The secret behind a trilled Swedish R

[@AzazelBathory]

the way you say roll in swedish actually helped me to do it! I grew up in Texas, so I'm more used to the hard R rolling, the soft one was a challenge. thank you!

[@sayitinswedish]

Glad I could help!

[@jasonlove8733]

I cannot trill my r’s. I have spoken fransk for so long the r turns into a throaty R

[@belldanime]

Spanish actually has two R sounds, RR and R. Perro means dog, but pero means 'but'. The Swedish softer R sounds like our R. We're not that different. ;)

[@eddymichaels5486]

RR is present in Northern Sweden. Especially in the beginning of a word. Like "rulla" which means "roll" or in the word. Southern Swedish speakers, and nowdays a lot of Stockholmers cant speak proper Swedish. Proper Swedish is northern, or finnish/baltic swedish. The Scanians for instance, were Danish as well as several other provinces. Swedish spoken in northern accents and the classic standard speech, is similar in a way to spanish, since it has different diacritic points, and words with same letters, are not written here with diacritics like in spanish, in order for guidance on how to stress the word. The Swedish language should use accents over vocals would be easier for foreigners to learn and speek properly, to know in which speed, and what R and something over consonants also, since some go down throat and some dont.

[@Celtjak7]

@@eddymichaels5486 okay Eddy Michaels with the proper Swedish name. What about not defining what proper Swedish is?

[@thecakeThief]

Been coasting through learning swedish so I can speak it with friends when I visit without them having to switch to English to accommodate me haha, I feel selfish becuase of it. Want to really knuckle down this coming year and learn it to the point of conversationalism! Thanks for your channel it'll be a fantastic resource

[@far007a]

hej you are soo funny I really appreciate your efforts I*m learning the swedich by myself i found your vidoes & the website very interesting tack så mycket

[@sayitinswedish]

+Afrah Abdi Tack! Thank you very much!

[@MrRyuzaki1]

Hej man! I'm learning Swedish on my own and I have to tell you, your language is awesome. I'm an Italian native speaker so I don't have much of a problem with the Rs (except those Rs pronounced by people from Skåne, since they have a really guttural sound that I don't even think I'll be able to make). I guess my real problem with the Swedish pronunciation is the "I" sound and the "Y" sound, as in "fyra, nio, tio, fin...", because I noticed a lot of people from Stockholm pronounce them with a sort of "suffocated" sound (actually some of them produce this sound even when they speak English, in words like "people" or "see"). Every time I hear them I'm like "How in the blue hell is that even possible?", because I can't, or better yet, I don't know how to pronounce these letters. So do you have any tips for it? Or I just have to give up on it and let it go? I hope I've made myself clear, have a great one!

[@sayitinswedish]

+MrRyuzaki1 Hej! You really don't need to pronounce the vowels like that. Honestly! It is not needed to pass as a native speaker. As for me, I mostly don't actually. It happens sometimes with long i-sounds but it's rare so, just don't focus on that and you will get far less headache! :)

[@edrikjensen969]

Well,you´re not the only one that is searching for that Swedish pronunciation "secret". Nobody explains it but i found this page that gives a little more information over long - i- pronunciation. www.thelocal.se/blogs/theswedishteacher/category/pronunciation/ Making that iiijj sound is quite easy but that _suffocating nasal sound or is it danish throaty hot potato sound_ thing has a special trick that no one tells. I´m looking for Swedish tourists that come to South Europe to give me a hint

[@niceguy1891]

Grizzly He says that you sometimes pronounce the "R"s like a "Z". That isn't really true. I would say that most of the people pronounce it like the rolling R but only with 1, 2 or 3 clicks. To pronounce it like a "Z" is just not how you pronounce it, and almost nobody does.

[@RenanLikey]

Hahaha very cool and useful. Your sense of humor is spot on Hahahahahaha

[@sayitinswedish]

+RenanLikey I'm glad you like it!

[@lorrainemelissa]

RenanLikey 😂

[@lucasleroux706]

I am laughing hard watching your vid : D Tack!!

