Swedish vocabulary
Question Words in Swedish
Who, what, where, when, why and how, free to learn in your browser.
Most Swedish question words start with v, the way English ones start with wh. The one trap is where: Swedish splits it into var (where something is), vart (where to) and varifrån (where from).
Question words
| # | Swedish | English | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vad | what | Vad heter du? (What is your name?) |
| 2 | vem | who | Vem är det? (Who is it?) |
| 3 | var | where | Var bor du? (Where do you live?) |
| 4 | vart | where (to) | Vart ska du? (Where are you going?) |
| 5 | varifrån | where from | Varifrån kommer du? (Where are you from?) |
| 6 | när | when | När börjar filmen? (When does the film start?) |
| 7 | varför | why | Varför då? (Why?) |
| 8 | hur | how | Hur mår du? (How are you?) |
| 9 | vilken / vilket / vilka | which | Vilken buss? Vilket hus? Vilka böcker? |
| 10 | hur mycket | how much | Hur mycket kostar det? (How much is it?) |
| 11 | hur många | how many | Hur många är ni? (How many are you?) |
| 12 | vems | whose | Vems är väskan? (Whose bag is it?) |
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Questions about Swedish question words
- What is the difference between var, vart and varifrån?
- Var asks where something is (Var bor du?). Vart asks where something is going (Vart ska du?). Varifrån asks where it comes from (Varifrån kommer du?).
- What comes after a question word in Swedish?
- The verb comes second, right after the question word: Var bor du?, not Var du bor?. This is the Swedish verb-second rule.
- When do you use vilken, vilket or vilka?
- It follows the noun: vilken for en-words (vilken bil), vilket for ett-words (vilket hus) and vilka for plurals (vilka bilar).