In the beginning of your learning journey, Swedish is an easy language – at least if you already speak a so-called SVO-language. This means that your basic word order relies on a Subject (the one doing something), a Verb (the action) and, if needed, an Object (whatever the action affects), in that order. Because of this, a lot of sentences can be translated into English word by word:
Thus, you can construct easy sentences in this manner:
Jag är [adjective, occupation, whatever you can be].
| Occupation | Adjective | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
Jag är student. I am a student. |
Jag är glad. I am glad./I am happy. |
Jag är amerikan. I'm an American. |
Jag är lärare. I am a teacher. |
Jag är sjuk. I am sick. |
Jag är svensk. I am Swedish. |
What makes Swedish so easy in the beginning is the lack of several constructions, which you might be used to in English. This also means less new stuff to memorize!
For instance, Swedish verbs only have one form for each tense and completely disregard who is performing the action.
This also means that Swedish lacks a continuous form and needs you to fall back on the basic form for the tenses even though the action is ongoing. Thus I eat and I’m eating are both expressed with äter. This is important to know right from the start, since many students try to shoehorn an är into this phrase.
| Present tense of vara and äta | ||
|---|---|---|
| vara (to be) | äta (to eat) | |
| Jag (I) | är (am) | äter (eat/am eating) |
| Du (you) | är (are) | äter (eat/are eating) |
| Han/hon/det (he/she/it) | är (is) | äter (eats/is eating) |
| Vi (we) | är (are) | äter (eat/are eating) |
| Ni (you all) | är (are) | äter (eat/are eating) |
| De (they) | är (are) | äter (eat/are eating) |