I know some foreigners who’ve been living in Sweden for about 10 years, yet they still don’t know any Swedish. They say there’s no need for them to learn, because everyone here speaks English. Some even go as far as to complain that Swedish is difficult to learn.
Yeah? You think so? How much Absolut have you been drinking lately?

Swedish must be one of the easiest European languages out there! Don’t believe me? Check this out:

I am Swedish. – Jag är svensk.
You are Swedish. – Du är svensk.
He/she is Swedish. – Han/hon är svensk.

Instead of the pesky am/are/is, Swedish has just one version – är.
Isn’t that wonderful?
And wait! It gets better. In English we have:


I write. But – He/she writes.

But in Swedish, it’s all the same:
Jag skriver. Han skriver. Hon skriver.

There are no pesky auxiliary verbs such as “do” or “does” or “did”. To form a question, you simply flip the sentence order.
Skriver han? – Does he write?

And get this, it can also mean “Is he writing?” Tada! We just got rid of a whole verb tense!

Just like in English, the verb “to write” (skriva) is irregular in Swedish as well.
Skriva is the basic (infinitive) form, just like “to write” would be in English.
Skriver – write (present tense)
Skrev – wrote (past tense)
Skrivit – written (perfect)

While the verbs are easy, Swedish nouns can get a bit funky. But don’t despair, not as funky as Russian nouns, for example. In fact, when compared to Russian, Swedish nouns are a cakewalk.

But forget about the nouns for a while.
Just revel in the idea of using “är” when talking about yourself! Doesn’t it feel good?

Jag är så duktig!

duktig- smart, clever