spanska
/²spanːska/common gender
The Swedish word for the Spanish language is spanska.
spanska is used as a noun to refer specifically to the Spanish language.
Meaning: Romance language of Spain and the Americas (name)
Which one should you use?
Use the noun spanska when naming the language itself. When you want to use "Spanish" as an adjective to describe something else, you must use the adjective forms spansk or spanskt depending on the noun being described.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to the language itself, the noun is in the common gender form spanska. If you are using the adjective to describe a noun, use spansk for common gender nouns or spanskt to modify a neuter noun, such as in ett spanskt språk (a Spanish language).
How do you pronounce it?
/²spanːska/
Did you know?
- Unlike in English where 'Spanish' is always capitalized, the Swedish word spanska or its adjective forms are written in lowercase unless they begin a sentence.
- The Swedish word spanska follows a pattern where most names of languages end in -ska, such as engelska (English) and tyska (German).
- The term for the language family, romanska språk, uses a word derived from the 'Roman' empire, not the English sense of 'romantic' or 'passionate'.
Examples in context
- Jag talar även spanska.I also speak Spanish.This sentence shows how to express that you speak the language using spanska.Tatoeba #12399120 by morbrorper, translation #10573599 by DJ_Saidez
- Var studerar du spanska?Where do you study the Spanish language?This sentence uses spanska to ask about the study of the language.Tatoeba #6007750 by herrsilen, translation #6003060 by CannedBread
- Spanska är mitt modersmål.Spanish is my mother tongue.This sentence uses spanska to identify the language as a mother tongue.Tatoeba #9159773 by morbrorper, translation #9159771 by rafaeldejesus8199
- Jag studerar spanska på universitetet.I am studying Spanish at university.
- Spanska är ett vackert språk.Spanish is a beautiful language.
- Min vän talar spanska flytande.My friend speaks Spanish fluently.
- Har du någonsin studerat spanska språket?Have you ever studied the Spanish language?
- 27 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Erik and Maja are discussing language courses at a university.
- ErikLäser du spanska nu?Are you studying Spanish now?
- MajaJa, jag gillar spanska.Yes, I like Spanish.
- ErikÄr spanska svårt?Is Spanish difficult?
- MajaNej, det är ganska lätt.No, it is quite easy.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “spanish” translations and entries spanska, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
