Swedish word of the day: glass
Catherine Edwards - [email protected]
Published: 29 Jul, 2019 CET.
Updated: Mon 29 Jul 2019 06:00 CET
Today we're looking at a summery false friend.
Swedish glass is not the same as English 'glass': in Sweden, this is the word for 'ice cream'.
It can be confusing as a language learner, because the word for 'glass' is glas. Hear the difference in how they're pronounced in the audio clips below.
Glass:
Glas:
The other difference between the two is that glass is an 'en' word and glas is an 'ett' word.
Glass meaning 'ice cream' is a borrowing from French glace (ice cream), and when it first appeared in Swedish it kept the French spelling, although over the years it became Swedified as glass.
Look out for lots of compound words containing glass, such as jordgubbsglass (strawberry ice cream), chokladglass (chocolate ice cream) and more Swedish variants like saltlakritsglass (salty liquorice ice cream).
Swedes are big ice cream consumers, which might seem surprising given that it's such a cold country. But it's a hugely popular treat in all seasons, though especially in summer, whether you buy your glass from the neighbourhood glassbil (literally 'ice cream car', or ice cream van) or at one of the many ice cream parlours in Sweden's towns and cities.
Examples
Jag älskar att äta glass oavsett årstid
I love eating ice cream no matter what season it is
Den kan vara den godaste glassen jag ätit
This might be the tastiest ice cream I've had
Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.
Comments (2)
See Also
Swedish glass is not the same as English 'glass': in Sweden, this is the word for 'ice cream'.
It can be confusing as a language learner, because the word for 'glass' is glas. Hear the difference in how they're pronounced in the audio clips below.
Glass:
Glas:
The other difference between the two is that glass is an 'en' word and glas is an 'ett' word.
Glass meaning 'ice cream' is a borrowing from French glace (ice cream), and when it first appeared in Swedish it kept the French spelling, although over the years it became Swedified as glass.
Look out for lots of compound words containing glass, such as jordgubbsglass (strawberry ice cream), chokladglass (chocolate ice cream) and more Swedish variants like saltlakritsglass (salty liquorice ice cream).
Look out for lots of compound words containing glass, such as jordgubbsglass (strawberry ice cream), chokladglass (chocolate ice cream) and more Swedish variants like saltlakritsglass (salty liquorice ice cream).
Swedes are big ice cream consumers, which might seem surprising given that it's such a cold country. But it's a hugely popular treat in all seasons, though especially in summer, whether you buy your glass from the neighbourhood glassbil (literally 'ice cream car', or ice cream van) or at one of the many ice cream parlours in Sweden's towns and cities.
Examples
Jag älskar att äta glass oavsett årstid
I love eating ice cream no matter what season it is
Den kan vara den godaste glassen jag ätit
This might be the tastiest ice cream I've had
Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.