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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: släkt

Here’s another Swedish word where it’s important to remember the difference between ä and a.

Published: 25 June 2024 09:13 CEST
Swedish word of the day: släkt
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Släkt is a useful word to know in Swedish, as it’s one of the ways Swedes refer to family. It’s used roughly where you’d say “extended family” or “relatives” in English, and refers specifically to family outside of your core family unit.

If you were visiting family back home, for example, you would say jag ska hälsa på min släkt. If you used the word familj instead of släkt here, it would sound like you were visiting your immediate family – partner and children, or parents and siblings – rather than other relatives.

You can also say jag ska hälsa på mina släktingar. Think of släkt as the collective noun and släktingar as the individuals.

When discussing a royal or noble family, you would use the word ätt instead.

Släkt can also be used as an adjective – vi är släkt (we are related) – and you’ll see it in a number of compound words, like släktforskning (genealogy, literally “extended family research”), släktled (lineage), släktträff (family reunion) and släktskap (relationship or kinship).

You may also come across the phrase släkt och vänner (family and friends), which featured in Björn Afzelius’ 1999 number one single Farväl till släkt och vänner (“Goodbye to family and friends”).

  • Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local’s new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

Another word which is useful for Word of the Day articles is besläktad, used to describe words which are related to each other.

Släkt originally comes from Old Swedish slækt, which has its roots in Middle Low German slecht (meaning family or lineage). 

There are two other Swedish words which look similar to släkt. The first is släckt, which is used to describe a light which has been turned off, or a candle or fire which has been extinguished. The second word, slakt, means “slaughter”, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your spelling.

Example sentences:

Har ni några planer för sommaren? Ja, vi ska besöka min frus släkt i Indien.

Do you have any plans for summer? Yes, we’re visiting my wife’s family in India.

Vi brukar ha en stor släktträff minst en gång om året.

We usually have a big family reunion at least once a year.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: vädra

This word looks similar to the word for weather, väder, but the meaning is slightly different.

Published: 28 June 2024 12:06 CEST
Swedish word of the day: vädra

Vädra is a word you’ll hear a lot in Sweden during the spring and summer in particular. It’s the verbal form of väder, the word for weather, and refers to airing out or ventilating a room.

Väder originally comes from the Old Swedish term veðr and is related to the equivalent words in many other languages: English “weather”, German Wetter, Danish vejr, and Dutch weer, to name a few.

In older forms of most of these languages, including Swedish, väder was used specifically to refer to windy and/or rainy weather, which is where vädra comes from.

  • Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local’s app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

You can use vädra in a few different ways. It can describe opening a window to replace old, stale air with fresh air, and it can similarly be used to refer to hanging something outside, like clothing or bedding, to freshen it up.

Swedes often consider it important to vädra, with good air quality believed to be important for health, so don’t be surprised if you see your Swedish friends or family airing out their homes and letting cold, fresh air in even in the depths of winter.

You might also see vädra used more metaphorically to describe someone debating something, literally “airing out” their opinions. This is similar to “venting” in English, as well as the phrase “airing out your dirty laundry in public”, which usually refers to someone holding a discussion about something unpleasant or private in front of other people.

It also exists in the word väderkorn, which literally translates as “weather grain”, another word for your sense of smell (although most people would say luktsinne). You might say that a dog has utmärkt väderkorn, or use it figuratively to describe someone who is good at finding things out, similar to “sniffing out” a good story.

Example sentences:

Usch, vi behöver vädra härinne, det luktar unket.

Ugh, we need to air this room out, it smells musty.

Väljarna vädrade sitt missnöje med regeringen.

The voters aired out their dissatisfaction with the government.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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