Greetings & Formality
Greetings & Formality
Swedish greetings are refreshingly simple — and Swedish has essentially no formal/informal split left to worry about. Start here before any other vocabulary.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
"du" for everyone — the formal "ni" nearly disappeared
du (you, everyone) — ni (you, formal/plural) is rare today
you (informal/everyone) — you (formal/plural, old-fashioned)
Swedish used to have a formal/informal split much like English "thou" vs. "you" once was, but a social shift in the 1960s (called "du-reformen", the du-reform) swept the formal "ni" out of everyday use almost entirely. Today Swedes say du to everyone — a king, a stranger, a boss, a toddler — with no rudeness implied. You'll still see ni used as an honest plural "you all", and very occasionally as an old-fashioned formal address to an elderly stranger, but as a beginner you can default to du and never worry about choosing a formal register at all.
"Hej" covers almost everything
Hej / Hej hej / Tjena
Hi / Hey there / Hey (very casual, slangy)
English leans on "hello" for anyone and "hey" for friends. Swedish leans even harder on one word: hej works for absolutely everyone, any time of day, in any setting — a shop clerk, your boss, a close friend. Doubling it (hej hej) adds warmth, and tjena is slangy and only for friends. You genuinely don't need the time-of-day greetings below for casual speech — they're mainly for writing, announcements, and slightly more formal spoken contexts.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- Hi / Hello
- English
- Hey there
- English
- Good morning
- English
- Good evening
- English
- Good night
- English
- Bye
- English
- See you
- English
- Thanks
- English
- Thank you very much
- English
- You're welcome / Here you go
- English
- Yes
- English
- No
- English
- Excuse me / Sorry
- English
- How are you?
- English
- Good, thanks