svenska

Old Norse

Adjective

svenska

1. strong feminine accusative singular of svenskr
2. strong masculine accusative plural of svenskr
3. weak masculine oblique singular of svenskr
4. weak feminine nominative singular of svenskr
5. weak neuter all cases singular of svenskr

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²svɛnska/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sven‧ska

Etymology 1

From svensk +‎ -a, the suffix stemming from tunga (“tungue”), used to make terms for languages.

Noun

svenska c

1. (uncountable) Swedish (language)

   Talar du svenska?

   Do you speak Swedish?

   (literally, “Speak you Swedish?”)

   Hon talar inte (så mycket) svenska

   She doesn't speak (much) Swedish

   (literally, “She speaks not (so much) Swedish”)

   Ursäkta, min svenska är inte så bra

   Excuse me, my Swedish isn't very good

   (literally, “Excuse, my Swedish is not so good”)

   Hur säger man det på svenska?

   How do you say that/it in Swedish?

   (literally, “How says one that on [the idiomatic preposition] Swedish?”)

   Vad heter det på svenska?

   What is that/it called in Swedish?

   (literally, “What is-named that on [the idiomatic preposition] Swedish?”)

   "Vad kallas det på svenska?" (What is-called that on Swedish?) is also perfectly clear, but less idiomatic.

   Det kan vara svårt att öva sin svenska när folk byter till engelska

   It can be difficult to practice your Swedish when people switch to English

   (literally, “It can be difficult to practice one's Swedish when people switch to English”)

   Alla talar svenska

   Everyone speaks Swedish

   Common phrase on posters and covers and the like for dubbed movies.

   lånord i svenskan

   loan words in [the] Swedish

   Definite corresponds to thinking of a language as a whole, or as an entity, put differently. Compare "in the Swedish language." Compare also for example kärlek (“love”), människa (“human”), and the usage notes for på (“on”) on schools.

Declension

Declension of svenska

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	svenska	svenskas
	definite	svenskan	svenskans
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• finlandssvenska
• fornsvenska
• kanslisvenska
• nusvenska
• nysvenska
• runsvenska
• svenskspråkig
• svensktalande

Etymology 2

svensk (“Swede”) +‎ -a (feminine suffix)

Noun

svenska f

1. a female Swede

   – Är hennes kollega också norska? – Nej, hon är svenska.

   – Is her colleague also a [female] Norwegian? – No, she is a [female] Swede.

   See vara for why there is no article. "Hon är svensk" also works.

   två svenskor

   two Swedish women

Declension

Declension of svenska

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	svenska	svenskas
	definite	svenskan	svenskans
plural	indefinite	svenskor	svenskors
	definite	svenskorna	svenskornas

Etymology 3

Adjective

svenska

1. inflection of svensk:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

References

• “svenska”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

• svenska on the Swedish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^sv