An adjective tells you which quality; a degree modifier tells you how much of it. "Tired" is one thing; "very tired," "fairly tired," "too tired," "a little tired" are four different messages. Swedish builds these with a small kit of degree adverbs placed before the adjective — väldigt trött, ganska trött, alltför trött, lite trött — and most of them are easy. But two of them ambush English speakers: för before an adjective means "too" (not "for"), and ganska is genuinely weaker than the English "quite" you'd be tempted to map it to. This page sorts the kit into four jobs — crank up, hold steady, push past, shrink down — and defuses both traps.
Intensifiers: cranking the adjective up
Intensifiers push the quality higher: "very," "really." The everyday workhorses are väldigt and mycket ("very"), with så ("so") for emotional emphasis. All sit directly before the adjective.
Jag är väldigt trött i kväll.
I'm very tired tonight. 'Väldigt' is the most common spoken 'very'.
Det var mycket snällt av dig.
That was very kind of you. 'Mycket' = 'very', a touch more neutral/formal than 'väldigt'.
Maten var så god att jag åt upp allt.
The food was so good that I ate it all. 'Så' adds emotional emphasis — 'so good'.
Swedish also has a hugely productive native intensifier: the prefix jätte- (literally "giant-"), glued straight onto the adjective as one word. Jättebra ("really great"), jättetrött ("dead tired"), jättekul ("loads of fun"). It is colloquial and everywhere in speech.
Festen var jättekul, tack för att du kom!
The party was loads of fun, thanks for coming! 'Jättekul' — the 'jätte-' prefix as a native, colloquial intensifier (informal).
Jag är jättetrött, jag måste sova.
I'm dead tired, I have to sleep. 'Jättetrött' written as one word.
Moderators: holding it at "fairly"
Moderators sit in the middle — "fairly," "rather," "pretty." The key word is ganska, and here is the trap: ganska is weaker than English "quite." English "quite good" can mean "very good"; Swedish ganska bra means "fairly / pretty good," distinctly short of väldigt bra. If you mean "very," don't reach for ganska.
Filmen var ganska bra, men inte fantastisk.
The film was fairly good, but not amazing. 'Ganska' = 'fairly', clearly below 'very' — note the explicit 'inte fantastisk'.
Det är ganska kallt ute, ta en jacka.
It's fairly cold out, take a jacket. 'Ganska kallt' = moderately cold, not freezing.
Alongside ganska sit rätt ("rather," colloquial) and tämligen ("fairly," more formal/written). They cover similar ground, with rätt leaning casual and tämligen leaning bookish.
Provet var rätt svårt, faktiskt.
The test was rather hard, actually. 'Rätt' = 'rather', informal register.
Uppgiften var tämligen komplicerad.
The task was fairly complicated. 'Tämligen' — same moderate sense, more formal/written register.
Excessives: pushing past acceptable
Excessives say the quality has gone too far — past what's wanted or acceptable. The core word is för ("too"), optionally strengthened to alltför ("far too / much too"). This is the trap that bites hardest: för before an adjective means "too," and has nothing to do with the preposition/conjunction för ("for / because").
Skorna är för små, jag behöver en större storlek.
The shoes are too small, I need a bigger size. 'För små' = 'too small' — degree 'för', not 'for'.
Den här soffan är alltför dyr för oss.
This sofa is far too expensive for us. 'Alltför dyr' = 'far too expensive' — and note the SECOND 'för' here ('för oss') really is the preposition 'for'.
That last example is worth staring at: alltför dyr för oss contains both meanings of för in one breath — the degree alltför ("far too") modifying the adjective, and the preposition för ("for") introducing oss ("us"). The difference is purely positional: för immediately before an adjective = "too"; för before a noun/pronoun = "for."
Det är för sent att ringa nu.
It's too late to call now. 'För sent' = 'too late'.
Jag stannade hemma för att jag var sjuk.
I stayed home because I was sick. Here 'för att' = 'because' — a totally different 'för', not degree.
Diminishers: shrinking it down
Diminishers reduce the quality — "a little," "slightly," "barely." The everyday word is lite ("a little / a bit"); knappt means "barely / hardly."
Jag är lite nervös inför intervjun.
I'm a little nervous about the interview. 'Lite' = 'a bit', dialing the adjective down.
Soppan är lite för salt för min smak.
The soup is a little too salty for my taste. 'Lite för salt' — diminisher 'lite' stacked onto excessive 'för'.
Det var knappt märkbart.
It was barely noticeable. 'Knappt' = 'hardly / barely', near the bottom of the scale.
A rough scale to carry around
It helps to line the kit up from weakest to strongest, so you can pick the right rung:
| Job | Words | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| diminish | knappt, lite | barely / a little |
| moderate | ganska, rätt, tämligen | fairly / rather |
| intensify | väldigt, mycket, så, jätte- | very / so / really |
| excessive | för, alltför | too / far too |
Kaffet är knappt ljummet, ganska svagt och lite för bittert.
The coffee is barely lukewarm, fairly weak, and a little too bitter. Three rungs in one sentence: knappt, ganska, lite för.
Common Mistakes
❌ Det är för dig. (intending 'It's too much/big')
Misreading — 'för' + a pronoun is the preposition 'for'. To mean 'too', put 'för' immediately before an adjective.
✅ Det är för stort.
It's too big. Degree 'för' sits right before the adjective.
❌ Filmen var ganska bra! (meaning 'really good')
Mismatch — 'ganska' is only 'fairly', well below 'very'. It undersells your praise.
✅ Filmen var väldigt bra!
The film was really good! Use an intensifier for genuine 'very'.
❌ Jag är jätte trött.
Spacing error — 'jätte-' is a prefix written as one word with the adjective.
✅ Jag är jättetrött.
I'm dead tired. One word: jättetrött.
❌ Soppan är mycket för salt.
Wrong intensifier on an excessive — to say 'far too' use 'alltför', not 'mycket för'.
✅ Soppan är alltför salt.
The soup is far too salty.
Key Takeaways
- Intensifiers crank up: väldigt / mycket ("very"), så ("so"), and the productive native prefix jätte- (jättebra, jättetrött, informal, one word).
- Moderators hold at "fairly": ganska, rätt (casual), tämligen (formal). Watch out — ganska is weaker than English "quite," it means "fairly," not "very."
- Excessives push past acceptable: för = "too," strengthened to alltför = "far too." Degree för sits right before an adjective and is unrelated to the preposition/conjunction för ("for / because").
- Diminishers shrink: lite ("a bit"), knappt ("barely").
- Two transfer traps to drill: för before an adjective = "too" (not "for"), and ganska = "fairly" (not the strong English "quite").
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
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