Swedish adverb · conjunction· top 100 most common
varför
why/¹varfœr/
varför as an adverb
Meaning
why
In Swedish: av vilken anledning
varför as a conjunction
Meaning
why, and therefore, for what reason
Practise varför
1 / 1What does varför mean?
varför in a sentence
- Varför gråter du?Why are you crying?
- Varför det?Why?
- jag undrar varför hon skrattadeI wonder why she laughed
- Varför inte?Why not?
- Varför är du här?Why are you here?
- De frågade mig varför jag inte var i skolan.They asked why I was not in school.
- Jag vann en miljon, varför jag sedan köpte ett nytt hus.I won one million, why I later on bought a house.
Questions
What does varför mean in English?
varför means “why”.
Where the course teaches it
- Swedish verbs for eat, want and canComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Talking about the future with skaComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish question words: vad and hurComplete Swedish – Season 1
- How Swedish forms the past participleComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish demonstratives: denna and dettaComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish verbs of position: ligger, stårComplete Swedish – Season 1
Origin
A compound of var (“what”) + för, from Old Swedish hvar fore.
Nearby common words
varför is number 68 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
Start today, free
Learn varför in real Swedish, free
Words stick when you hear them used. Complete Swedish Season 1 is 49 short video lessons with a synced transcript, free on the site with no account. A free account saves words like varför to your library and quizzes you on them, plus 7 days of the AI tutor and speaking practice when you confirm your email.
- Season 1 free in full: 49 lessons
- Synced transcript with English translations
- 7-day free trial of the AI tutor and speaking practice
- Members get the latest season and every new course
Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary

