CEFR A1 in Swedish: what you can do

A1 is the very first step. Swedish is kind to beginners: verbs do not change with the person, there is no grammatical case on nouns, and only two genders. You can already get a lot done with a few hundred words and a handful of patterns.

What you can do

• Greet people and say goodbye: Hej! Hej då! God morgon! Trevligt att träffas.
• Introduce yourself and ask simple questions: Jag heter Maria. Vad heter du? Var bor du?
• Say thank you and ask for help: Tack! Tack så mycket. Förlåt. Kan du hjälpa mig?
• Count, tell the time in a basic way and understand prices.
• Order a coffee and a cinnamon bun at a café, a classic fika.

A quick self-check

You are probably at A1 if you can do most of these:

• Say your name, where you live and where you come from.
• Ask Hur mycket kostar det? and understand a short answer.
• Read a simple sign or menu with help from the pictures.
• Write a short postcard with a few sentences.

Typical grammar at A1

The verb vara and present tense

The present tense is the same for every person: jag är, du är, han är, vi är, ni är, de är. Regular verbs add -r, -ar or -er to the stem and never change with the subject.

En and ett

Every noun is either en (common gender) or ett (neuter): en bil, en kvinna, ett hus, ett barn. The article is part of the word, so learn it together with the noun. The definite form is a suffix: bilen, huset. See en vs ett for hints, and plurals and definite forms for the next step.

Word order: the verb comes second

In a main clause the verb is always in second position. If something other than the subject comes first, the subject moves behind the verb: Jag är hemma. Idag är jag hemma. Questions put the verb first: Talar du engelska? The word inte follows the verb: Jag talar inte svenska. More in verb-second word order.

Numbers 1 to 10

ett, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta, nio, tio. The number one is en or ett, to match the noun: en kaffe, ett äpple.

Vocabulary themes

• Greetings, names, countries and nationalities
• Family, home and everyday objects
• Food and drink, including fika
• Numbers, days of the week and colours
• Shops, prices and simple directions

What you may find hard

• Pronunciation. The letters å, ä, ö are separate vowels, and the sj sound has no English equivalent. Words also have a pitch accent. See pronunciation, pitch accent and sj.
• Guessing en or ett. There is no reliable rule. About three out of four nouns are en words, so en is a safe guess, but learn each noun with its article.
• Word order. Do not say Idag jag är hemma. Keep the verb second.

Exams and courses

Many adult newcomers to Sweden study SFI (Swedish for immigrants). It is a course, not an exam, and it covers roughly A1 to B1. There is no widely used exam at A1.

How to practise at this level

Learn useful chunks, not single words. Start with introducing yourself and fika and the café. Say sentences aloud every day. When ready, move on to A2.

Practice

Remember that verbs do not change with the subject, that bil is an en word, that the verb comes second, and that sju is seven.