		The sj-sound: a breathy, whooshing “hw-sh” with rounded lips (no English equivalent)
sk + e i y ä ö		Also the sj-sound, not “sk”: sked, skinka
tj · kj · k + e i y ä ö		The tj-sound: a light “sh”, like the start of “sheep”
g + e i y ä ö		y as in “yes”: gäst = “yest”, gift = “yift”
rs		Said as one sound, close to English “sh”: torsdag ≈ “TOOSH-dah”
å · ä · ö		Three separate letters at the end of the alphabet: å = oh, ä = eh, ö = a rounded e

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.