Vowels

In Swedish we differentiate between hard and soft vowels.

Hard vowels are A, U, O and Å and the soft ones are E, I, Y, Ö and Ä. This is important for some consonants since soft vowels change their pronunciation.

Furthermore, we divide them into long and short vowels.

A vowel is long:

• when they are emphasized and no consonant follows (bi [biː] bee)
• where they are emphasized and only one consonant follows (bil [biːl] car)

A vowel is short:

• when a double consonants follow (puss [pɵs] kiss)
• when two or more consonants follow (häst [hɛst] horse)
• when it isn’t emphasized or just softly pronounced (fågel [foːgəl] bird, tomte [”tomtə] father christmas)

Consonants

Double consonants shorten the vowel before them. Only M and N are exceptions since they often shorten the vowel before them also when they aren’t written in pairs.