Swedish prepositions: i, på, till, om, för, av, med, hos, vid

The short answer

The most common Swedish prepositions are i (in), på (on, at), till (to), från (from), med (with), av (of, by), för (for), om (about, in), hos (at someone's place) and vid (by, next to). For places, i is used for enclosed spaces, cities and countries (i köket, i Stockholm, i Sverige) and på for surfaces, streets, islands and many workplaces (på bordet, på Kungsgatan, på Gotland, på jobbet). For time, the pattern is more surprising: i fredags means last Friday, på fredag means this coming Friday, om en vecka means in a week's time and för en vecka sedan means a week ago.

The honest truth: there are useful patterns, but no rule covers every case. The fastest route is to learn each common noun together with its preposition, på jobbet, i skolan, på bio, just as you learn en or ett.

The main prepositions at a glance

Places: i or på?

This is the question learners ask most. Here are the patterns that hold.

i: inside, enclosed, three-dimensional

Use i for things inside something with walls or limits, and for countries, cities and regions:

• i Sverige, i Stockholm, i Skåne (in Sweden, in Stockholm, in Skåne)
• i köket, i badrummet, i hallen (in the kitchen, the bathroom, the hall)
• i bilen, i lådan, i väskan (in the car, the drawer, the bag)
• i skolan, i kyrkan, i affären (at school, in church, in the shop)
• i soffan, i sängen (on the sofa, in bed): Swedes sit in the sofa
• i Gamla stan, i Vasastan (districts of a city)

på: surfaces, streets, islands, workplaces, events

• på bordet, på väggen, på golvet (on the table, on the wall, on the floor)
• på Kungsgatan, på Storgatan 5 (on Kungsgatan, at Storgatan 5): streets and addresses
• på Gotland, på Öland, på Island (on Gotland, on Öland, in Iceland): islands
• på jobbet, på kontoret, på banken, på posten (at work, at the office, at the bank, at the post office)
• på sjukhuset, på universitetet, på biblioteket (at the hospital, at university, at the library)
• på bio, på restaurang, på konsert, på fest (at the cinema, at a restaurant, at a concert, at a party)
• på landet (in the countryside), på stan (in town, out and about)
• på andra våningen (on the second floor)
• på stationen, på torget, på gymmet (at the station, in the square, at the gym)

Notice the workplaces and institutions: på banken, på sjukhuset, på biblioteket all take på, but i skolan and i kyrkan take i. There is no logic you can rely on here. Learn them as pairs.

hos: at someone's place

Hos means "at the home or business of a person". English uses "at" or "'s":

• Vi äter hos mina föräldrar. (We're eating at my parents'.)
• Jag var hos tandläkaren. (I was at the dentist's.)
• Får jag sova hos dig? (Can I sleep at your place?)

Compare: på apoteket (at the pharmacy, the place) and hos frisören (at the hairdresser's, the person).

vid: by, next to

• Vi har ett hus vid havet. (We have a house by the sea.)
• Hon står vid fönstret. (She's standing by the window.)
• Vi sitter vid bordet. (We're sitting at the table.)

till and från: movement

Till marks the destination, från the starting point:

• Jag åker till Göteborg i morgon. (I'm going to Gothenburg tomorrow.)
• Hon kommer från Iran. (She comes from Iran.)
• Ska du till jobbet? (Are you going to work?)

Home is special: hem (home, direction) and hemma (at home, location) need no preposition:

• Jag går hem. (I'm going home.)
• Jag är hemma. (I'm at home.)

Time expressions

Swedish time prepositions pack a lot of meaning into small words. The difference between past and future is often in the preposition alone.

Days, weeks and seasons: past, future, habit

Two endings to notice: -s on the day (i fredags, i måndags) and -as on the season (i somras, i vintras) both mean "the last one". I helgen and i natt can be past or future; the verb tense tells you which.

• I fredags var vi på bio. (Last Friday we went to the cinema.)
• På fredag ska vi på bio. (This Friday we're going to the cinema.)
• På fredagar brukar vi gå på bio. (On Fridays we usually go to the cinema.)

For days and months themselves, see Swedish days and months.

