Swedish greeting phrases

The most common Swedish greeting is


Hej! hɛj


This is historically related to English 'hail' and German 'heil'. It is a neutral greeting and can be used in both formal and informal situations.


Other varieties of this greeting are (going from neutral to informal):


Hej på dig/er! hɛj po dɛj/eːr (dig=you.SINGULAR, er=you.PLURAL)
Hejsan! ˈhɛjsan
Hejsan svejsan! ˈhɛjsan ˌsvɛjsan
Hej svejs! ˈhɛj ˌsvɛjs


Another greeting is:


Hallå! haˈloː


This is historically related to English 'Hello', but is used differently in Swedish. As a greeting it is considered informal. However, it is the standard way of answering the telephone or getting someone's attention.


Halloj! haˈlɔj


is an even more informal way of greeting someone. It is not used to answer the phone or getting someone's attention.


God dag!


is the most formal way of greeting someone.


Goddagens!


is an informal variety of this greeting.


Tjenare/Tjänare! Tjena/Tjäna! Tja!

For learning Swedish Category Uncategorized Level Unspecified Second language English Created Dec 16, 2009 03:01 Views 908 Share:

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  memphis.su 6 month(s) ago

  bra! tack!

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