When learning a foreign language, it’s essential to have a lot of energy and positivity. After all, these are the qualities that will allow you to keep your spirits and your motivation up, and that will play a major role in reaching your language learning goals. 

This is why we would love to always be able to say yes!

But to master Swedish, you’ll also need to learn how to form negative sentences. Don’t worry, though, they’re only negative from a grammatical point of view. You can keep the positive vibe. 😉

In this article, you’ll learn about negation in Swedish: how to make a negative sentence, how to answer a yes-or-no question correctly, and how to use other useful negative expressions. 

We get it, saying no isn’t easy, especially for us people-pleasers…but it will be (at least from a language-learning perspective) after you finish reading this guide on Swedish negatives.

So, let’s waste no more time. Ready to start looking at how to say no and form negative sentences in Swedish?

Table of Contents

1. Negative Sentences
2. How to Give a Negative Answer to a Question
3. Other Negative Words
4. How Our Website Can Help

1. Negative Sentences

Negative sentences are those that state that something did not happen or is not true, or in the case of imperatives, they tell someone not to do something. In the English language, for example, we form negative sentences by adding the word “not” after an auxiliary verb (do, have, be, etc.).

• Dave is not happy. 
• We did not go to work today. 

Negations and negative expressions are a key component of any language. Imagine not being able to transform a positive sentence into a negative one…everyday life would get pretty interesting (and not in a good way!).

To avoid misunderstandings or other undesirable situations, it’s essential to learn how to build negative sentences in Swedish. Don’t worry, though, it’s actually quite easy and there are just a few rules you’ll need to remember.

We did not go to work today.

Inte

The main word we use to make a positive sentence negative in Swedish is inte, which is a rough equivalent of the English word “not.”

Therefore, to make a positive sentence negative, we just need to insert the word inte. Easy enough, right? 

• Jag studerar svenska. (I am studying Swedish.)
  Jag studerar inte svenska. (I am not studying Swedish.)

• Han är här. (He is here.)
  Han är inte här. (He is not here.)

This construction is very simple and easy to use, don’t you think?

The only thing to take into account is where to put inte, so let’s see. 

Where to put inte in a sentence

As you could probably discern from the examples above, in a basic present-tense sentence, inte goes after the subject and the verb: 

• Jag talar. (I speak.)
  Jag talar inte. (I don’t speak.)

• Han skriver. (He writes.)
  Han skriver inte. (He doesn’t write.)

• Vi ler. (We smile.)
  Vi ler inte. (We don’t smile.)

In compound tenses, however, which are tenses that have an auxiliary or helping verb as well as a main verb (like “I have been” in English), inte goes between the auxiliary and the main verb. Have a look at the following examples:

• Jag har studerat svenska. (I have studied Swedish.)
  Jag har inte studerat svenska. (I have not studied Swedish.)

• Jag har läst boken. (I have read the book.)
  Jag har inte läst boken. (I have not read the book.)

• Hon hade öppnat dörren. (She had opened the door.)
  Hon hade inte öppnat dörren. (She had not opened the door.)

If the word order is reversed, for example in a question, inte will go after the main subject of the verb:

• Gör han det? (Is he doing that?)
  Gör han inte det? (Isn’t he doing that?)

• Har han gjort det? (Has he done that?)
  Har han inte gjort det? (Has he not done that?)

2. How to Give a Negative Answer to a Question

In general, questions can be divided into two groups: open-ended questions and closed-ended questions. A closed-ended question is usually one you can answer with a “yes” or “no,” without having to give any explanation. 

Let’s see how to answer these.

Do you like candy?

In English, we say: “Yes, I do,” or “No, I don’t.” After that, you’re free to give an explanation if you would like.

Logically, to respond to a yes-or-no question in Swedish (ja/nej-fråga), we also start with a yes (ja) or a no (nej). 

As in English, many students learn to answer this type of question by simply repeating the words in the question:

• Gillar du godis? (Do you like candy?)
  Ja, jag gillar godis. (Yes, I like candy.)
  Nej, jag gillar inte godis. (No, I do not like candy.)

As you progress in your learning, however, this might become boring and repetitive—and let’s be honest, no native speaker uses this structure!

