Swedish Food & Grocery Vocabulary: Shop and Cook in Swedish
Food is the vocabulary you use most
You shop and eat every day, so food words repay learning faster than almost any other category. Learn a handful before your next trip to the affär and you will use them within the hour.
Here are the essentials, grouped the way they sit on the shelves.
Fruit and vegetables
- ett äpple — apple
- en banan — banana
- en tomat — tomato
- en morot — carrot
- en potatis — potato
- en lök — onion
- en sallad — lettuce/salad
- ett blåbär — blueberry
In SvenskaSpeak you tap fruit and vegetables in a real market scene, hear each Swedish word, then find and say them back. market · torget
Explore Picture Scenes →Staples and the fridge
- ett bröd — bread
- en mjölk — milk
- en ost — cheese
- ett smör — butter
- ett ägg — egg
- ett kaffe — coffee
- ett vatten — water
- ett kött — meat
Useful phrases at the shop
- Hur mycket kostar det? — How much is it?
- Var är...? — Where is...?
- Kan jag få...? — May I have...?
- Nej tack. — No thank you.
- Tack. — Thank you.
Remember them where you will use them
Attach each word to the place you meet it — the market stall, the fridge shelf, the plate. That is why a market scene beats a market word list: your memory of "morot" comes back the moment you see carrots, exactly when you need it.
Practise food words in a Swedish market
SvenskaSpeak's market, grocery and produce scenes teach food vocabulary the way you meet it in real life. Free to start.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say food in Swedish?
Food is mat. "I'm hungry" is Jag är hungrig, and a common thing to say before eating is Smaklig måltid (enjoy your meal).
How do I ask for the price in Swedish?
Say Hur mycket kostar det? (How much is it?). Answers come in kronor, so brushing up your Swedish numbers helps.
Is Swedish food vocabulary hard?
Not really — many food words are close to English (äpple/apple, mjölk/milk, vatten/water), and they repeat constantly, making them some of the easiest Swedish words to start with.