[@sayitinswedish]

Haha, thanks

[@metaliumtux]

Hey, in most audios/videos for Swedish learners I hear that R is pronounced ve ry unclearly similarly to English, but in some other ones it sounds more clear and a somehow rolled as well as in Dutch or Finnish. My native is Russian and for me rolling R is pretty natural, so I just wonder if I can stay with it.

[@sayitinswedish]

Sure, technically it is just normal rolling. But as I say in the video, mostly we pronounce it very quickly, so that harsh sounding rolling could sound a bit foreign. It is always "dental" meaning, the tongue is hitting your teeth. It's just not flapping hard enough when quickly spoken. It's not like an English R.

[@metaliumtux]

Tack så mycket! Nu förstår jag! That's what I wanted to know how it works technically, not the duration. Btw, is it same about "g" (jag)? Sometimes I can't hear it too. Actually, I guess I couldn't hide my foreign accent in Swedish anyways, because there're some other troubles with it. :D

[@sayitinswedish]

In this case, the G is completely silent. Like the G in a lot of adjectives, in jag or dag etc. :)

[@metaliumtux]

Okej, tack! :)

[@martianlake]

Skåning här, var nyfiken på hur ni egentligen gör för att få till era mjuka tungspets-r. Nu vet jag, tack för videon!

[@sayitinswedish]

Guld!

[@rullvardi]

I think it depends on where you live. In East Sweden you'd probably pronounce it as in this video, but in West/North Sweden I think it's more of a rolled R

[@sayitinswedish]

Yes and no. The buzzing is only a Stockholm thing, however the flap is more general. The point of this is however to have people, who have difficulties trilling an r, to make a sound that still sound native but is easier to make.

[@jazzyj7834]

I didn't learn how to trill my R, but I did learn that I do it correctly naturally. I've been trying to force a harder trill to "correct" my pronunciation and it feels exactly that - forced, which doesn't make sense in a language that flows as freely as a melody.

[@tenienteramires4428]

Basically is like a tapped r but it's so soft that it doesn't touch the mouth

[@sayitinswedish]

It's a bit fluid, sometimes it's a tap and sometimes it goes towards a Z depending on how distinct your pronunciation is. It could be a trill but mostly it's a tap.

[@tenienteramires4428]

@@sayitinswedish I know it well, in my native language, Catalan, wen there's a single R betwen vowels we also tend to make it soft :D

[@rakkatytam]

2:44 - 2:52 can you tech us how to do that trick?

[@lucasleroux706]

The light r is pronounced as / ʐ /, it is called voiced retroflex fricative, as the standard Chinese r, which can also be / ɻ /. At first I thought it was simply the English r, I was so confused, I am happy now since I can easily pronounce this one and the flap sound, but the trolled r is kinda hard for me. Interesting, as a Chinese I don't always pronounce the standard / ʐ /sound, most of the time I simply say / z /, when I say 热 rè (hot), I say / ʐɤ /, but for 人 rén(human) I always say / zən / which is normally / ʐən /.

[@sayitinswedish]

Well, yes and no. I'm essentially talking about a tap (instead of a trill) which sometimes can turn into something like a voiced fricative, particularly in the Stockholm region. But the essence is here that Swedes never trill hard like in romance languages.

[@alexmuller5833]

Hej, I have a question sometimes R is like in spanish or italian and sometimes R is like english or spanish can you explain me why and when it’s change ? Thanks

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

It's never like the english "R"

[@danieljack7636]

Hey, dude, I have a question regarding the R sound, as far as I've seen there are a couple of different pronunciations for this sound. So in this video you showed us the initial R sound, which sounds like the S in pleasure, right? and the final R sounds like the american one, and what about the middle r? how should we pronounce it? Thanks for the videos!!

[@sayitinswedish]

Hey Daniel! If you mean that I pronounce it differently in the video: there is only one R sound and as I explain in the video I'm talking about the difference between a , let's say, Spanish R and a Swedish R. That it should sound like an S is wrong. What I do is to pronounce the R very unclearly, not like how the latin people do it. An English R is made up by having your tongue far to the side. This is not the case with the Swedish one. The tip of your tongue as to touch your teeth :) My point by this video is that the R sound, that should be trllled, mostly is spoken so unclearly that it doesn't flap and thus you only press air in between it and your teeth, thus creating an "almost" S sound. But no, it's not an S. All R:s in the example sentence are the same. If you've got more questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

[@danieljack7636]

wow! you replied pretty fast! thanks! Is it possible me to send you a video or audio of myself trying to pronounce it? I really wanna be sure if I'm doing it right or not.

