When you move from speaking Swedish to writing it formally — an official letter, an academic essay, a cover letter, a report — a cluster of features switches on at once. Most of them are not new grammar; they are the full, "correct" written forms of words you have only ever heard in reduced shape, plus a handful of constructions that signal seriousness. The single most important thing to grasp is this: formal written Swedish demands forms that nobody actually pronounces. You write de and dem and sade, but you say dom and sa. Bridging that gap consciously is what this page is about.
The full forms: write what you don't say
In speech, a whole set of high-frequency words is reduced (covered at Spoken and Informal Swedish). In formal writing you must un-reduce them. The core list:
| Formal written | What you say | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| de | dom | they (subject) |
| dem | dom | them (object) |
| sade | sa | said |
| lade | la | laid, put |
| någon / något / några | nån / nåt / nåra | someone / something / some |
| sådan / sådant / sådana | sån / sånt / såna | such (a) |
| och / att | å | and / to |
De påpekade att de inte hade mottagit någon sådan information.
They pointed out that they had not received any such information. (formal, written) Full forms throughout: de ... de ... någon sådan. Spoken, this would be 'Dom ... dom ... nån sån'.
Hon sade att hon redan hade lagt handlingarna på bordet.
She said that she had already put the documents on the table. (formal, written) 'sade' and 'lagt' (supine of lägga) — never 'sa' and 'la' in a formal text.
The hardest of these is the de / dem distinction, because both are pronounced dom — so your ear gives you no help at all in choosing. Subject "they" is de; object "them" is dem. This subject/object choice has its own page: Choosing de, dem, or dom.
denna / detta: the formal demonstratives
Spoken Swedish points with den här / det här / de här ("this / these"). Formal writing has a tighter, single-word alternative: denna (common gender), detta (neuter), dessa (plural). They feel crisp and bureaucratic, and they appear constantly in official and academic prose.
A quirk worth knowing: after denna/detta/dessa, the noun is usually in its indefinite form, not the double-definite shape you would expect — denna ansökan ("this application"), not denna ansökan-en.
Denna ansökan ska lämnas in före den 31 maj.
This application must be submitted before 31 May. (formal) 'denna' + indefinite 'ansökan' — the hallmark formal demonstrative. Spoken: 'Den här ansökan ska lämnas in...'.
Detta beslut kan överklagas inom tre veckor.
This decision can be appealed within three weeks. (formal) 'detta' for neuter. Note also the passive 'kan överklagas'.
Dessa villkor gäller samtliga deltagare.
These conditions apply to all participants. (formal) 'dessa' (plural) plus the formal 'samtliga' for 'alla'.
Passives and nominalisations: officialese
Formal Swedish — especially myndighetssvenska (the language of authorities) — leans on two devices that distance the writer from the action: the passive (often the -s passive) and nominalisations (turning verbs into nouns: beslut "decision" from besluta, ansökan "application" from ansöka, utbetalning "payout" from betala ut).
Beslutet fattades efter en samlad bedömning av ärendet.
The decision was made after an overall assessment of the matter. (formal) Passive 'fattades' + nominalisations 'bedömning', 'ärendet' — classic officialese density.
Utbetalning sker efter godkänd ansökan.
Payment is made after an approved application. (formal) Two nominalisations (utbetalning, ansökan) and the impersonal 'sker' — very bureaucratic.
This style is grammatically correct and you must be able to read it. But it can become genuinely murky, which is exactly what the klarspråk ("plain language") movement has spent decades pushing back against. Klarspråk urges officials to prefer active verbs, address the reader as du, and break up nominalised chains. Compare the dense version with its plain-language rewrite:
Vid utebliven betalning kommer ärendet att överlämnas för indrivning.
In the event of non-payment, the matter will be handed over for debt collection. (dense officialese) Nominalisation 'utebliven betalning', passive 'överlämnas'.
Om du inte betalar skickar vi ärendet till inkasso.
If you don't pay, we'll send the matter to debt collection. (klarspråk rewrite) Active verbs, 'du' and 'vi', plain 'inkasso'.
The optional masculine -e
A subtle formal/traditional feature: a definite adjective describing a male person may take -e instead of the usual -a. So alongside den gamla mannen you may see den gamle mannen ("the old man"). This -e is optional, slightly formal or literary, and used only for male referents; the everyday -a is always acceptable.
Den gamle mannen reste sig långsamt.
The old man rose slowly. (formal/literary) The masculine -e adjective: 'gamle' for a male referent. 'den gamla mannen' is also correct and more everyday.
Vår nye chef heter Andersson.
Our new boss is called Andersson. (formal) 'nye' marks a male referent; 'nya' would be the neutral everyday choice.
