Swedish adverb· top 500 most common

snälla

please (when pleading)Also the plural of snäll./ˈsnɛlːˌa/

How snälla is used

Snälla is used like “please” when you really ask for something, often with some urgency: snälla, kan du hjälpa mig? In ordinary polite requests Swedes usually say tack or use a question such as kan du …? instead. As an adjective, snäll means kind or nice.

Meaning

please (when pleading)

Practise snälla

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What does snälla mean?

snälla in a sentence

  • Snälla, kan du vänta lite?
    Please, could you wait a moment?
  • Snälla mamma, får jag följa med?
    Please, Mum, can I come too?
  • Snälla, gör det inte!
    Please, don't do it!
  • Kan vi inte få godis, mamma? Snälla!
    Can't we have candy, mom? Please!
  • Snälla mamma, kan vi inte få godis?
    Please mom ("kind mom, " literally), can't we have candy?
  • Jättesupersnälla mamma, bara en påse!
    Pleeease ("very super kind" – arbitrary ad-hoc intensifiers) mom, just one bag!
  • Nu vill de tydligen att jag ska arbeta helg. Men snälla ...
    Now they apparently want me to work weekends. But please ... (expressing frustration, dissatisfaction, or the like)
  • Men snälla du! Så här gör man. Kolla.
    Oh come on! / But please! This is how you do it. Look. ("snälla du" often has a tone of frustration, though it could also be endearing banter in this example)

Questions

What does snälla mean in English?

snälla means “please (when pleading)”.

Where the course teaches it

Origin

Definite of snäll (“kind”), as if short for "snälla du" (kind you) or the like.

Nearby common words

snälla is number 230 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary