Swedish word of the day: promenad
Here's a word that useful if you're leaving the car at home, or if you're the finance minister of Sweden.
While promenade in English usually refers to a kind of paved public path, often along a beach in a seaside resort, in Swedish it’s also a common word for a leisurely stroll, en promenad.
You might see it in compound words such as strandpromenad (in which case it can either refer to a seafront promenade as in English, or the act of going for a stroll along the beach, vi tog en strandpromenad).
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Another well-known example is budgetpromenad, the finance minister’s walk from her office to the parliament building to present the government’s budget bill, which she was set to do on April 15th to present the government's 2024 spring amendment budget bill.
The word comes from the French se promener (to go for a walk), which in turn is from the late Latin prominare, which actually refers to driving animals forward – made up of pro (forth) and minare, from minari which means “to threaten” (this is the origin of menace in English).
You can also use it as a verb, att promenera, for example jag promenerade till jobbet i dag (“I walked to work today”). It’s perhaps becoming increasingly common in Swedish to instead use the word gå (past tense: gick) – jag gick till jobbet i dag – but promenera doesn’t yet sound outdated.
Promenera vaguely implies that it is an enjoyable, non-strenuous walk. You wouldn’t say that you promenerade in the mountains, unless you went for a lovely, relaxing stroll through a valley.
In this sense, it’s sometimes also used figuratively for something you didn’t have to put much effort into, such as laget promenerade hem segern (“the team walked home the victory”) if they had an easy win.
Examples
Tar du hunden på en promenad?
Will you take the dog for a walk?
Körde du hit? Nej, jag promenerade
Did you drive here? No, I walked
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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While promenade in English usually refers to a kind of paved public path, often along a beach in a seaside resort, in Swedish it’s also a common word for a leisurely stroll, en promenad.
You might see it in compound words such as strandpromenad (in which case it can either refer to a seafront promenade as in English, or the act of going for a stroll along the beach, vi tog en strandpromenad).
- Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button
Another well-known example is budgetpromenad, the finance minister’s walk from her office to the parliament building to present the government’s budget bill, which she was set to do on April 15th to present the government's 2024 spring amendment budget bill.
The word comes from the French se promener (to go for a walk), which in turn is from the late Latin prominare, which actually refers to driving animals forward – made up of pro (forth) and minare, from minari which means “to threaten” (this is the origin of menace in English).
You can also use it as a verb, att promenera, for example jag promenerade till jobbet i dag (“I walked to work today”). It’s perhaps becoming increasingly common in Swedish to instead use the word gå (past tense: gick) – jag gick till jobbet i dag – but promenera doesn’t yet sound outdated.
Promenera vaguely implies that it is an enjoyable, non-strenuous walk. You wouldn’t say that you promenerade in the mountains, unless you went for a lovely, relaxing stroll through a valley.
In this sense, it’s sometimes also used figuratively for something you didn’t have to put much effort into, such as laget promenerade hem segern (“the team walked home the victory”) if they had an easy win.
Examples
Tar du hunden på en promenad?
Will you take the dog for a walk?
Körde du hit? Nej, jag promenerade
Did you drive here? No, I walked
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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