Learn the Swedish Alphabet

Svenska alfabetet

Learn to read the Swedish Alphabet (Svenska alfabetet): all 29 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	A	a	long a as in father (mat); short a is a quick, open 'ah' (katt)
B b	Be	b	b as in bed
C c	Ce	c	s before e, i, y, ä, ö (cykel); k elsewhere, mostly in loanwords (cancer)
D d	De	d	d as in dog
E e	E	e	long e is a pure 'ay' with no glide (se); short e is like e in bed (penna)
F f	Eff	f	f as in fish
G g	Ge	g	hard g as in go (gata); like y in yes before e, i, y, ä, ö (göra 'yöra')
H h	Hå	h	h as in hat; silent before j (hjärta)
I i	I	i	long ee as in see (vit); short i as in sit (fisk)
J j	Ji	j	y as in yes, never the English j (ja)
K k	Kå	k	k as in kite (katt); before e, i, y, ä, ö it softens to a 'sh'-like sound (kyrka)
L l	Ell	l	l as in lamp
M m	Emm	m	m as in man
N n	Enn	n	n as in no; ng is one sound as in sing (lång)
O o	O	o	often sounds like oo in moon (sol); sometimes like o in hot (boll) or a pure 'oh' (son)
P p	Pe	p	p as in pen
Q q	Ku	q	k as in kite; only in names and a few old loanwords
R r	Ärr	r	rolled or tapped r (röd); rs together sounds like sh (Lars)
S s	Ess	s	s as in sun; sj, skj, stj and sk before e, i, y, ä, ö make the breathy Swedish 'sj' sound (sju)
T t	Te	t	t as in top; tj makes a soft 'sh'-like sound (tjugo)
U u	U	u	a tight, rounded 'ee': say ee and push your lips into a small o (hus); short u is a relaxed 'uh' with rounded lips (hund)
V v	Ve	v	v as in van
W w	Dubbel-ve	w	the same v sound as V; only in names and loanwords
X x	Eks	x	ks as in box
Y y	Y	y	say ee while rounding your lips, like German ü (ny); short y is the same sound, quicker (yxa)
Z z	Säta	z	a plain s as in sun, never a buzzing z
Å å	Å	å	long like oa in oar, a pure 'oh' (båt); short like o in hot (åtta)
Ä ä	Ä	ä	like e in bed (äta); before r it opens up to a in cat (ära)
Ö ö	Ö	ö	say 'ay' with rounded lips, like German ö or French eu (öga)

Learn the Swedish Alphabet

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