瑞典
Ruìdiǎn
Sweden is 瑞典 (Ruìdiǎn) in Chinese.
瑞典 is the name of the Scandinavian country Sweden.
Meaning: Scandinavian country (name)
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to a person from Sweden, add the suffix 人 (rén) to the country name to get 瑞典人. To refer to the Swedish language, add the suffix 语 (yǔ) to the country name to get 瑞典语.
How do you pronounce it?
Ruìdiǎn
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not confuse 瑞典 (Sweden) with 瑞士 (Switzerland), as their names are phonetically similar in Chinese.
Did you know?
- The character 瑞 (ruì) is so closely linked to 'luck' that it appears in traditional New Year greetings to wish people good fortune, regardless of any connection to 瑞典.
- In certain southern Chinese dialects, the character 瑞 is pronounced with an 's' initial, which helped bridge the phonetic gap between the English 'S' in Sweden and the Mandarin 'R' sound.
- The character 典 (diǎn) in 瑞典 originally referred to ancient books or a canon before it was used to approximate the 'den' sound in the English word 'Sweden'.
Examples in context
- 他坐船去瑞典。He went to Sweden by boat.This sentence is useful for describing travel to 瑞典.Tatoeba #3378263 by GlossaMatik, translation #9286917 by Ivan24
- 瑞士不是瑞典。Switzerland isn't Sweden.This sentence is useful for distinguishing 瑞典 from Switzerland.Tatoeba #5067391 by jiaweikai, translation #5066797 by mailohilohi
- 瑞典有自己的语言。Sweden has a language of its own.This sentence is useful for noting that 瑞典 has its own language.Tatoeba #551392 by GlossaMatik, translation #52416 by Jesse
- 我在上个月去了瑞典。I went to Sweden last month.
- 瑞典的首都是斯德哥尔摩。Stockholm is the capital of Sweden.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing travel plans in a cafe.
- 浩然 Haoran你想去瑞典旅游吗？Nǐ xiǎng qù Ruìdiǎn lǚyóu ma?Do you want to travel to Sweden?
- 佳怡 Jiayi我很想去那里看极光。Wǒ hěn xiǎng qù nàlǐ kàn jíguāng.I really want to go there to see the aurora.
- 浩然 Haoran瑞典的冬天肯定很冷。Ruìdiǎn de dōngtiān kěndìng hěn lěng.The winter in Sweden must be very cold.
- 佳怡 Jiayi没关系，我喜欢冷的天气。Méiguānxì, wǒ xǐhuān lěng de tiānqì.That's okay, I like cold weather.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sweden” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 瑞典, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
