CEFR B2 in Swedish: what you can do

At B2 you can take part in Swedish life without much help: work meetings, news, discussions and longer texts. The work now is nuance. Grammar is mostly under control, and what separates B2 from B1 is the small words, the particle verbs and the choice between two correct-sounding options.

What you can do

Follow the main lines of a TV debate or a longer news report on familiar subjects.
Express and defend a point of view, with arguments for and against.
Write clear, detailed texts: reports, emails to authorities and opinion pieces.
Understand most newspaper articles, though not always the finer points of tone.
Adjust between a relaxed chat and a more formal setting.

A quick self-check

You are probably at B2 if you can do most of these:

Use ju, nog, väl and faktiskt so that your sentences sound natural.
Explain the difference between Dörren stängs and Dörren är stängd.
Read a Dagens Nyheter article and summarise it in your own words.
Take part in a conversation at a dinner party without losing the thread.

Typical grammar at B2

Particle verbs

The particle changes the meaning, and it is stressed: ge upp, ta upp, ta bort, komma på, titta på, lägga till.

Verb	Meaning	Example
ge upp	give up	Jag ger aldrig upp.
komma på	think of	Jag kom på lösningen.
ta bort	remove	Vi tar bort texten.
lägga till	add	Lägg till lite salt.

Passive varieties

Swedish has three common passives. The -s passive gives the action: Huset byggdes 1950. The bli passive gives the change: Huset blev sålt. The vara passive gives the result: Huset är sålt. Choosing between them is a typical B2 task.

The supine

The supine is the verb form after har and hade: har gjort, hade sagt, har sett, har läst. It is not the same as the participle, which agrees with the noun: en stängd dörr, ett stängt fönster.

Sentence adverbs

These small words carry the speaker's attitude, and in a subordinate clause they sit before the verb.

Word	Rough meaning	Example
ju	as you know	Det är ju helg.
nog	probably	Han kommer nog snart.
väl	I suppose, right?	Du har väl tid?
alltså	so, therefore	Det var alltså ett misstag.
faktiskt	actually	Jag har faktiskt aldrig varit.

Vocabulary themes

Politics, the economy and society
Work life, contracts and meetings
Health care, education and the law
Abstract nouns and connectors, such as trots att, däremot, dessutom
Formal phrases in letters: Härmed, Med vänliga hälsningar

What you may find hard

Sentence adverbs. They have no neat translation, so listen to how native speakers use them.
Formal register. Swedish uses du nearly everywhere, even with strangers and in business. Formality comes from word choice, not from a polite pronoun.
Particle verbs. The same verb with a different particle changes meaning, for example ta upp and ta bort.

Reading and listening

Read the news every day. SVT Nyheter and Dagens Nyheter are good for the standard written language, and 8 Sidor is a news service in easy Swedish that is useful as a bridge. Compare the same story in both.

The Swedex exam

Swedex B2 is the highest level of Swedex. TISUS (Test In Swedish for University Studies) is the test used for admission to Swedish universities, so it suits you if you plan to study in Sweden.

How to practise at this level

Write short opinion pieces and ask a Swedish speaker to mark the small words. See also food idioms. When ready, move on to C1.

Practice

Ju signals shared knowledge. The supine of läsa is läst. The particle verb ge upp means to give up.