Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Alisha: How do you greet someone at different times of the day?
Jesper: And are there any alternatives?
Alisha: At SwedishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine this situation: Ben Lee is greeting his friend, but he hasn't noticed how late it became. Ben says, "Good morning!"
Ben Lee: God morgon!
Dialogue
Ben Lee: God morgon!
Sandra Ström: Klockan är redan tre på eftermiddagen. Nu är det god eftermiddag.
Alisha: Once more with the English translation.
Ben Lee: God morgon!
Alisha: "Good morning!"
Sandra Ström: Klockan är redan tre på eftermiddagen. Nu är det god eftermiddag.
Alisha: "It's already three in the afternoon. It's 'Good afternoon' now."

Lesson focus

Alisha: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Swedish greetings. Swedish, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day. Swedish mostly differentiate between three particular times of the day, using the following greetings:
Jesper: God morgon
Alisha: which means "Good morning." This greeting is composed of two words,
Jesper: God
Alisha: which means "good," and
Jesper: morgon
Alisha: which means "morning." It's normally used when greeting someone in the morning, usually until twelve noon.
Jesper: God eftermiddag
Alisha: This means "Good afternoon," which is also composed of two words. Again,
Jesper: God
Alisha: which means "good," and
Jesper: eftermiddag
Alisha: which means "afternoon." This greeting is used from twelve noon until late in the evening. And, for "Good evening," we have
Jesper: God kväll or God afton.
[Recall 1]
Alisha: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue.
Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Good morning!"?
(pause 4 seconds)
Jesper: God morgon!
Alisha: As mentioned, this greeting is used in the morning until twelve noon. Ben Lee didn't realize it was past twelve and used this greeting instead of the one for "Good afternoon."
[Recall 2]
Alisha: Now let's take a look at our second sentence.
Do you remember how Sandra says "It's already three in the afternoon. It's 'Good afternoon' now?"
(pause 4 seconds)
Jesper: Klockan är redan tre på eftermiddagen. Nu är det god eftermiddag.
Alisha: Here, Sandra explains that it's already past twelve noon, which means the correct greeting would be "Good afternoon!" or
Jesper: God eftermiddag.
[Summary]
Alisha: In today's lesson, we learned that Swedish, similar to English, has time-related greetings, which are
Jesper: God morgon
Alisha: which means "Good morning," and used in the early hours of the day until twelve noon,
Jesper: God eftermiddag
Alisha: which means "Good afternoon," and used from twelve noon until late in the evening, and
Jesper: God kväll or God afton
Alisha: which means "Good evening," a greeting that can also be used to wish someone to have a good afternoon.
Expansion
Alisha: Perhaps you're wondering if there are any alternatives to time-sensitive Swedish greetings. For instance, English has "Good day" and "Hello." How do you say these in Swedish? The expression "Good day" in Swedish is
Jesper: God dag.
Alisha: As for "hello," there are several ways you can say it in Swedish, the most common one being
Jesper: Hej! or Hej, hej!
Alisha: which could also mean "hi." Or, a very casual way is
Jesper: Hallå, or Tjena, tjena!
Alisha: You can use these expressions when addressing friends or people your age or someone younger.
Alisha: Now, here's another informal way to greet someone:
Jesper: Shobre!
Alisha: which means "Hello" or "What's up?" in Swedish. Here's another one:
Jesper: Hur är det?
Alisha: This means "How are things?" And, finally, you can say
Jesper: Hur har du haft det?
Alisha: to ask someone, "How have you been?," an appropriate greeting for someone you haven't seen for a long time.

Outro

Alisha: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them!
Jesper: Vi ses!
Alisha: See you soon!

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