Ago, in, for, within

These four are classic traps for English speakers.

Sedan is shortened to sen in speech: för två år sen. And notice the negative: "for a long time" with a negative is på länge, not i länge.

Clock times, dates and years

• klockan tre (at three o'clock), no preposition: Vi ses klockan tre.
• den 5 maj (on 5 May), no preposition: Jag fyller år den 5 maj.
• i maj (in May), i början av maj (at the beginning of May)
• år 2024 or 2024 (in 2024), no preposition needed: Hon föddes 1990.
• på 1900-talet (in the 20th century), på 80-talet (in the 80s)
• till jul (for Christmas, by Christmas), i jul (this Christmas), i julas (last Christmas)
• två gånger om dagen (twice a day), en gång i veckan (once a week), 100 kronor i timmen (100 kronor an hour)

To practise all of these, try the time prepositions tool, and for telling the time itself, the telling time tool.

Transport and languages

• åka buss, åka tåg, åka bil (go by bus, train, car), often no preposition at all
• med bussen, med tåget (by bus, by train), with the definite form
• gå till fots (go on foot)
• på svenska, på engelska (in Swedish, in English)
• i telefon (on the phone), på tv, på radio, på nätet (on TV, on the radio, online)
• i tidningen (in the newspaper)

Common fixed phrases

Many verbs and adjectives take a fixed preposition, and it often differs from English. These are worth learning as chunks.

Two notes:

• "Of" is rarely av. En vän till mig (a friend of mine), namnet på gatan (the name of the street), en kopp kaffe (a cup of coffee, no preposition at all), taket på huset (the roof of the house).
• Swedish verbs often pair with på where English uses "for", "at" or "to": vänta på, titta på, lyssna på.

How to learn Swedish prepositions

1. Learn nouns with their preposition. Not jobb, but på jobbet. Not skola, but i skolan. Write them that way in your notes.
2. Learn time expressions as complete phrases. I fredags, på fredag, om en vecka, för en vecka sedan. They are fixed, so treat them like vocabulary.
3. Notice them when you listen. Every sentence has one or two. Our reader lets you read Swedish texts and look up words as you go.
4. Do not panic about mistakes. A wrong preposition rarely causes misunderstanding. Jag bor på Stockholm is wrong (it should be i Stockholm), but everyone understands it.

For an overview of Swedish grammar, see the Swedish grammar guide, and for word order, Swedish sentence structure.

FAQ

What is the difference between i and på in Swedish?

Broadly, i is used for enclosed spaces, cities and countries (i rummet, i Stockholm), and på for surfaces, streets, islands and many workplaces and events (på bordet, på Kungsgatan, på jobbet, på bio). Many cases simply have to be learned.

How do you say "last Friday" and "this Friday" in Swedish?

I fredags is last Friday, på fredag is this coming Friday, and på fredagar means on Fridays in general.

How do you say "ago" in Swedish?

För … sedan: för tre år sedan (three years ago). In speech, sedan becomes sen: för tre år sen.

How do you say "in a week" in Swedish?

Om en vecka means "a week from now". På en vecka means "within a week", about how long something took: Jag lärde mig det på en vecka (I learnt it in a week).

How do you say "at home" in Swedish?

Hemma: Jag är hemma (I'm at home). For the direction, use hem: Jag går hem (I'm going home). No preposition is needed.

Is there a rule for Swedish prepositions?

There are reliable patterns for many cases, especially time expressions, but no single rule. The best strategy is to learn common nouns and verbs together with their preposition.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-07.

• Teleman, Ulf, Staffan Hellberg & Erik Andersson (1999). Svenska Akademiens grammatik, vol. 2 (prepositions and prepositional phrases). Svenska Akademien.
• Hultman, Tor G. (2003). Svenska Akademiens språklära. Svenska Akademien.
• Svensk ordbok and SAOL at svenska.se, for fixed phrases with prepositions.

Keep going

Prepositions are learned in context, not from rules. Our free Season 1 course gives you thousands of natural sentences with synced transcripts and speaking practice, so på jobbet and i fredags come out without thinking. Start the free course.