Useful Discourse Phrases | Swedish Grammar

Once you can build a sentence, the next step toward fluency is gluing sentences together — signposting an argument, flagging an example, clarifying a point, reacting to what someone said. Swedish has a rich kit of these discourse phrases, and two facts make them worth a dedicated page: first, many do not translate literally from English, so calquing fails; second, in writing they are routinely abbreviated (t.ex., dvs, bl.a.), and a reader who can't expand those abbreviations on sight will stall on ordinary Swedish text. This page gives you both the phrases and the decoder.

Structuring an argument

When you lay out points in order or weigh two sides, Swedish has fixed signposts:

Phrase	English	Use
för det första... för det andra	firstly... secondly	numbering your points
å ena sidan... å andra sidan	on the one hand... on the other hand	weighing two sides
dels... dels	partly... partly / both... and	two contributing reasons
framför allt	above all / especially	singling out the main point
sammanfattningsvis	in summary / to sum up	(formal) closing an argument
med andra ord	in other words	restating differently

Note the spelling: å ena sidan uses å (the ring), and a verb that follows an inverted clause stays in second position — Å andra sidan *är det dyrt ("On the other hand, it's expensive"), with är* before the subject because the phrase fills the first slot (V2 word order).

Å ena sidan är lägenheten billig, å andra sidan ligger den långt från jobbet.

On the one hand the flat is cheap, on the other hand it's far from work. Note V2 inversion: 'är' and 'ligger' come before their subjects because 'å ena/andra sidan' fills the first slot.

För det första hinner vi inte, för det andra har vi inte råd.

Firstly we don't have time, secondly we can't afford it. 'För det första / andra' numbers the points — and triggers inversion ('hinner vi', 'har vi').

Framför allt vill jag tacka alla som hjälpte till.

Above all, I want to thank everyone who helped. 'Framför allt' singles out the main point.

Giving examples and clarifying

The two you'll meet most in text:

till exempel ("for example") — abbreviated t.ex.
det vill säga ("that is to say / i.e.") — abbreviated dvs (or dvs. / d.v.s.). Used to restate or pin down what you just said.

Många nordiska språk, till exempel svenska och norska, är ömsesidigt begripliga.

Many Nordic languages, for example Swedish and Norwegian, are mutually intelligible. 'Till exempel' = for example; in writing this is 't.ex.'

Vi ses på lunchen, det vill säga klockan tolv.

We'll meet at lunch, that is, at twelve o'clock. 'Det vill säga' clarifies/pins down — written as 'dvs'.

Hyran inkluderar allt, med andra ord behöver du inte betala el separat.

The rent includes everything — in other words, you don't need to pay for electricity separately. 'Med andra ord' restates the point more plainly.

Decoding the written abbreviations

This is the part that catches learners off guard when they first read real Swedish — a newspaper, a contract, lecture notes. These abbreviations are standard, not casual, and they appear constantly. You must be able to expand them instantly while reading.

Abbreviation	Stands for	English
t.ex.	till exempel	for example (e.g.)
dvs / d.v.s.	det vill säga	that is (i.e.)
bl.a.	bland annat	among other things / including
m.m.	med mera	etc. / and so on
osv.	och så vidare	and so on (etc.)
m.fl.	med flera	and others (of people)
fr.o.m.	från och med	as of / starting from
t.o.m.	till och med	up to and including / even
ca	cirka	approximately

Museet visar verk av bl.a. Carl Larsson och Anders Zorn.

The museum shows works by, among others, Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn. 'bl.a.' = bland annat (among other things) — decode it on sight when reading.

Ta med pass, biljett, kläder för kallt väder m.m.

Bring passport, ticket, clothes for cold weather, etc. 'm.m.' = med mera, the written 'etc.'

Erbjudandet gäller fr.o.m. måndag t.o.m. fredag.

The offer is valid from Monday up to and including Friday. 'fr.o.m.' = från och med, 't.o.m.' = till och med.

