CEFR A2 in Swedish: what you can do

At A2 you move from memorised phrases to real, if simple, conversations. You can talk about yesterday, make plans and handle everyday errands. Swedish grammar stays friendly: verbs still do not agree with the subject, but you now meet past tenses, plurals and the first particle verbs.

What you can do

Describe what you did at the weekend and what you will do tomorrow.
Shop, order food, use public transport and ask for directions.
Talk about family, work, hobbies and your daily routine in simple terms.
Write short messages and a simple email, for example to book an appointment.
Understand the main point of short, slow announcements and simple texts.

A quick self-check

You are probably at A2 if you can do most of these:

Say what you did last weekend in five sentences.
Explain what you want, must or cannot do: Jag måste gå nu.
Ask the way and follow the answer: see asking for directions.
Read a short message from a colleague or a neighbour.

Typical grammar at A2

Preterite and perfect

The preterite is a single word: Jag talade, jag läste, jag åt, jag var, jag hade, jag gick. The perfect uses har and the supine: Jag har ätit, jag har varit, jag har gått. Use the preterite for a finished moment in the past, and the perfect for a link with now. See preterite vs perfect.

Modal verbs

Kan, vill, måste, ska, får and brukar are followed by an infinitive without att: Jag kan simma. Vi måste gå. Du får sitta här. The word ska is also the common way to talk about the future: Jag ska resa i morgon.

Plural nouns

Plurals follow five groups: en flicka, flickor; en bil, bilar; en pojke, pojkar; en bok, böcker; ett barn, barn; ett hus, hus. Many ett words keep the same form in the plural. See noun plurals and definite forms.

Pronouns and possessives

Subject forms: jag, du, han, hon, vi, ni, de. Object forms: mig, dig, honom, henne, oss, er, dem. Possessives agree with the noun: min bil, mitt hus, mina barn. Compare Jag ser honom and Han ser mig.

Inversion after time words

Put a time word first and the subject swaps with the verb: I går åkte vi till Göteborg. På lördag ska jag träffa Lisa. This is the verb-second rule at work: see verb-second word order.

Separable particles

Many verbs have a particle that carries meaning: Jag ringer upp dig. Han stänger av tv:n. Vi går ut ikväll.

Vocabulary themes

Daily routine, time and the calendar
Food, shopping, clothes and money
Travel, transport and weather
Health, the body and the doctor
Housing, jobs and free time

What you may find hard

Irregular verbs. Strong verbs such as äta, åt, ätit and gå, gick, gått must be learned by heart.
Plural groups. Learn each plural with its noun, for example en bok, böcker.
Choosing the tense. The perfect is not the same as English "have done" in every case.

The Swedex exam

Swedex is an exam of Swedish as a foreign language run by Swedish universities. It has levels A2, B1 and B2, so A2 is the first level you can be tested at.

How to practise at this level

Keep a short diary in the past tense, and order food in Swedish: see ordering at a restaurant. When ready, move on to B1.

Practice

The verb äta has the preterite åt. The plural of hus is hus. After måste the infinitive stands alone, without att.