Free Swedish pronunciation checker
Free Swedish Pronunciation Test: check every word you say
Read five short Swedish sentences aloud or type any word you want to check. You get a score for every word, an overall score with accuracy, fluency and completeness, and a list of words to practise first.
Read this aloud:
Hon dricker ett glas vatten och äter en glass.
Listen for: Long vs short vowels (glas, glass)
Tap to record
Your recording is sent securely for scoring and is not stored by Flalingo.
Scores come from a standard native-speaker model for this language, so regional accents may score a little lower.
How to check your Swedish pronunciation
Each sentence in this Swedish pronunciation test is built around something learners find hard: long versus short vowels, the tj and sj sounds, u and y, and r merging with s, t and n. Read it aloud and a speech model trained on native Swedish speakers compares every word you say with the text.
You get an overall score from 0 to 100, plus accuracy, fluency and completeness. Every word gets its own score, so you can see which ones sound off and start there. You can also type your own Swedish text, up to 160 characters, and check it the same way.
How the test works
Read five sentences aloud
Each sentence is short and built around sounds that learners of this language find hard. You can also type your own text, up to 160 characters, or tap one of the hard words to try.
AI scores every word
A speech-assessment model trained on native speakers compares what you say with the text. It scores accuracy, fluency and completeness from 0 to 100, and gives every word its own score.
Get your report
Each word is coloured by how close it was, and you see a short list of words to practise first. Record a sentence again to check your progress, then share your score with a friend.
The hardest Swedish sounds for learners
Long and short vowels
Every stressed syllable in Swedish has either a long vowel or a long consonant. Glas (a drinking glass) has a long a; glass (ice cream) has a short a followed by a long s. The same goes for tak (roof) and tack (thanks), vit (white) and vitt. A double consonant after a vowel usually means the vowel is short.
The tj sound and soft k
Tj, kj and k before e, i, y, ä and ö make a soft sound /ɕ/, close to the sh in 'sheep' but with the tongue further forward and the lips spread (tjugo, kjol, köpa, kiosk). Before a, o, u and å, k stays hard: kaffe, kaka. The same rule turns g into a 'y' sound: göra, ge.
The sj sound
The famous sj sound /ɧ/ has no close match in English. It is spelled sj, skj, stj, sk before e, i, y, ä and ö, and -tion (sju, skjorta, stjärna, sköldpadda, station). Many speakers make it with rounded lips and air at the back of the mouth, somewhere between sh and the ch in Scottish 'loch'. Keep it apart from the softer tj sound: sju (seven) and tjugo (twenty).
Swedish u and y
Long Swedish u /ʉː/ is a central vowel with tightly rounded lips, close to 'ee' said through a small round opening (hus, ut). Y is an 'ee' with the lips pushed forward and rounded (by, ny, ylle). Without rounding, by (village) turns into bi (bee), and if u slides toward 'oo' it can sound like Swedish o.
R + s, t, d, n and l
In central Swedish, r merges with a following s, t, d, n or l into one sound made with the tongue tip curled back: rs sounds like sh (Lars, mars, kors), rt like a hard t (kort, svart), rd like a hard d (bord) and rn like a hard n (barn). In southern Sweden, where r is said at the back of the throat, these sounds stay separate.
What your pronunciation score means
| Score | Level | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | Excellent | Your words are clear and close to a native speaker. Try longer or harder sentences to keep improving. |
| 75–89 | Good | Easy to understand. A few words still stand out, so practise them one at a time. |
| 60–74 | Fair | Mostly understandable, but people may ask you to repeat some words. Start with the words in your practice list. |
| 0–59 | Needs work | Some words may be misunderstood. Slow down, practise the flagged words on their own, then say them in short phrases. |
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this Swedish pronunciation checker?
It uses a speech-assessment model trained on native Swedish speakers. The model lines up your recording with the text, scores every word for accuracy and rates your fluency and completeness. It is a good guide to which words sound off, but it is not a teacher, so look for words that get flagged again and again rather than worrying about one low score.
Which Swedish accent is the test based on?
Scores are based on standard Swedish as spoken in central Sweden (rikssvenska). If you learned Finland Swedish or a strong southern accent from Skåne, some words may score a little lower even when they are correct where you learned them.
How can I improve my Swedish pronunciation?
Start with vowel length, because it runs through almost every word: say pairs like glas and glass, tak and tack out loud. Then work on u and y, and on the sj and tj sounds. Read aloud every day, record yourself and retake the test to see which words improve.
Is the Swedish pronunciation test free?
Yes. The test and the word checker are free and you don't need an account. To keep it free for everyone, there is a small daily limit on checks.
Is Swedish pronunciation hard?
Swedish spelling is fairly regular, but a few things take practice: the long and short vowels, u and y, the sj and tj sounds and the way r melts into s, t, n and l. Swedish also has two word melodies that tell some words apart, like anden (the duck) and anden (the spirit). The test scores each word as a whole and does not show a separate melody score, so practise the melody with native audio.
How do I say the Swedish sj sound?
Round your lips a little, lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and push air through, as if you were saying a soft sh with a hint of the ch in 'loch'. Practise sju (seven), sjö (lake) and sjuksköterska (nurse). In many parts of Sweden it is said closer to a plain sh, and that is understood everywhere.