Enough of lagom

Although even hugely accessible sources, like Wikipedia, claim the opposite, most Swedes believe that the word lagom cannot be translated into other languages. There is a huge myth surrounding this little word, it almost has the status of a conceptual national mascot....

The difference between än, ännu (and även)

Än, ännu, även. Do they mean the same? Does it matter which one I use? This is a question I get very often. Fair enough. There is some confusion, and I am pretty sure that your Swedish friends will also get a tiny bit perplexed if trying to explain this. When using...

What dictionary do I need for my Swedish studies?

I am grateful my students are so patient with me. I am fully aware that as a teacher, I often contradict myself. I start off by blaming my students for not bringing a dictionary to the course, and when they finally show up with one, I tell them off for using it too...

Let the light in (but not at night)

Some people I know rather well live in a small, detached house – what you would call villa in Swedish, but not in any other language. Their next-door neighbours since a few years back is a young couple. My friends are very suspicious of this couple. Why? They have...