The Swedish Alphabet: All 29 Letters, Å Ä Ö and Pronunciation

At first glance, the Swedish alphabet looks like a gift: the same letters as English, plus three extra ones. Then you try to say “sju” or “kyrka” and realise that knowing the letters isn’t the same as knowing the sounds. This guide gives you both: all 29 letters, how they really sound and the few rules that make Swedish spelling predictable.

I’ve learned several languages through self-study over the past 20 years, and I speak Norwegian fluently and Swedish at conversation level. One thing I’ve learned: the alphabet is where good pronunciation is won or lost. If you get the sounds right in your first two weeks, every word after that becomes easier. Here’s everything you need.

The Swedish alphabet: all 29 letters with pronunciation

The table shows each letter, its Swedish name, how it sounds for an English speaker and an example word. The sounds are simplified, as no English comparison is perfect. Use them as a starting point and then listen to native speakers.

Notice the Z? In Swedish it’s always pronounced like an s. A Swede says “sebra” when reading zebra.

Å, Ä and Ö: the three extra letters

Å, Ä and Ö are not A and O with decoration. They’re separate letters with their own sounds, and they sit at the end of the alphabet, after Z. In a Swedish dictionary, ö comes last.

Leaving out the dots or the ring changes the word completely:

• får (sheep, or “gets”) vs. far (father)
• hör (hear) vs. hor (adultery)
• ål (eel) vs. al (alder tree)

So always write them, even in a quick message.

Swedish vs. Norwegian and Danish letters

This is where many learners of more than one Scandinavian language get confused, me included. Norwegian and Danish use Æ, Ø and Å (in that order). Swedish uses Å, Ä and Ö, and puts Å first. Ä matches the Norwegian Æ, and Ö matches Ø. If you know Norwegian, you’ll read Swedish quickly, but you’ll need a moment to sort the letters in the right order.

The 9 Swedish vowels: long and short

Swedish vowels are the hardest part of the alphabet for English speakers. Each of the nine vowels has a long and a short version, and the difference can change the meaning of a word.

The rule of thumb is simple:

• A vowel is usually long when it’s followed by one consonant: tak (roof), vit (white).
• A vowel is usually short when it’s followed by two consonants: tack (thanks), vitt (white, neuter form).

The vowels that need the most practice:

• U as in hus (house): there’s no English equivalent. Say “ee”, then round your lips tightly, as if you were whistling.
• Y as in ny (new): close to the German ü. Say “ee” and push your lips forward.
• O: mostly sounds like “oo” in sol (sun) or bok (book), but in many words it sounds more like Å: kopp (cup), sova (to sleep).

Letter combinations and special sounds

Swedish spelling looks regular until you meet these combinations. Learn them early, and most words will read the way they’re written.

Don’t worry if the “sj” and “tj” sounds blend together at first. Even Swedes pronounce them differently depending on where they’re from, and you’ll be understood long before you sound perfect. If you want to test yourself, try the classic tongue twister “Sju sjösjuka sjömän…” (seven seasick sailors).

How to learn the Swedish alphabet and pronunciation in 2 weeks

You don’t need to learn new letter shapes, so you can focus entirely on sounds. When I learned Norwegian, I spent too little time on pronunciation at the start and had to unlearn bad habits later. With Swedish, I’d do it like this:

1. Days 1 to 3: the nine vowels. Say each vowel long and short, out loud. Spend most of your time on U, Y, Å, Ä and Ö.
2. Days 4 to 7: the special sounds. Practise the “sj” and “tj” sounds and the soft g with the example words from the table above.
3. Week 2: real words. Read short, everyday words out loud and check yourself against audio. Our Swedish phrases for everyday life are good practice material.
4. Shadow native speakers. Play a short audio clip, pause, and repeat it with the same melody. This trains the Swedish sing-song much faster than reading rules.
5. Record yourself. It feels strange, but comparing your voice with a native speaker shows you instantly which sounds still need work.

If you’d rather get direct feedback on your pronunciation, a few lessons with a native tutor are worth it at this stage. On Preply you’ll find Swedish tutors* for one-to-one online lessons.

A short history: why W became a separate letter in 2006

For a long time, Swedish treated V and W as the same letter. Dictionaries sorted words with W among the V words, and the alphabet officially had 28 letters. In 2006, the Swedish Academy’s official word list (SAOL) recognised W as a letter of its own, mainly because of the many English loanwords like webb and wifi. That’s why older books still mention 28 letters, while today the Swedish alphabet has 29.

How to type Å, Ä and Ö

On a smartphone, add Swedish as a keyboard language, or press and hold A or O to see the extra letters. On a computer with an English keyboard:

• Mac: Option + A gives å. For ä and ö, press Option + U, then A or O.
• Windows: hold Alt and type 0229 for å, 0228 for ä and 0246 for ö on the number pad. If you write Swedish often, add the Swedish keyboard layout under Language settings instead.

Frequently asked questions about the Swedish alphabet

How many letters are in the Swedish alphabet?

The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters: the 26 letters A to Z plus Å, Ä and Ö, which come at the end of the alphabet.

What are the three extra letters in Swedish?

The extra letters are Å, Ä and Ö. They’re separate letters with their own sounds, not variants of A and O, and leaving out the dots or the ring can change the meaning of a word.

How do you pronounce Å, Ä and Ö?

Å sounds like the o in more, Ä like the e in bed, and Ö roughly like the u in fur with rounded lips. Each of them has a long and a short version.

Is the Swedish alphabet the same as the Norwegian alphabet?

Almost. Both have 29 letters, but Norwegian ends with Æ, Ø and Å, while Swedish ends with Å, Ä and Ö. Ä corresponds to Æ, and Ö corresponds to Ø.

What is the hardest Swedish sound?

For most English speakers, it’s the sj sound in words like sju (seven) and sjö (lake), followed by the vowels U and Y, which don’t exist in English.

Did Swedish have 28 or 29 letters?

Both, at different times. W was treated as a variant of V until 2006, when the Swedish Academy recognised it as a separate letter. Since then, the alphabet has 29 letters.

Related links

• Learn Swedish: the complete guide for beginners and intermediate learners
• Is Swedish hard to learn? An honest answer
• The best apps to learn Swedish
• Swedish phrases for everyday life
• How to improve your listening comprehension
• The different ways of learning languages

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