Dates and Ordinal Numbers in Swedish
To book an appointment, fill in a form or tell someone your birthday, you need two things: the ordinal numbers (första, andra, tredje) and the Swedish way of writing dates.
Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th
The first few are irregular, just as in English.
| första | 1st (first) |
| andra | 2nd (second) |
| tredje | 3rd (third) |
| fjärde | 4th |
| femte | 5th |
| sjätte | 6th |
| sjunde | 7th |
| åttonde | 8th |
| nionde | 9th |
| tionde | 10th |
11th and up
Elfte and tolfte end in -te. From 13 to 19 the ordinal adds -de (trettonde), and from 20 the tens add -nde (tjugonde). Compounds take the ordinal form only on the last part, as in English "twenty-first".
| elfte | 11th |
| tolfte | 12th |
| trettonde | 13th |
| fjortonde | 14th |
| sjuttonde | 17th |
| artonde | 18th |
| tjugonde | 20th |
| tjugoförsta | 21st |
| tjugoandra | 22nd |
| tjugotredje | 23rd |
| tjugofjärde | 24th |
| trettionde | 30th |
| trettioförsta | 31st |
| hundrade | 100th |
Ordinals in everyday sentences:
| Hon kom på första plats. | She came first. |
| Vi bor på tredje våningen. | We live on the third floor. |
| Det är andra gången i år. | It's the second time this year. |
| Ta första gatan till vänster. | Take the first left. |
Short forms. In writing, an ordinal is abbreviated with a colon and the last letter: 1:a, 2:a (första, andra) and 3:e, 4:e, 5:e for the rest. The same goes for compounds: 21:a, 22:a, 23:e. Note that 11th and 12th are written 11:e, 12:e, not 11:a, because elfte and tolfte end in -e.
Weekdays and months
Weekdays and months are written in lower case in Swedish, except at the start of a sentence.
| måndag | Monday |
| tisdag | Tuesday |
| onsdag | Wednesday |
| torsdag | Thursday |
| fredag | Friday |
| lördag | Saturday |
| söndag | Sunday |
The months are januari, februari, mars, april, maj, juni, juli, augusti, september, oktober, november, december.
Small prepositions do a lot of work here:
| på måndag | on Monday (this coming one) |
| på måndagar | on Mondays (every week) |
| i måndags | last Monday |
| i januari | in January |
| i dag, i morgon, i går | today, tomorrow, yesterday |
| i övermorgon | the day after tomorrow |
| i förrgår | the day before yesterday |
| nästa måndag | next Monday (see below) |
| måndag nästa vecka | Monday next week |
I måndags ("last Monday") catches many learners out: the -s ending marks the past. Nästa måndag can be as unclear as English "next Monday": some mean the coming one, others the one after. På måndag always means the coming Monday; måndag nästa vecka or the date removes any doubt.
How dates are written
You'll meet three formats:
- 2026-11-01: year, month, day. This is the standard numeric format on forms, tickets, receipts and anything official. A personnummer starts with your date of birth in the same order.
- 1 november 2026, or den 1 november: the usual format in letters, emails and invitations. No ordinal ending and no capital letter.
- 1/11: day first, then month. Informal, for notes and messages. So 4/5 is 4 May, not 5 April: the American month-day order isn't used.
How dates are said
Dates are said with the ordinal, usually with den in front: den 1 november is read den första november.
| Vilket datum är det i dag? | What's the date today? |
| Vad är det för datum i dag? | What's the date today? (also common) |
| Det är den första november. | It's the first of November. |
| Jag fyller år den tjugotredje maj. | My birthday is on 23 May. |
| När fyller du år? | When is your birthday? |
| Vi flyttar den femtonde augusti. | We're moving on the fifteenth of August. |
| Nationaldagen är den sjätte juni. | National Day is on the sixth of June. |
| lördagen den sjätte juni | Saturday the sixth of June |
Notice that fylla år ("to have a birthday", literally "fill years") is how Swedes talk about birthdays. Jag fyller trettio på fredag means "I turn thirty on Friday".
Week numbers
Swedes use week numbers a lot, at work, at school and in shops. Weeks start on Monday, and you'll see vecka 45 or v. 45 in calendars, offers and plans.
| Vilken vecka är det? | What week number is it? |
| Jag har semester vecka 28 till 31. | I'm on holiday weeks 28 to 31. |
| Leveransen kommer vecka 47. | The delivery is due in week 47. |
Years
Years before 2000 are said in hundreds: nittonhundranittio, literally "nineteen hundred ninety". For years from 2000 on, you'll hear two styles, and both are fine.
| nittonhundranittio | 1990 |
| nittonhundraåttiofem | 1985 |
| tvåtusen | 2000 |
| tvåtusenåtta | 2008 |
| tjugohundratjugosex / tvåtusentjugosex | 2026 |
| Jag är född nittonhundranittiotvå. | I was born in 1992. |
| Jag är född den tredje maj 1992. | I was born on the third of May 1992. |
| på nittiotalet | in the nineties |
| på 1900-talet | in the 20th century (nittonhundratalet) |
| på 2000-talet | in the 21st century |
| på 00-talet | in the 2000s (2000–2009) |
Jag är född ("I am born") is the normal way to say when you were born; no preposition is needed before the year, though you'll also hear född år 1992. Avoid född i 1992, a common slip from English "born in".
Practise them
Say today's date aloud every morning, and look up the week number. For the numbers behind all this, see our guide to Swedish numbers and the numbers word list. Times of day are covered in telling the time in Swedish.