Numbers and Time in Swedish

In Brief

Swedish forms numbers above twenty in a regular way and writes them as one word: tjugoen is 21 and fyrtiosex is 46. Use klockan to give the time, and remember that halv fyra means 3:30—halfway to four, not half past four. Weekdays and months normally begin with a lowercase letter: på måndag, i maj.

Overview

Numbers and time are among the most useful A1 building blocks. You need them for prices, phone numbers, addresses, appointments, travel, opening hours, and birthdays. This article covers cardinal numbers (numbers used to count), basic ordinal numbers (forms such as “first” and “second” that show position), clock time, weekdays, months, seasons, and simple dates.

Much of the system will feel familiar to an English speaker. Swedish puts the tens before the units in 24, just as English does, but normally joins the whole number into one written word: tjugofyra. The main differences are the two forms of “one,” lowercase calendar words, and the way Swedes describe the half hour.

Learn the beginner patterns first: numbers to 100, full hours, över (“past”), i (“to”), halv, and the most common calendar prepositions. Later sections explain alternatives found in schedules, everyday speech, and more advanced date and year expressions.

How It Works

Cardinal numbers from 0 to 20

A cardinal number tells you how many. Swedish has two forms for “one”: en before an en-word and ett before an ett-word. A noun is a naming word, such as krona (“krona”) or år (“year”): en krona, but ett år. In counting and arithmetic, 1 is usually ett.

Number	Swedish	English
0	noll	zero
1	en / ett	one
2	två	two
3	tre	three
4	fyra	four
5	fem	five
6	sex	six
7	sju	seven
8	åtta	eight
9	nio	nine
10	tio	ten
11	elva	eleven
12	tolv	twelve
13	tretton	thirteen
14	fjorton	fourteen
15	femton	fifteen
16	sexton	sixteen
17	sjutton	seventeen
18	arton	eighteen
19	nitton	nineteen
20	tjugo	twenty

The tens and numbers up to 100

The tens must be learned, but combining them is simple: put the unit directly after the ten and write one word. Thus 35 is trettiofem, not two separately written words. With a following noun, 21 ends in -en or -ett according to that noun: tjugoen kronor, tjugoett år. Other units do not change.

Number	Swedish	Example
20	tjugo	tjugo dagar — twenty days
21	tjugoen / tjugoett	tjugoen kronor, tjugoett år
30	trettio	trettio minuter — thirty minutes
40	fyrtio	fyrtiotvå — forty-two
50	femtio	femtiosex — fifty-six
60	sextio	sextionio — sixty-nine
70	sjuttio	sjuttiosju — seventy-seven
80	åttio	åttiofyra — eighty-four
90	nittio	nittioåtta — ninety-eight
100	hundra / ett hundra	one hundred

Swedish often uses a decimal comma rather than the English decimal point: 2,5 is “two point five,” read två komma fem. Prices commonly appear as 49,50 kr.

Basic ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers show order. The first few are irregular and worth memorizing. Ordinals usually behave like the definite form of an adjective (a describing word): den första dagen, det tredje året, de första veckorna. The articles den, det, and de correspond to common-gender singular, neuter singular, and plural.

Number	Swedish ordinal	English
1st	första	first
2nd	andra	second
3rd	tredje	third
4th	fjärde	fourth
5th	femte	fifth
6th	sjätte	sixth
7th	sjunde	seventh
8th	åttonde	eighth
9th	nionde	ninth
10th	tionde	tenth
11th	elfte	eleventh
12th	tolfte	twelfth
13th	trettonde	thirteenth
20th	tjugonde	twentieth
21st	tjugoförsta	twenty-first
30th	trettionde	thirtieth
100th	hundrade	hundredth

The specialized masculine form andre can occur when referring to a male person, as in Gustav II Adolf read Gustav den andre Adolf. Beginners can normally use and recognize andra in ordinary phrases.

Telling the time with klockan

Ask Vad är klockan? (“What time is it?”) or Hur mycket är klockan? (“What time is it?”). Answer with Klockan är .... In a phrase giving the time of an event, klockan can mean “at”: Mötet börjar klockan nio.

For minutes from the hour, use över (“past”). For minutes before the next hour, use i (“to”). Kvart means a quarter. The half hour looks forward to the coming hour:

Time	Swedish	Literal idea
3:00	klockan tre	three o’clock
3:05	fem över tre	five past three
3:15	kvart över tre	quarter past three
3:25	fem i halv fyra	five minutes before halfway to four
3:30	halv fyra	halfway to four
3:35	fem över halv fyra	five minutes after halfway to four
3:45	kvart i fyra	quarter to four
3:55	fem i fyra	five to four

The short form kl. is common in writing: Öppet kl. 9–17 (“Open 9 a.m.–5 p.m.”). Timetables and official information favor the 24-hour clock: Tåget avgår 16.42, read sexton fyrtiotvå. In conversation, speakers often use the 12-hour pattern and add på morgonen, på eftermiddagen, på kvällen, or på natten if context does not make the part of day clear.

Weekdays, months, and seasons

Unlike English, Swedish does not normally capitalize weekday, month, or season names.

Category	Swedish	English
Weekdays	måndag, tisdag, onsdag, torsdag, fredag, lördag, söndag	Monday–Sunday
Months	januari, februari, mars, april, maj, juni	January–June
Months	juli, augusti, september, oktober, november, december	July–December
Seasons	vår, sommar, höst, vinter	spring, summer, autumn, winter

The preposition depends on the meaning:

• på måndag — on Monday, usually the coming or contextually relevant Monday
• på måndagar — on Mondays, regularly
• i måndags — last Monday
• i maj — in May
• på sommaren — in summer as a general or recurring season
• i sommar — this summer
• i dag, i morgon, i går — today, tomorrow, yesterday; the joined spellings idag, imorgon, and igår are also widely used

Dates

A standard spoken date uses an ordinal number and no English-style of: den första maj (“the first of May”). To ask, say Vilket datum är det? (“What is the date?”). A complete answer can be Det är den första maj or I dag är det den första maj.

