Swedish pronunciation relies heavily on getting your vowels right.

There are nine vowel letters in the Swedish alphabet.

These vowels can completely change the meaning of a word depending on how long you hold the sound.

They also dictate how certain consonants are pronounced.

I’ll show you exactly how to pronounce every Swedish vowel clearly.

The nine Swedish vowels

The Swedish alphabet contains the standard six vowels you know from English.

These are A, E, I, O, U, and Y.

Unlike English, the letter Y is always considered a vowel in Swedish.

Swedish also adds three extra vowels to the very end of the alphabet.

These unique letters are Å, Ä, and Ö.

You can’t treat these last three letters as an A or an O with an accent.

They’re completely independent letters with their own distinct sounds.

Long and short vowels

Every vowel in Swedish has a long version and a short version.

The length of the vowel is the most important rule in Swedish pronunciation.

Saying a vowel for too long or too short will completely change the word you’re trying to say.

The rule for knowing when a vowel is long or short is actually quite simple.

A vowel is long when it’s followed by only one consonant.

A vowel is short when it’s followed by two or more consonants.

Let’s look at the Swedish words for “roof” and “thanks” to see this in action.

The word for “roof” is tak.

Because there’s only one consonant after the A, the vowel sound is drawn out and long.

The word for “thanks” is tack.

Because there are two consonants after the A, the vowel sound is clipped and short.

Another common example is the word for “fine” or “pretty” compared to “find”.

Hard and soft vowels

Swedish vowels are divided into two distinct groups.

These groups are called hard vowels and soft vowels.

The hard vowels are A, O, U, and Å.

The soft vowels are E, I, Y, Ä, and Ö.

This division doesn’t change the vowel sound itself.

Instead, it changes the way you pronounce the consonants K and G when they appear right before the vowel.

When the letter K is placed before a hard vowel, it sounds like a hard English “K”.

When the letter K is placed before a soft vowel, it turns into a soft “sh” or “tj” sound.

Here’s an example of the hard K sound before a hard vowel.

Here’s an example of the soft K sound before a soft vowel.

The letter G follows the exact same pattern.

Before a hard vowel, G sounds like the hard English “G” in “goat”.

Before a soft vowel, G sounds like the English “Y” in “yellow”.

Pronunciation table for all vowels

Learning the specific sounds takes practice and listening.

Below is a helpful table showing the closest English equivalent sounds for both the long and short versions of every Swedish vowel.

I’ve also included common Swedish words so you can practice saying them out loud.

Remember to pay close attention to the number of consonants after the vowel.

This will naturally guide you toward the correct long or short pronunciation.