New list reveals common Swedish and English spelling mistakes
Published: 16 Jun 09 13:40 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20100/20090616/
People struggling to straddle what can sometimes seem like a cavernous divide between the Swedish and English languages will likely appreciate a new list of common misspellings in both languages.
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“It’s impossible to say exactly which misspellings are the most common, but we know which words are often spelled incorrectly,” said the Language Council’s Anna Antonsson to Sveriges Television (SVT).
Among Swedish words which often end up spelled incorrectly are aborre (‘perch’; correct spelling: abborre); cyckel (‘bicycle’; correct spelling: cykel); fotölj (lounge chair; correct spelling: fåtölj); and tillfredställande (‘satisfying’; correct spelling: tillfredsställande).
As for English words which Swedes often fail to spell correctly, Norstedt’s list includes ‘allways’ (always); ‘fabolous’ (fabulous); ‘mutch’ (much); and ‘verry’ (very).
Some words are associated with several possible misspellings.
For example, Norstedts lists three common faulty constructions for the Swedish word diskussion (‘discussion’: diskution, diskusion, disskution) and for ‘because’ in English (becouse, becuse, beacuse).
According to Språkrådet, the increased occurrence of pronunciation-based spelling mistakes indicates that young people are writing words less often than before, causing them to come up with spellings based more on how words sound.
One advantage to the phenomenon, however, is that young people find it easier to give English words more Swedish-style spellings, with mejl (mail) and dejt (date) cited as examples.
Below is the complete list of commonly misspelled Swedish words. Double click on any word in the 'Correct Spelling' column to launch The Local’s translation tool, provided by Tyda, and find out the meaning of the word in English.
| Incorrect Spellings | Correct Spellings |
|---|---|
| abbonemang | abonnemang |
| aborre | abborre |
| abonemang | abonnemang |
| altid | alltid |
| anorlunda | annorlunda |
| annulera | annullera |
| agusti | augusti |
| avunsjuk | avundsjuk |
| bestämmde | bestämde |
| bestäma | bestämma |
| bestämmt | bestämt |
| bla | bl.a. |
| cyckel | cykel |
| definera | definiera |
| defenitivt | definitivt |
| defenetivt | definitivt |
| diskution | diskussion |
| diskusion | diskussion |
| disskution | diskussion |
| disskutera | diskutera |
| dublett | dubblett |
| igentligen | egentligen |
| imot | emot |
| faktist | faktiskt |
| fläskfile | fläskfilé |
| fotölj | fåtölj |
| följdaktligen | följaktligen |
| föresten | förresten |
| förän | förrän |
| gammla | gamla |
| gamal | gammal |
| giftemål | giftermål |
| hejdå | hej då |
| hälst | helst |
| hittils | hittills |
| hämd | hämnd |
| iallafall | i alla fall |
| isåfall | i så fall |
| iakta | iaktta |
| innom | inom |
| interjuv | intervju |
| intreserad | intresserad |
| kariär | karriär |
| kompletera | komplettera |
| konsentrera | koncentrera |
| konferans | konferens |
| konkurens | konkurrens |
| konkurent | konkurrent |
| korekt | korrekt |
| kunnde | kunde |
| kvalite | kvalitet, kvalité |
| lungt | lugnt |
| matrial | material |
| medecin | medicin |
| mäst | mest |
| mustach | mustasch |
| mäniskor | människor |
| nogrann | noggrann |
| noggran | noggrann |
| nogran | noggrann |
| nogrant | noggrant |
| någongång | någon gång |
| nämde | nämnde |
| ochså | också |
| orginal | original |
| pga | p.g.a. |
| paralell | parallell |
| parantes | parentes |
| recention | recension |
| rekomendera | rekommendera |
| rekomenderar | rekommenderar |
| religös | religiös |
| resturang | restaurang |
| sevärdighet | sevärdhet |
| skilnad | skillnad |
| speciel | speciell |
| specielt | speciellt |
| spännade | spännande |
| stämmning | stämning |
| succesiva | successiva |
| succesivt | successivt |
| särskillt | särskilt |
| terass | terrass |
| tillfredställa | tillfredsställa |
| tillfredställa | tillfredsställa |
| tillfredställande | tillfredsställande |
| tillfredställd | tillfredsställd |
| tillsamans | tillsammans |
| tvugna | tvungna |
| tyvär | tyvärr |
| ungdommar | ungdomar |
| värkligen | verkligen |
| vilkor | villkor |
| ytterliggare | ytterligare |
| överrens | överens |
| överaskad | överraskad |
| överaskning | överraskning |
External link: Norstedts list of common misspellings »
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
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Ibeännr dteta att fngerua i snksvea ocskå ?