This is detailed on the adjectives side at The Masculine -e Form.
Complex subordination
Formal written Swedish packs more into each sentence: longer subordinate clauses, fronted adverbials, and stacked qualifications that you would split into separate sentences in speech. The subordinate-clause word order (notably inte before the verb — the BIFF rule) becomes especially visible.
Eftersom underlaget som inkom inte var fullständigt, kunde ärendet inte avgöras vid sammanträdet.
Since the documentation that was submitted was not complete, the matter could not be decided at the meeting. (formal) Stacked subordination, BIFF order ('inte var'), and the inversion in the main clause after the fronted 'eftersom'-clause.
Det bör understrykas att de uppgifter som lämnats måste kunna styrkas.
It should be emphasised that the information provided must be verifiable. (academic) Passive 'bör understrykas', relative 'som lämnats', modal stack 'måste kunna styrkas'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Dom anställda meddelade att dom inte sett nån sån rapport.
Incorrect for formal writing — spoken reductions 'dom', 'nån', 'sån' don't belong in a formal text.
✅ De anställda meddelade att de inte sett någon sådan rapport.
The employees reported that they had not seen any such report. (formal full forms)
❌ Han sa att han la pengarna i kassan. (in a formal report)
Incorrect register — 'sa' and 'la' are spoken; formal writing uses 'sade' and 'lade'.
✅ Han sade att han lade pengarna i kassan.
He said that he put the money in the till. (formal)
❌ Denna ansökan måste fyllas i av den sökande, undertecknas av den sökande och insändas av den sökande.
Clumsy — over-using the passive and repeating to sound official just makes it murky. Klarspråk would streamline it.
✅ Du fyller i ansökan, skriver under och skickar in den.
You fill in the application, sign it, and send it in. (plain, klarspråk style)
❌ Den här ansökan ska inlämnas innan den 31 maj. (aiming for formal)
Mismatched — 'den här' is the spoken demonstrative; in formal writing the tighter 'denna' fits better.
✅ Denna ansökan ska lämnas in före den 31 maj.
This application must be submitted before 31 May. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Formal written Swedish requires the full forms — de/dem (not dom), sade/lade (not sa/la), någon/sådan (not nån/sån) — even though nobody pronounces them that way. This is a spelling-vs-speech gap you bridge consciously.
- The de / dem choice is purely subject vs object, with no help from your ear (both sound like dom).
- Use the formal demonstratives denna / detta / dessa (with the noun usually in indefinite form: denna ansökan).
- Officialese leans on passives and nominalisations; you must read them, but the klarspråk movement rightly pushes back — formal need not mean opaque.
- The masculine -e adjective (den gamle mannen) is an optional formal/literary touch for male referents.
- Formal writing uses denser subordination; keep BIFF word order (inte before the verb) firmly in mind.
Now practice Swedish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Register and Style: OverviewB1 — Maps the Swedish register spectrum — from formal written myndighetssvenska through neutral standard to casual spoken — and explains the big historical surprise: Swedish deliberately DEMOCRATISED its style. The du-reform killed formal address and the klarspråk movement flattened officialese, so modern Swedish is far less register-stratified than learners coming from French or German expect. The main split that remains is spoken vs written (dom for de/dem, sa for sade), and this page routes you to the detail pages for each end of the spectrum.
- Spoken and Informal SwedishB1 — The gap between written and spoken Swedish is wide and systematic: 'de/dem' are both said dom, 'sade' becomes sa, 'något' becomes nåt, 'sådan' becomes sån, 'och'/'att' shrink to å, and 'mig/dig/sig' become mej/dej/sej. The full written forms are almost never spoken — so knowing these reductions is the key to understanding real Swedish, not just a style note. This page is a listening-comprehension key.
- Literary and Archaic SwedishC1 — Older and literary Swedish looks foreign in one decisive way: until about 1945 verbs agreed in NUMBER, so a plural subject took a plural verb — vi äro ('we are'), de voro ('they were'), vi hava ('we have') — forms a modern learner never meets. Add the pre-1906 hv- spellings (hvad, hvit), the archaic pronouns I and eder, the subjunctive vore/vare, and the optional masculine -e, and you have the toolkit for reading Strindberg, Lagerlöf, and the old Bible without panic.
- de vs dem vs dom: The Great DebateB1 — Sweden's single most argued-about grammar point: de is the subject 'they', dem is the object 'them', but in speech BOTH are pronounced 'dom' — which is why even native writers mix them up. The reliable fix is the han/honom test: if 'he' fits, write de; if 'him' fits, write dem. This page gives you the test, the spoken dom, and the ongoing reform debate.