Learn Hardcore Swedish: Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög ännu.

i svenska = in Swedish (as a subject / field / skill)
- Min nivå i svenska = My level in Swedish (the language as a skill/subject)
- Similarly: min nivå i matematik, mina kunskaper i franska.
på svenska = in Swedish (as the language something is expressed in)
- Kan du säga det på svenska? = Can you say that in Swedish?
- Boken är på svenska = The book is in Swedish.

So here, you’re talking about your level in the subject, so i svenska is correct.

Could I say “Min svensk‑nivå” or “min svenskanivå” instead of “Min nivå i svenska”?

You might see compounds like svenskanivå, but:

Min nivå i svenska is more natural and standard.
In everyday speech people often use:
- Min svenska är inte så bra än/ännu.
- Jag är inte så bra på svenska än/ännu.

Svenskanivå is understandable but sounds a bit technical or written, and you would more often see it in contexts like “testa din svenskanivå” on a website or form.

What grammatical gender is “nivå”, and how does that affect the rest of the sentence?

Nivå is an en‑word:

en nivå – nivån – nivåer – nivåerna

Because it’s an en‑word, an attributive adjective describing it in the basic form is:

en hög nivå (not ett högt nivå)

In the sentence, hög agrees with nivå:

Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög ännu.
(hög matches the gender/number of nivå.)

Why is it “så hög” and not “så högt”?

Adjectives in Swedish change form depending on what they describe:

hög for en‑words: en hög nivå
högt for ett‑words: ett högt torn
högt as an adverb: han hoppar högt (he jumps high)

Here hög describes nivå (an en‑word), so you must use hög, not högt.

Why does the negation “inte” come after the verb “är”?

In simple main clauses, Swedish word order is usually:

Subject – Finite verb – (Sentence adverb like inte) – Rest

So:

Min nivå (subject)
är (finite verb)
inte (negation)
så hög ännu (rest)

You wouldn’t say “Min nivå i svenska inte är så hög ännu” in a normal main clause; that word order appears in subordinate clauses:

…att min nivå i svenska inte är så hög ännu.

What is the difference between “ännu” and “än” here?

Both can be used in this kind of sentence, but there are nuances:

ännu
- Literally “yet / still (up to now)”.
- Often a bit more formal or emphatic: there is a clear feeling that this could change later.
- Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög ännu.
  → My level isn’t that high yet, but I expect it to improve.
än
- Used a lot in comparisons: större än, bättre än.
- In everyday speech, än often replaces ännu in “not yet” contexts:
  - Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög än. (very common in spoken Swedish)

Both are correct here. Än sounds more colloquial; ännu can feel slightly more careful or written.

Can I just say “Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög” and leave out “ännu”?

Yes, that’s perfectly grammatical:

Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög.

Difference in nuance:

With ännu/än → “not very high yet” (it might improve).
Without ännu/än → just a statement of current level, no explicit “yet”.

So ännu adds a hopeful/temporary feeling to the statement.

Is “så” necessary? What’s the difference between “inte hög” and “inte så hög”?

Both are possible, but they feel different:

inte hög = not high (more absolute, quite blunt)
- Min nivå i svenska är inte hög.
inte så hög = not that / so high (softer, more modest)
- Min nivå i svenska är inte så hög ännu.

Using “så” makes it sound more natural and polite, especially when talking about your own abilities. It downplays your skill without sounding too harsh.

Could I say “bra” instead of “hög”, like “Min nivå i svenska är inte så bra ännu”?

Yes, and it’s actually quite common to use bra when talking about language skills:

Min nivå i svenska är inte så bra ännu.
Min svenska är inte så bra ännu.

Differences:

hög → sounds a bit more measurable or “level-like”, as in test levels.
bra → sounds more everyday, more about overall ability/quality.

Both are fine; bra is probably more frequent in casual conversation.

Why is it “svenska” and not “svenskan” in “i svenska”?

Swedish language names behave like this:

As a language in general: usually no article
- Jag studerar svenska.
- Min nivå i svenska…
- Mina kunskaper i tyska…
With the definite form (svenskan): usually when talking about “the Swedish language” as a specific system or object
- Svenskan har många dialekter.
- Jag gillar ljuden i svenskan.

So “i svenska” (indefinite) is the normal form when you mean “in Swedish (the language as a subject)”.

Is this the most natural way to say this, or are there simpler alternatives?

The sentence is correct and natural, but learners and natives often use even simpler phrases, for example:

Min svenska är inte så bra än/ännu.
Jag är inte så bra på svenska än/ännu.
Jag kan inte så mycket svenska än/ännu.

All of these are very common and sound completely natural in everyday speech.

Can I change the word order to “Min nivå i svenska är ännu inte så hög”?

Yes, that’s also correct:

Min nivå i svenska är ännu inte så hög.

Difference:

…är inte så hög ännu.
- More neutral; ännu is at the end, lightly stressing the “yet”.
…är ännu inte så hög.
- Emphasises the “yet” a bit more: up to this point, it still isn’t very high.

Both are fine. The original order is probably more common in everyday language.

How do you pronounce “nivå” and “svenska”?

Rough guide in English-friendly terms:

nivå
- Stress on the second syllable: ni‑VÅ
- ni‑ like “knee” but shorter
- ‑vå with the vowel å like the “o” in “more” (without the final r sound in many accents)
svenska
- Stress on the first syllable: SVEN‑ska
- sv cluster pronounced together, like “sv” in “svelte”
- en roughly like “en” in “pen”
- ska: “ska” with a short a (like the a in “cat” but a bit more back)

In IPA (approximate standard Swedish):

nivå → /nɪˈvoː/
svenska → /ˈsvɛnska/

Do I have to use “min” here, or could I say just “Nivån i svenska är inte så hög ännu”?

You can drop min:

Nivån i svenska är inte så hög ännu.

But then, unless the context is very clear, it can sound like you’re talking about some general or previously mentioned level, not necessarily your level.

If you’re introducing the idea and talking about yourself, min nivå i svenska is the natural, clear choice. Dropping min is more likely in contexts where “the level” has already been defined:

När det gäller kursen A2, nivån i svenska är inte så hög ännu. (e.g. about a class)