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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: nämen

Swedes are not a people prone to big reactions. But once in a while you may hear a mildly surprised Swede step out of their shell and exclaim '... nämen!'

Published: 18 October 2018 16:41 CEST
Updated: 21 August 2023 10:06 CEST

Swedish word of the day: nämen

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Nämen comes from the words nej and men which literally mean ‘no’ and ‘but’.

It is used, often at the start of a sentence, to express mild surprise in a positive, neutral or negative sense: ‘Nämen, what a cute dog!’). Or draw out the second syllable for effect: nämeeeeeeeen if it’s a really cute dog.

It’s a bit like going ‘oh’ in English, or ‘gosh’, or ‘well, well, well!’

Nämen can also stand on its own, if said with right emphasis. If you for example run into a friend you haven’t seen in a while, you can go nämen! when you spot them. With just one little word you can say ‘Fancy seeing you here! Long time no see! I’ve missed you, old pal’. Swedish is a wonderfully efficient language.

It can also be used as one of those words at the start of a sentence before you get to what you actually want to say (much like ‘well’ in English). ‘Nämen, should we start thinking of going home?’

Example sentences:

Nämen, hej

Well, hello

Nämen, vad duktig du är

Wow, you’re so good

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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Swedish word of the day: arbetstillstånd

Arbetstillstånd, as many foreigners living in Sweden no doubt already know, is the Swedish word for a work permit. Like many of the words we feature in this column, it’s a compound word.

The first part of the word, arbet, from arbete, means “work”, both in the sense of a job you’re paid for and in the sense of carrying out a particular unpaid task with some degree of effort, like working in the garden (trädgårdsarbete), for example.

You can use the noun jobb or verb jobba in much the same way.

Similar words to arbete exist in many other Northern European languages, like Norwegian arbeid, Danish arbejde, Faroese arbeiði, German Arbeit and Dutch arbeid. The Swedish word arvode, which refers to a one-off fee for some sort of work often paid to freelancers instead of a salary, also comes from the same Proto-Germanic root.

The English word “work” also exists in Swedish as verk, where it can refer to a body of work (see also mästerverk, masterpiece), some sort of government authority (like the Migration Agency, Migrationsverket), or a machine or other service like a waterworks (vattenverk) or power plant (kraftverk – like the German electronic band Kraftwerk, but spelled slightly differently).

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

The second half of arbetstillstånd, tillstånd, has a few different meanings. It can refer to a state or condition, like hälsotillstånd (health status), or in the phrase sakernas tillstånd (the state of things).

Tillstånd can be both a countable and uncountable noun. If you’re not sure what that means, think of the difference between “money”, which is uncountable (you can’t say “one money”), and “coin”, which is countable (two coins).

You can use the word ett tillstånd on its own, but Swedes more often just combine the word with whatever the permit is for, like an uppehållstillstånd (residence permit), serveringstillstånd (permit for serving alcohol) or a fisketillstånd (fishing permit).

Example sentences:

När kommer försörjningskravet för arbetstillstånd höjas?

When will the maintenance requirement for work permits be raised?

Har du arbetstillstånd i Sverige? Nej, jag har uppehållstillstånd som familjemedlem till någon i Sverige, men jag får arbeta ändå.

Do you have a work permit in Sweden? No, I have a residence permit as a family member of someone in Sweden, but I’m allowed to work anyway.

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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