[@sayitinswedish]

You should definitely not worry about pronunciation first thing and this is a pretty difficult topic: Swedish pronunciation. But sure, I'll have a listen. Go to our site, sayitinswedish.com/imprint for other ways to contact us!

[@danieljack7636]

thanks! I just recorded it and sent you an audio to the email from your website. Tack sa mycket!

[@britters220]

I speak english and french, it's hard to train my tongue out of the throaty R rolls of the french.... and focus more on the tip rolling.... LOL the struggle at tongue training is real... LMFAO! my struggle is maintaining a roll when i am nearly out of breath... also my palate is quite narrow.

[@sayitinswedish]

If you want to learn Swedish, it's not very important to maintain a roll since you would mostly just use a short roll or a tap.

[@lostjalopygarage8150]

I'd like to hear a Swedish pirate say "Arrrr...."

[@helena_B-r5w]

It's a relief to hear that I don't need to RRR passionate when I rrrrr... But how should I do it when "r" is in the middle of the word? Like påverka, stärka...

[@sayitinswedish]

Just like I describe in the video ;)

[@carlosbrunovacircavillar187]

Could you make a video about the -sj sound as in sjok. And what about compressed and protuded rounded vowels? That would be interesting and clarifying as well. Do you know any tips for knowing when we should use tone 1 or tone 2 in Swedish words? I've heard many Swedish people roll their r's clearly when talking. Thanks in advance!

[@sayitinswedish]

The amount of trilling depends on the dialect and/or person. I trill as well as tap my Rs. I already made a video about the pitch accent and no you cannot really know. Verbs with two syllables tend to have accent 2.

[@carlosbrunovacircavillar187]

Say It In Swedish Thanks for answering!

[@landofold]

It's almost like a cross between an English r and a tapped r.

[@sayitinswedish]

It's both, especially since I'm from Stockholm. I exaggerate a little bit.

[@s_eliza]

Is the rolled r not used at all in daily speech then? In any part of the word? It's just that I'm getting a lot of conflicting answers and wanted to clear this up.

[@sayitinswedish]

No, no, it is used but it's not as hard as the romance R:s.

[@carlosbrunovacircavillar187]

What about Swedish guttural R? Ive heard in the south this manner of articulation is heard.

[@sayitinswedish]

Yes but it's concentrated to the southern parts of Sweden and is considered "regional".

[@carlosbrunovacircavillar187]

@@sayitinswedish Get you. Thanks for answering. Could you give us any tip to know when/whether a word is pronounced using the pitch accent number or pitch accent number 2? Thanks in advance.

[@ohmmythepooh]

love your RRRRRRRR

[@sayitinswedish]

tackarrrrrrrrrr

[@Mephilis78]

"Aren't as passionate as Latin people" literal descendant of Vikings.... I think they were at least passionate.

[@sayitinswedish]

🧐

[@Mephilis78]

@@sayitinswedish is that the monopoly man emoji lol

[@edvinnodrog]

Förlåt men din typ av R hör man bara i stockholm och runtomkring och är inte standard

[@sayitinswedish]

Nej du, där har du fel. Det är ett vanligt rullande R.

[@sayitinswedish]

För att klargöra lite, så beror det på person hur hårt man rullar och när. Det är inte så att jag enkom "knappt" rullar och lyssnar man på andra människor, även från andra regioner, så skiftar det där också.

[@edvinnodrog]

Skulle nog säga att R i rd, rn, rs, rt inom ord är mjuka förutom i möjligtvis finlandssvenska. Själv är jag från Dalarna och tycker mjuka R utanför dessa är ett av de enklaste sätten att känna igen att nån är från stockholm eller närliggande städer.