In running text, 1 maj 2026 is a natural written form. Numeric dates often follow year-month-day order in official contexts, for example 2026-05-01. Day-month-year formats such as 1/5 2026 also occur, so context matters.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Jag behöver tjugoen kronor.	I need twenty-one kronor.	En matches krona.
Barnet är två år gammalt.	The child is two years old.	År has the same form here after a number.
Buss nummer fyrtiotvå går till centrum.	Bus number forty-two goes downtown.	A compound number.
Klockan är tre.	It’s three o’clock.	Basic clock statement.
Vi ses kvart över sex.	See you at quarter past six.	Klockan is often omitted when the meaning is clear.
Filmen börjar halv åtta.	The film starts at 7:30.	The half hour points forward to eight.
Tåget går fem i nio.	The train leaves at 8:55.	I counts down to the next hour.
Kontoret öppnar kl. 08.30.	The office opens at 8:30 a.m.	Written 24-hour time.
Jag arbetar på måndag.	I’m working on Monday.	One contextually relevant Monday.
Hon tränar på torsdagar.	She works out on Thursdays.	Plural for a repeated routine.
Vi reste i juli.	We traveled in July.	I with a month.
Det är den första maj.	It’s the first of May.	Spoken date with an ordinal.
Min födelsedag är den tjugotredje november.	My birthday is the twenty-third of November.	Compound ordinal.
På vintern blir dagarna kortare.	In winter, the days get shorter.	General seasonal statement.
Vi ska resa till Sverige i sommar.	We’re going to Sweden this summer.	I sommar means this summer.

Common Mistakes

Reading halv fyra as 4:30

• Wrong: halv fyra = 4:30
• Right: halv fyra = 3:30
• Why: Swedish counts toward the next full hour. Think “halfway to four.”

Separating compound numbers

• Wrong: tjugo en kronor
• Right: tjugoen kronor
• Why: Cardinal numbers below one million are generally written as compounds when spelled out. Here -en also matches kronor, whose singular is en krona.

Using the wrong form of “one”

• Wrong: en år, tjugoen år
• Right: ett år, tjugoett år
• Why: År is an ett-word, so “one” is ett, including at the end of 21.

Capitalizing calendar names like English

• Wrong: På Måndag är det den första Maj.
• Right: På måndag är det den första maj.
• Why: Swedish weekdays, months, and seasons are common nouns and normally lowercase.

Copying English prepositions

• Wrong: i måndag, på maj
• Right: på måndag, i maj
• Why: Calendar phrases must be learned as combinations: på with a named weekday and i with a month.

Using a cardinal number in a spoken date

• Wrong: den ett maj
• Right: den första maj
• Why: Spoken dates use an ordinal: first, second, third, and so on.

Usage Notes

In speech, klockan is useful when introducing the time, but it is not required in every time phrase. Both Vi börjar klockan nio and Vi börjar nio are natural. The abbreviation kl. belongs mainly to writing.

Swedish speakers switch easily between conversational clock phrases and digit-style readings. A friend may say kvart i fem, while an announcement may give sexton fyrtiofem. Swedish does not routinely add equivalents of “a.m.” and “p.m.” in ordinary speech; the 24-hour clock or a phrase such as på kvällen removes ambiguity.

For phone numbers and identification numbers, digits are often grouped rather than read as one large cardinal number. The grouping varies with the type of number, so copy the pauses or written groups instead of trying to turn every string into one number.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these details at A1, but you will meet them later.

The words for years can vary. A year such as 1998 is commonly read nittonhundranittioåtta. For years in the 2000s, both a hundred-based pattern such as tjugohundratjugosex and a thousand-based pattern such as tvåtusentjugosex may occur. Context and speaker preference affect the choice.

Swedish distinguishes several useful views of a season. På sommaren describes summer generally or habitually; i sommar points to this summer; i somras means last summer; and till sommaren looks ahead to the coming summer. Similar sets occur with other seasons: i vintras (“last winter”) and till våren (“in/by the coming spring”). These belong naturally with broader temporal expressions.

Ordinal forms can also appear in names and labels. Monarchs use an ordinal, as in Carl XVI Gustaf, while floors use ordinals in phrases such as på tredje våningen. Be aware that Swedish and American floor numbering may differ in practice: första våningen can refer to the first storey above ground level in some descriptions, while bottenvåningen is the ground floor. Check local signage rather than relying only on an English floor label.

Approximate time has several everyday forms: vid tre (“around/at three”), ungefär klockan tre (“at about three”), and strax efter tre (“just after three”). The clock patterns can be more exact than the situation requires, so vid is useful when the time is not fixed to the minute.

Practice Tips

1. Build numbers aloud. Choose a ten, then attach random units: fyrtio + sju → fyrtiosju. Include 21 with both noun types: tjugoen dagar, tjugoett år.
2. Draw a clock face. Label 3:15, 3:25, 3:30, 3:35, and 3:45 in Swedish. This makes the forward-looking logic of halv fyra visible.
3. Say a mini-calendar every day. State the weekday, date, current time, and next appointment: I dag är det tisdag den femte mars. Klockan är ... Then add one phrase about the coming week or season.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Ordinal Numbers — expands forms such as första, andra, and tjugoförsta for dates, floors, and sequences.
• Next step: Temporal Expressions — develops contrasts such as “ago,” “for three hours,” “in a moment,” and other ways to locate events in time.