LESSON NOTES

Survival Phrases S1 #6
How to say "Where is the
Bathroom" in Swedish

CONTENTS
2 Swedish
2 English
2 Vocabulary
2 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
3 Cultural Insight

# 6
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 SWEDISH

1. Var är toaletten?

2. Herrar.

3. Damer.

ENGLISH

1. Where is the bathroom?

2. Men.

3. Women.

VOCABULARY

S w e dish English

herrar gents

damer ladies

WC water closet

Var är ...? “Where is ...?”

Var är toaletten? “Where is the bathroom?”

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Den här toaletten är för herrar. Ursäkta, var är damrummet?

"This toilet is for gents." "Excuse me, where is the ladies room?"

S WEDI S HPOD101.COM S URVI VAL PHRAS ES S 1 #6 - HOW T O S AY "WHERE I S T HE BAT HROOM" I N S WEDI S H 2
Vi har ett badrum med separat WC. Var är utgången?

"We have a bathroom with separate water "Where is the exit?"

closet."

Ursäkta, mig var är toaletten?

"Excuse me, where is the bathroom?"

GRAMMAR

Asking for the bathroom in Swedish is easy. First we've got Var är...which is the tool for asking
questions about location. If you know essential phrases like this one your Swedish will be
fluent in no time! So for asking for a specific location, in this case the bathroom, you just add
toaletten which literally means "the toilet." Var är toaletten? Now, remember to use ursäkta
whenever you want to get someone's attention.

Here are some more examples with this pattern:

- Var är restaurangen?, "Where is the restaurant?"

- Var är posten?, "Where is the post office?"

- Var är hotellet?, "Where is the hotel?"

- Var är museet?, "Where is the museum?"

As you can see the pattern is Var är + noun in its definite form. Swedish public toilets are often
quite nice and clean and always have paper.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Quick Tip #1

In Sweden there are different signs which mean "bathroom." One of those is the British WC
which originally meant "Water Closet." You will also see the word for toilet which is toalett. In
some cases there are no signs, and just the Swedish words for ladies and gentlemen. These
are herrar for gentlemen and damer for ladies. This is the same for locker rooms and other
places where the sexes are parted.

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