Punctuation, Comprehension & use of Grammar are not taught over here which are key factors to English.
I constantly see Panglish being used for signs everywhere.
Items such as : "News" displayed in shops selling new seasonal based products or collections.
There is a cafe on drottninggatan : "We have meny in English".
Even companies such as Bo Concept have advertising campaigns that are cringe worthy with such slogans as "don't blame us".
I would go as far as to say that most Swedes do NOT comprehend English.
This is because the education used for teaching English, is not English.
I am by no means saying that rules of extreme pompous Shakespearean English should be enforced. But if any Swede was to go to school to learn any other language another language with different comprehension such as French, then the basic rules would be taught in a much stricter manner.
what annoys me the most is why we use the question mark (?). we obviously know it's a question when it begins with 'did', 'why', 'where', 'who', 'when', 'which'. and many more ways in which a sentenced is constructed.
as long as we can communicate well. Who cares!
I teach English in English. I teach grammar, word use, common mistakes Swedes make, essay writing, communicating/debating using common phrases, punctuation, literature, culture etc etc.
It's difficult to learn a different language than your own. Punctuation is different in Swedish and English.
I agree with the sign problem. I think it's stupid that Swedish companies use English words when they are only operating in Sweden. They think it's cool but it's horrible to come across spellings like "We belive" on Ellos tops.
(spelling is important to some)
Advice/advise
Very very strange...
- for example dej/mej - my daughter was taught to write this at school
Hejdå is common so it should be official.
My favourite word to hate is 'jos' instead of 'juice'...
I tend to write email and emaila.
Who writes jos? I'm guessing it's some Stockholmian...never seen it here in Gbg.
So your new car is green.
So your new car is green?
The first is a statement. The second is a question which illicits a reponce. Same words, same order, different meaning!
No, that's not an advantage. Words like 'date' and 'website' actually make sense. If you don't wish to use the word 'date', for example, using 'träff' makes more sense. I don't understand why it was decided that it's better to "invent" new words, like 'mejl', instead of using the English words that blend right in. Pronunciation doesn't dictate spelling, and spelling can only be seen as a weak guide for how to pronounce a word.
Hence question marks are essential.
Because this is normal practise in Spain,they normally use two question marks,one in front and one after,the first one being inverted.
Oops!...No doubt I'm telling my Spanish grannie how to suck eggs.
We don't have an Official English Institute in the US, so I appeal to the non-English speaking world for assistance. Plurals first. Use mouses, gooses, and oxes and all the rest instead of mice, geese and oxen. Certainly no American will object. We have the same problem.
Next, spellings. Sykology, not psychology. Specifically, the ch sound should be no more and no less then the English sound for cheese. However, I accept Cheese instead of Chees as a simple expedient since the final 'e' is nearly universal in the lanquage.
So. Now I am phyching for additional suggestions! Any taykers?
Eg, I don't understand what you mean by "we obviously know it's a question when it begins with 'did', 'why', 'where', 'who', 'when', 'which'. and many more ways in which a sentenced is constructed."
I can guess that you mean:
"We obviously recognize a question when it begins with words such as 'did', 'when', 'where' and 'which', or by the construction of the sentence."
In my language when I want to say "Hello" I say Asalam alyckom which means peace be upon you. actually we pray for the person when we say Salaam, and When we say Bye we say Allah Hafiz which means May Allah protect you and be with you again we pray.
We should have meaningful words which we use often or commonly.
It sounds quite funny when someone asks how many sheeps have you.
Sometimes I say a bloody great fleet.
Anyway, I often have to explain that its many ships and many sheep,(not sheeps).
....and just to avoid any green wellie jokers,I gave them up a long time ago.
Sprat: The plural of sheep is of supernatural indiffence to me. Sheeps, ships, oxes and mouses, OH MY. The entire purpose of written lanquage is to convey meaning to the reader, as is the case with spoken speach. While living in Germany I had a flat tire (tyre). I told a passerby "Mein reifen ist mit luft nicht".
Charles: You wrote: "Usually, those who can't spell also can't communicate logically in writing." Non-sequetor. Spelling should not be a task or test of education. Instead, the lanquage should be phonetic, and not a test or trap for the less educated. The communication itself should stand on its own merrits without the intermediate filter of SPELLING.
English is especially mischievious in this way. I am curious, and not flippant, when I ask you how many languages promt nation wide Spelling Bees?
you say ....
"It sounds quite funny when someone asks how many sheeps have you.
Sometimes I say a bloody great fleet."
Why would someone ask you such a question? Are you a shepherd or an Admiral?