The Swedish alphabet

The pronunciation of the Swedish alphabet 

This lesson is about the Swedish alphabet (det svenska alfabetet). Before we get started, learning a new alphabet may seem tricky at first, but if you only give yourself time and make sure you have fun learning it will seem easier than it is. 

In addition to the 26 letter from ''A'' to ''Z'', the Swedish alphabet also has 3 distinct letter which come after the letter ''Z''.

• Å å pronounced /oː/ 
• Ä ä pronounced /æː/
• Ö ö pronounced /øː/

The others are identical to the English alphabet, the only difference is the pronunciation. 

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Swedish alphabet pronunciation

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Å, Ä, Ö

The Swedish SJ sound.

The pronunciation of the sound sje or sj (/ɧ/) sound is vey tricky to get it right the first time. Over the past century, people estimate that there are over fifty different ways of spelling the sound.
The sje-sound different spelling as follows.

• 'ch'  - usually respelled 'sch' and appears in most French loanwords.
• 'g'  -  appears in French loanwords such as generös (generous)
• 'ge'  - appears in French loanwords such as garage and prestige.
• 'gi' - appears in the word religiös (religious)
• 'j'  - appears in french loanwords such as jalusi (Jalousie)
• 'sc'  - appears in facinera (fascinate)
• 'sch'  - appears in many german loanwords such as schack (chess)
• 'stg'  - appears in three words only, västgöte, östgöte, gästgiveri. Not very common and are often pronounced stj.

Hej! We hope you have enjoyed learning the Swedish alphabet, why don't you have a look at the rest of the course.