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Treat the abbreviations as a reading skill, not a writing one. You can always write the phrases out in full and be perfectly correct — but you cannot avoid reading them, because Swedish text is full of t.ex., dvs, bl.a., m.m. Drill the expansions until they're automatic, the way an English reader doesn't pause on "e.g." or "i.e."

Reaction phrases

Short responses that keep a conversation moving and signal agreement or understanding:

Phrase	English	Feel
Precis	Exactly / Precisely	strong agreement — "that's just it"
Det stämmer	That's right / Correct	confirming a fact
Så klart / Självklart	Of course / Obviously	"naturally"
Precis så	Just like that / Exactly so	emphatic agreement
Jaha, jag förstår	Oh, I see / I understand	signalling you've got it

Så vi måste boka i förväg? — Precis, annars blir det fullt.

So we have to book in advance? — Exactly, otherwise it'll be full. 'Precis' is strong agreement, 'that's just it'.

Tåget går klockan åtta, det stämmer väl? — Ja, det stämmer.

The train leaves at eight, that's right isn't it? — Yes, that's correct. 'Det stämmer' confirms a fact.

Softeners and hedges

To avoid sounding too categorical, Swedish hedges with:

på sätt och vis — "in a way / in a sense."
mer eller mindre — "more or less."
i stort sett — "broadly / by and large."
typ — (informal) "like / sort of" (a very common spoken filler).
liksom — (informal) "kind of / you know" (spoken hedge).

Det är på sätt och vis mitt fel, men inte helt.

It's my fault in a way, but not entirely. 'På sätt och vis' softens the admission.

Projektet är mer eller mindre klart, bara några detaljer kvar.

The project is more or less finished, just a few details left. 'Mer eller mindre' = more or less.

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Don't calque English connectives word for word. "On the other hand" is the fixed unit å andra sidan, not a literal på den andra handen (which is anatomy, not argument). The same goes for med andra ord ("in other words") and i stort sett ("by and large") — learn each as a frozen phrase.

Common Mistakes

❌ På den andra handen är det dyrt.

Literal calque — 'on the other hand' as an argument connector is 'å andra sidan', not the anatomical 'på den andra handen'.

✅ Å andra sidan är det dyrt.

On the other hand, it's expensive.

❌ Reading 'bl.a.' and skipping it as noise.

Failing to decode — 'bl.a.' = bland annat ('among other things'), carrying real meaning. Skipping it loses the sense of the sentence.

✅ bl.a. = bland annat — expand it while reading.

Among other things / including.

❌ Å ena sidan det är billigt. (no inversion)

Word-order error — the connector fills the first slot, so the verb must come second: 'är det', not 'det är'.

✅ Å ena sidan är det billigt.

On the one hand it's cheap. (V2 inversion after the connector.)

❌ Confusing 't.ex.' (example) with 'dvs' (restatement).

Different jobs — 't.ex.' gives an EXAMPLE of a category; 'dvs' RESTATES or pins down the exact thing. They aren't interchangeable.

✅ nordiska språk, t.ex. svenska // klockan tolv, dvs. lunchtid

Nordic languages, e.g. Swedish // at twelve, i.e. lunchtime.

❌ med andra ords (adding -s)

Spelling/form error — it's the fixed phrase 'med andra ord', with no extra ending on 'ord'.

✅ med andra ord

in other words.

Key Takeaways

Structure arguments with för det första... för det andra, å ena sidan... å andra sidan, framför allt, med andra ord — and remember these connectors trigger V2 inversion (Å andra sidan *är det...*).
till exempel (t.ex.) gives an example; det vill säga (dvs) restates/clarifies. Don't confuse the two jobs.
The written abbreviations — t.ex. = till exempel, dvs = det vill säga, bl.a. = bland annat, m.m. = med mera, osv. = och så vidare — are standard and everywhere. Master them as a reading skill.
React with precis, det stämmer, så klart; hedge with på sätt och vis, mer eller mindre, i stort sett.
Connectives are frozen units — don't calque them from English (å andra sidan, never på den andra handen).

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