Learn how to use some common Swedish interjections
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Engla: Hej allihopa! I’m Engla. |
| Gabriella: Hi everyone, I’m Gabriella. Welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 16 - A Bit of Swedish Watercooler Gossip. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use some common Swedish interjections. |
| Engla: Yes, and the conversation takes place at Anna’s school. |
| Gabriella: The conversation is between Anna and her friend Robert, and they're using informal Swedish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Robert: Anna! Har du hört det senaste skvallret? |
| Anna: Nej. Vad har hänt? |
| Robert: Karin har dumpat Alex. |
| Anna: Va? Varför? |
| Robert: Hon är kär i Fabian. |
| Anna: Nä! Skämtar du? |
| Robert: Det är sant! Allt hände igår. |
| Anna: Lägg av! |
| -With English Translation- |
| Robert: Anna! Har du hört det senaste skvallret? |
| Gabriella: Anna! Have you heard the latest gossip? |
| Anna: Nej. Vad har hänt? |
| Gabriella: No. What's happened? |
| Robert: Karin har dumpat Alex. |
| Gabriella: Karin has dumped Alex. |
| Anna: Va? Varför? |
| Gabriella: What? Why? |
| Robert: Hon är kär i Fabian. |
| Gabriella: She's in love with Fabian. |
| Anna: Nä! Skämtar du? |
| Gabriella: No way! Are you kidding? |
| Robert: Det är sant! Allt hände igår. |
| Gabriella: It's true! Everything happened yesterday. |
| Anna: Lägg av! |
| Gabriella: Get out of here! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: It sure seems like Anna and Robert really like to gossip, is this typical Swedish behavior? |
| Engla: Well I guess gossip is something people engage in all over the world, and Swedes aren't an exception. |
| Gabriella: So they gossip a lot? |
| Engla: Socially it's not really considered as a positive personality trait. People who are known as gossipers are sometimes, mostly by elders, called sladdertacka. |
| Gabriella: What were they called? |
| Engla: Sladdertacka, it’s the same as “gossipmonger”. |
| Gabriella: Ah, I see. What else can you tell us? |
| Engla: Well it’s usually fine to gossip with your friends, but trying to gossip with people that you're not really close to might not be a good idea, because they might think you’re a sladdertacka. |
| Gabriella: Remember that, listeners! |
| Engla: And topics Swedes like to gossip about are often things like who is dating whom, and all the scandals that took place last weekend. |
| Gabriella: Great! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is… |
| Engla: att höra [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to hear |
| Engla: att höra [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: att höra [natural native speed] |
| Engla: sen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: late |
| Engla: sen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: sen [natural native speed] |
| Engla: skvaller [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: gossip |
| Engla: skvaller [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: skvaller [natural native speed] |
| Engla: Va? [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: What? |
| Engla: Va? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: Va? [natural native speed] |
| Engla: Nä! [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: No way? |
| Engla: Nä! [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: Nä! [natural native speed] |
| Engla: Skämtar du? [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Are you kidding? |
| Engla: Skämtar du? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: Skämtar du? [natural native speed] |
| Engla: sann [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: TRUE |
| Engla: sann [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: sann [natural native speed] |
| Engla: allt [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: everything |
| Engla: allt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: allt [natural native speed] |
| Engla: Lägg av! [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Get out of here! |
| Engla: Lägg av! [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Engla: Lägg av! [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Engla: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we're going to look at is the verb att dumpa. |
| Gabriella: Meaning “to dump”. |
| Engla: That’s right! |
| Gabriella: I guess that if this verb corresponds with the English verb “to dump,” it’s quite a casual way of talking about someone ending a relationship with their partner? |
| Engla: That’s right, and it doesn't really have a nice sound to it. |
| Gabriella: So is there another verb that we can use, maybe something that corresponds to the English “to break up”? |
