Swedish Manners

Learn how to say "Thank you"

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hej, jag heter Elin. Hi everybody! I’m Elin.
Welcome to SwedishPod101.com’s “Svenska på tre minuter”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Swedish.
In the last lesson, we learned how to introduce ourselves in Swedish. In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use good manners as we thank people.
Är ni redo? Are you ready? Låt oss börja, so let’s start!
There are several ways to thank someone, so let’s start with the easiest. It is just one word:
Tack.
[slowly] Tack.
Tack means “thank you”.
When saying “thank you very much” you just need to add så mycket at the end.
Tack så mycket.
[slowly] Tack så mycket.
Så mycket litterally means “so much”. So Tack så mycket. is like saying “Thank you so much”.
During the last lesson we didn’t mention anything about formality in speech in Swedish. However there are some subtle differences in how you will be perceived by others. Tack is the casual way to thank someone, Tack så mycket expresses more gratitude and is thus more formal.
A longer and more formal phrase, which expresses a lot of gratitude would be;
Tack så mycket, jättesnällt.
[slowly] Tack så mycket, jättesnällt.
Jättesnällt means “really kind”. It is very common to put “jätte” in front of adjectives to amplify their meaning.
But how do you respond to these thanks? It’s easy! There are basically two different ways to do it!
The first is:
Varsågod.
[slowly] Varsågod.
Varsågod means, “you are welcome”. You use this expression after someone has thanked you for a favor or for something given to them.
The other way to say, “you are welcome” is the expression:
Ingen fara
[slowly] Ingen fara.
Literally, this phrase means "No problem” or "it’s OK,” and is used when someone has thanked you for your help or for a favour.
So when someone says tack to you, you can simply reply with:
Varsågod or Ingen fara, depending on what they thanked you for.
Now it’s time for Elin’s Insights.
If you’re not sure about whether to use Tack or Tack så mycket, keeping it simple is always your safest bet. You don’t have to worry about formal or informal situations; Tack can be used with just about anyone, anywhere, and at anytime!
Do you know what Ses means? In our next lesson you’ll learn this and other greetings in Swedish! See you for the next Swedish in 3 Minutes!
Tack, vi ses nästa gång!