[@sayitinswedish]

Alltså rd, rn, rs, rt är ju retroflexa ljud som inte tas upp i den här videon direkt. Dessa räknas som "standard" uttal, då de flesta regionala accenterna använder sig av dessa. Angående vanligt R, så är "norm" d v s genomsnittet att det rullas lätt med runt 2-3 slag, till skillnad från hårt rullande R som i italienska. Det är det videon handlar om.

[@Oliver0504]

Man hör ju att du är stockholmare, en äkta göteborgare gör fina R

[@herkcollins4263]

I kind of did learn to, but I have a large tongue, so it's not as aristocratic sounding lol. Thanks so much.

[@sayitinswedish]

The Swedish R is usually just a tap, so not super aristocratic!

[@Jeerven]

Kan inte rulla mina r och blir mobbad i skolan för det. Har tränat i flera månader men kommer ingen vart. När jag rullar mina r så låter det konstigt. Så jag antar det bästa sättet att lära mig är att ta Självmord och börja om i ett nytt liv.

[@sayitinswedish]

Det finns många som inte rullar sina R i svenskan och du, skolan varar inte för evigt. Dina mobbare kan dra åt helvete och kommer antagligen inte komma någon vart i livet. Upp med hakan och stå på dig.

[@Jeerven]

Det värsta är att jag Ska flytta till Åland Snaaart och där kan ALLA rulla R jag kommer va den ända idioten på den ön som inte kan det. Jag Måste lära mig Innan jag har Flyttat. Har bara några månader på mig och om jag inte Kan det då Ska jag Ta en Fucking Hagelbössa och skuta mig själv i Huvudet.

[@Jeerven]

@@sayitinswedish och jag är Snart 14 de flesta lärde sig att rulla sina r när de var 4. Har Kollat på 100000000 videor på KZbin om hur Man gör det. Inget Har funkat. Ska Fan ta SJÄVLMORD NU. Ingen har försökt å Hjälpa mig med att lära mig det. Så Jag ska Antagligen Ta Självmord.

[@sayitinswedish]

@@Jeerven Dummaste anledningen för självmord. Du behöver inte tala som alla andra. Har en polare som spelar gitarr med många kända svenska artister som skorrar även om han vuxit upp i Stockholm. Åland accepterar dig nog som du är, du kommer vara exotisk.

[@ChinaUncleMikey]

i have a fxxking numb chinese tongue having issues to prounce the retroflex R sound in Swedish.............sad

[@sayitinswedish]

We don't have a retroflex R in Swedish.

[@elisabethmae6352]

I can only rrr passionately :( It's the soft rrr that's a real struggle. Why do y'all need to mumble!

[@sayitinswedish]

I'm so sorry ^^

[@rhys4827]

you lost me on the first step, i literally cant do that

[@sayitinswedish]

☹

[@cassandriel]

No, I didn't. :(

[@Mephilis78]

Sag det på svensk

[@Chauchatness]

🤣🤣🤣

[@sayitinswedish]

Don't laugh at me, young lady 😉

[@zEmakaveli]

Låter som du säger Ja jullar mina r. Jag RULLAR

[@sayitinswedish]

+zEmakaveli men det gör jag inte sörrö! Men visst överdriver jag något, i mjukheten av R:et för att folk ska förstå skillnaden.

[@SalteeChip]

Lol... jag talar svenska lite grann. (inte bra). jag tycker till läser svenska till förstar svenska bra

[@pananidz4354]

Blir fortfarande mobbad för att jag inte kan

[@emiliahaag]

Det är lätt om man är Svensk

[@sayitinswedish]

Inte för alla ;D

[@emiliahaag]

@@sayitinswedish Jag har aldrig träffat någon som haft problem med det men okej, det finns säker några som har problem

[@Robotto135]

@@emiliahaag hej det är jag som kan inte rolla mina R och jag har bort i Sverige mitt hela liv 😂

[@emiliahaag]

@@Robotto135 Verkligen? Du påminde mig just om att jag kommenterade det här för två år sedan. Jag ber om ursäkt då jag inser att det var en väldigt dum kommentar, men jag har fortfarande inte mött en svensk som har problem med det tills nu 😅

[@Robotto135]

@@emiliahaag haha okej 😂 ja jag va föd i Kalmar och har bort i Sverige mitt hela liv och kan inte säga R när jag säger det då säger jag L och inte R