Translate a Word document into Swedish

What Swedish changes in a Word file

Swedish uses the Latin alphabet, written left to right, with three extra letters: å, ä, ö. The layout does not flip, but several details change how the document looks.

• Closed compounds. Where English strings words together, Swedish joins them into one: "delivery terms" becomes leveransvillkor, "customer service adviser" becomes kundtjänstrådgivare. In a narrow table column or a small text box, one very long word can overflow or break awkwardly.
• Sentence case. Swedish headings capitalise only the first word: Allmänna villkor, not Allmänna Villkor. Months and weekdays are lower case: 17 maj 2024, måndag.
• Numbers. Decimal comma (3,5 %), a space as the thousands separator (12 500 kr), currency after the amount. Official dates often follow the ISO form 2024-05-17.
• Quotation marks. Swedish uses ”citat”, with the same mark at both ends.
• Ordinals and abbreviations. 1:a, 2:a, 3:e; "for example" is t.ex., "i.e." is dvs.

Register and meaning traps specific to Swedish

Informal du is the norm in Swedish, including in most business documents, terms and conditions and customer letters. The polite ni exists, but many Swedish readers find it distant or old-fashioned. If your source language has a formal "you" (German Sie, French vous), it will usually become du; check on the free sample that the register suits your readers.

A classic Swedish error is särskrivning: wrongly splitting a compound. sjuksköterska means "nurse", sjuk sköterska "a sick nurse"; rökfritt means "no smoking", rök fritt "smoke freely". On a notice or set of rules printed from Word, the slip changes the meaning, so reread any compound broken by a line end or a cell edge.

Mail-merge templates need care too. Swedish has two plural forms, singular and plural (1 dag, 2 dagar; 1 bilaga, 3 bilagor). If your template reads {NumDays} days, the fixed text around the field will not adapt to the value inserted.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Manuce translates paragraphs, tables, headers and footers, and text boxes. A merged cell is translated and charged only once. The .docx is rebuilt text run by text run: fonts, sizes, colours, bold and italic, styles, numbering and table widths stay as in the original. An automatic check compares the layout of the translated document with the original and flags any difference.

You receive:

• the file in its original format, with the Swedish text in place (original layout included in the price);
• a Word version, a PDF and the plain text.

Automatic fields such as the table of contents and cross-references keep working, but Manuce does not recalculate them. Swedish text runs to a different length from the source, so a heading may move to another page: update the fields in Word after delivery to refresh the page numbers in the contents (Innehåll).

Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations. In Sweden, translations for public authorities are normally done by a translator authorised by Kammarkollegiet (auktoriserad translator). For a birth certificate, a degree or an immigration file, use such a translator.

Preparing the file before upload

• Upload the source .docx, not an exported PDF: the .docx is what comes back with the Swedish text in place.
• Use styles and tables rather than repeated spaces or tabs to line things up: long Swedish compounds will push any hand-made alignment out of place.
• Check that your font covers å, ä, ö. Common fonts include them; a decorative or in-house font may fall back to a substitute.
• Spot text locked inside images (a logo with a strapline, a screenshot, a diagram): it is not part of the translated text.
• List names that must stay as they are (brand, product, department) and check them on the free sample, then in the full translation.

Checks after delivery

1. Update the fields in Word to refresh the contents and cross-references.
2. Look over narrow tables: a word such as försäkringsvillkor or leveransadress in a thin column may force a break. Make sure the document's proofing language is Swedish so that hyphenation follows Swedish rules.
3. Check headings: one capital at the start, apart from proper nouns.
4. Review amounts and dates meant for a Swedish reader: 1 250 kr, 2024-05-17, kl. 14.30.
5. If the document sorts lists alphabetically (an index, a directory), remember that in Swedish å, ä, ö come after z, so a Swedish re-sort will not match the English order.

In practice

1. Upload your .docx: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
2. Choose a level and read the free one-paragraph sample in Swedish, checking register and names.
3. Pay, then download the translated .docx, Word version, PDF and plain text from your account.
4. Open the file in Word, update the fields and check narrow tables.