| Engla: Yes, we can also use the verb att göra slut, which sounds nicer. |
| Gabriella: Great! Now, let’s move on to the next word. |
| Engla: Next up, we have the verb att höra, meaning “to hear”. |
| Gabriella: I thought this meant “to belong to”. |
| Engla: Well, att höra means “to hear,” but the meaning changes when the word höra is used together with the preposition till, which means "to". |
| Gabriella: I see, and then it corresponds to the English “to belong to”? |
| Engla: That’s correct. |
| Gabriella: Glad we cleared that up. Now, let’s move on to the next word. |
| Engla: The last word we’ll look at is the word skvaller, meaning “gossip”. |
| Gabriella: But there are other words as well, right? |
| Engla: Yes, you also have phrases such as tomt prat, meaning “empty talk,” or sladder, which corresponds with the English “tattle”. |
| Gabriella: I see. So what is the most common word that Swedes use? |
| Engla: I'd say that skvaller is by far the most commonly used word. |
| Gabriella: Okay, then I’ll memorize that word first. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use some common Swedish interjections. |
| Engla: Interjections are words that convey feelings and emotions. |
| Gabriella: One thing that's good to think about when using interjections is that you need to match the tone of your voice to the feeling you want to convey. |
| Engla: Yes, that’s important, because you don’t want to sound exaggerated, since people might think your response is sarcastic. |
| Gabriella: Now, let’s move on to look at some different types of interjections, and when to use them. |
| Engla: We’ll start with the type of interjections used in this lesson’s dialog. |
| Gabriella: You mean interjections that we can use when we want to show that we're surprised about something we've just been told? |
| Engla: Precisely. In this lesson’s dialog the interjections, Va!, Nä!, and Lägg av! were used. |
| Gabriella: Maybe we should practice saying these interjections once? |
| Engla: I think that sounds like a good idea. How about we start with the interjection Va!, meaning “What!”. |
| Gabriella: Yes, listeners please repeat after Engla. |
| Engla: Va! |
| Engla: Next, we have Nä!, meaning “No way!” Listeners, please repeat after me. Nä! |
| Gabriella: And then we have “Get out of here!,” which in Swedish is? |
| Engla: Lägg av! (slow) Lägg av! |
| Gabriella: Are there any other interjections that can be used to convey that you're surprised or even shocked to hear something? |
| Engla: Yes, you can also use Oj! and Nähä! |
| Gabriella: Great! Let’s practice saying those too. |
| Engla: Sure! We’ll start with Oj!, meaning “Oh!”. (slow) Oj! |
| Gabriella: Next we have the word for “Really!”. |
| Engla: Which in Swedish is Nähä! (slow) Nähä! |
| Gabriella: Okay, what do we have next? |
| Engla: Now, we’ll look at some interjections that instead convey feelings of disgust. |
| Gabriella: I guess we can use these in many different types of situations? |
| Engla: That’s right. These interjections can be used when we taste or drink something we don’t like, or simply when we hear something we think is awful in some way. |
| Gabriella: How about when we smell something that doesn't smell so great? |
| Engla: Yes, that's also a situation where these interjections can be used. |
| Gabriella: And what are the interjections? |
| Engla: We have, for example, Usch meaning “Yuck”. (slow) Usch. |
| Gabriella: Is there also something that corresponds to the English “eww!”? |
| Engla: Yes, Fy. (slow) Fy. |
| Gabriella: Are there any others? |
| Engla: Yes, we also have Blä, meaning “Ugh” or “Eww”. Listeners repeat after me. Blä |
| Gabriella: Are there any interjections we can use when we want to show that something tasted or looks “yummy”? |
| Engla: Yes, mums means “yummy”. (slow) Mums. |
| Gabriella: Great! Let’s move on! |
| Engla: Sure! The final types of interjections that we’ll look at are the ones through which we show that there's not much we can say or do in relation to something we've been told, or that we're indifferent to what someone has told us. |
| Gabriella: I see! And what are the interjections that we can use in these situations? |
| Engla: You could say Jaja, meaning “Well, well” |
| Gabriella: Let’s practice that one. Listeners, please repeat after Engla. |
| Engla: Jaja |
| Gabriella: What else do we have? |
| Engla: We also have Jaha, meaning “Oh well”. (slow) Jaha. |
| Gabriella: Any others? |
| Engla: Yes, the final one is Än sen, meaning “So what?”. |
| Gabriella: Please repeat after Engla. |
| Engla: Än sen |
Outro |
| Gabriella: Great! And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check the lesson notes, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Engla: Great work everyone. Hej då! |
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