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Learning that sticks2 min read

Swedish school vocabulary for classes and instructions

Learn the places, people, subjects and instructions that recur in Swedish schools, from timetables to homework.

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The short answer

Core Swedish school vocabulary includes skola, klassrum, lärare, elev, lektion, rast, schema, läxa and prov. Grundskola is compulsory school, gymnasium upper-secondary school and förskola preschool. Frequent instructions begin with läs, skriv, lyssna, öppna and lämna in.

People, places and parts of the day

Learn en lärare, en elev, ett klassrum, en lektion, en rast, ett schema. Then place each word in your own day or your child's day.

Swedish hobbies and free-time vocabulary covers what happens after class.

In Swedish
In SwedishWhat it meansWhen you use it
När börjar nästa lektion?When does the next lesson begin?

Subjects and school levels

Svenska, engelska, matematik, historia, idrott, bild are school subjects. Grundskola is compulsory school and gymnasium is upper-secondary school.

Swedish nature vocabulary supports science lessons and outdoor activities.

In Swedish
In SwedishWhat it meansWhen you use it
Vi har idrott på torsdag.We have PE on Thursday.

Understand classroom instructions

Recognise the imperatives läs, skriv, lyssna, öppna, stäng, jämför, förklara, lämna in. The first verb often tells you exactly what is expected.

The Swedish imperative exercises explain how these forms are built.

In Swedish
In SwedishWhat it meansWhen you use it
Lämna in uppgiften på fredag.Hand in the assignment on Friday.

Read a real timetable

Take a schema and describe a complete school day: start, subjects, breaks and finish. Then ask three questions about an imaginary change.

Save missing words in SvenskaApp.

Questions people ask

How do you say school in Swedish?
School is skola. Grundskola is compulsory school and gymnasium is upper-secondary school.
How do you say teacher and pupil in Swedish?
Teacher is lärare and pupil or student is elev. The words do not change with the person's gender.
What does lämna in mean?
Lämna in means to hand in an assignment, form or other document.

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Where to start in the course

The unit that teaches the words in this article. Free, and it opens straight into the first lesson.

At School

I Skolan

A1+ · 2 lessons · 75 XP

Communicate at school

Start this unit

Free · no account · about 10 minutes

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