Det in Swedish

So, to be more natural, you could learn how to use the word det. It’s quite simple: Just place det after your ja or nej, add a verb, add a subject (and, if it’s a negative answer, inte). This will sound in Swedish like the English “Yes, I do,” or “No, I don’t.”

• Har du en hund? (Do you have a dog?)
  Ja det har jag. (Yes, I do.)

• Är du full? (Are you drunk?)
  Nej det är jag inte. (No, I am not.)

Pretty easy, right? It doesn’t end here, though. With the verbs är and har in the question, we can just reuse the same verb in the answer. But these are exceptions. With the majority of other verbs, when we respond, we’ll have to replace the verb used in the question with the verb göra (to do) and maintain the same structure with det:

• Känner du honom? (Do you know him?)
  Ja, det gör jag. (Yes, I do.)

• Kör du bil? (Do you drive?)
  Nej, det gör jag inte. (No, I do not.)

3. Other Negative Words

Of course, knowing how to use inte in all types of sentences is a good start, but there’s a lot more to learn about Swedish negation. 

Let’s see the most commonly used negative expressions in Swedish and how to use them with some example sentences. 

No / Nej

This simply means “no” and, as we just saw, can be used as a negative answer.

• Nej, jag har inga pengar med mig. (No, I have no money with me.)

No, I have no money with me.

Nothing / Ingenting

• Jag gör ingenting. (I’m doing nothing.)

Sometimes, you’ll also find the word inget translated as “nothing.”

Not yet / Inte än

This expression also exists in the forms inte ännu and ännu inte. All three are correct. The word order to use with these is simple: inte (x) än, inte (x) ännu, and ännu inte (x).

• Klockan är inte fem än. (It’s not five yet.)
• Klockan är inte fem ännu. (It’s not five yet.)

No one / Ingen

Ingen can be used to say “no,” as in: 

• Jag har ingen bil. (I have no car.)

Or as a pronoun that means “no one,” “nobody,” or “none.”

• Ingen har någonsin sprungit 100 meter på under nio sekunder! (No one has ever run 100 meters in under nine seconds!)

The form inget, which is neuter, can also be used in the same way to talk about inanimate objects.

Never / Aldrig

• Jag har aldrig sett det förr. (I’ve never seen that before.)
• Mauro ljuger aldrig. (Mauro never lies.)

As you can see in the examples above, this word behaves like inte when it comes to word order. It goes after the verb in simple sentences, and in between the auxiliary and main verb when using compound verbs.

I don’t know!

And, before we wrap up, here are some more negative sentences you might find useful if you’re learning Swedish! Don’t be scared of using them whenever you need them. 

• We do not understand.
  Vi förstår inte.

• I can’t remember the word.
  Jag kan inte komma ihåg ordet.

• No problem!
  Inga problem!

• Don’t worry!
  Oroa dig inte!

• I don’t know!
  Jag vet inte!

• I’m not fluent in Swedish yet.
  Jag pratar inte flytande svenska ännu.

• I do not speak Swedish.
  Jag pratar inte svenska.

4. How Our Website Can Help

If you’re interested in learning more Swedish grammar and vocab, check out all the great content available on SwedishPod101.com. Here, you’ll have access to all the resources you need to make your language-learning adventure as interesting and motivating as possible. 

You’ll be able to: improve your listening skills with podcasts and audio lessons; work on gradually building your vocabulary with word lists, dictionaries, and phrasebooks; and learn great strategies from language experts on how to best approach the study of the Swedish language.

If you’re learning Swedish with plans of traveling in Scandinavia, don’t miss our travel Survival Course. Being able to understand and communicate in Swedish will not only help you be safe during your stay abroad, but it will also give you amazing and unique opportunities to connect with the locals, making your adventure even more unforgettable. 

We surely hope that you’ll be able to say yes to all the invitations and opportunities you’ll encounter… But, well, at least now you can negate sentences and say “no” correctly and politely in Swedish, just in case. 

And, if you’re learning Swedish for work or study reasons, make the commitment and start using our website with all its incredible resources designed to help you practice and improve every day. Our content will help you keep your motivation up so that you can reach your Swedish learning goals as quickly as possible!

Before you go, we would love to hear from you. Do you feel confident in your ability to use negation in Swedish, or do you still have questions or concerns? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll get back to you!