Is it rude to speak Swedish in Norway?

I speak Swedish quite well, but my active Norwegian is very basic, although I can understand most of it if I concentrate. I'm aware Norwegians can usually/always understand Swedish. I'm told Norwegians and Swedes may have conversations in which each speak their own language. I've seen exactly that in films, and I find it weird, for I understand one half of the conversation perfectly well, and the other half only partially and with difficulty.

When I visit a non-English speaking country, I tend to try to speak the local language, however basic. Personally, I find it arrogant or rude to expect the locals to speak a foreign language when I am the visitor, even when I'm in a country where the level of English is generally very high (such as in Norway). Not everybody is at ease speaking English, in particular in off-the-beaten-track rural corners of the country.

But how is it perceived to speak Swedish in Norway? May it be perceived as rude or arrogant to expect that everybody understands what is, after all, a foreign language? Or does the closeness between the languages mean that people likely wouldn't think about it, and perhaps barely notice it? There may be cultural issues related to history that affect this as well.

In case it matters, consider a rural area of Trøndelag that receives relatively few foreign visitors.

I could either try to speak broken Norwegian with Swedish mixed in, Swedish, or English (or German, but I've only ever once come across a Norwegian Sami person where that ended up being our best shared language).

9 Answers
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No, in itself it is not rude. You can do it in a rude way, by just ignoring the signals if the other person is not happy about it.

Offer the person you talk with the choice.

I would start with a Norwegian hello or good morning/day, and next try out which language sits best.

One time in Norway I was asked to speak Dutch rather than English (I speak no Scandinavian languages) while the seller at the market kept to her version of Norwegian, it worked for us.

I have always found all Nordic people helpful and glad to communicate in whatever language or mix of languages worked best, often not their own.

While most adults in Sweden and Norway will have learned English, it is not 100% that have. And the percentage that are used to speaking English will be lower outside of the areas where tourists from abroad are common.

Whether trying to speak Norwegian or keeping on Swedish or switching to speak English is best depends on your language skills, and likely how long you have been around people speaking Norwegian and how many related languages you really know.

I have found Norwegian always the easiest of the Scandinavian languages but that might be that I learned to understand Frisian (of the Dutch province Friesland) even though I do not speak it.

Not Scandinavia but I have heard and/or been part of a lot of German-Dutch conversations. Some people, mostly the young ones, would ask for English while the rest were happy to understand each other.

It is neither rude, nor arrogant, but I am not sure if I see any point in doing so. If you don't understand Norwegian very well, you are very likely to have larger difficulties with the rural dialects in Trøndelag, and especially if you have a foreign accent when speaking Swedish, you can not take it for granted that all Norwegians will understand your language with ease.

You are right that Norwegians and Swedes are often communicating in their own respective native language. As you have noticed yourself, it can however be difficult to understand Norwegian even if you are quite good in Swedish as a foreign language. The same applies to native speakers as well. Even if the languages are similar, they are IMHO different enough to be barely mutually intelligible if you have absolutely no practice or experience with the other language at all.

Research has shown that mutually understanding of the Nordic languages (this includes Danish as well) has declined among younger people, living in border proximity is a great advantage and Norwegians generally understand Swedish better than the other way around. The decline in proficiency among younger people is often attributed to the spread of cable tv and a broader selection of domestic tv channels. Commercial television didn't emerge in the Nordic countries until the late 80ies and before that, each country had only one (Norway and Denmark) or two (Sweden) public TV channels. The only option for many people for some variety was, at least along the borders, to watch tv from the neighbour country.

As a Norwegian I will say that we mostly wouldn't find it rude at all (rightfully so), problem is that the response will be in Norwegian and that might pose a problem for you as you have stated. For interacting with anyone within 15-50 years I would say just speak English. For older people it might be an idea to ask if they speak English first. Also keep in mind that the dialect Trøndersk in Trøndelag is potentially problematic to understand even for some Norwegians (that are too lazy to try properly IMHO).

As a native Swedish speaker I will talk Swedish when with Norwegians and Norwegians with Swedes will usually speak Norwegian. However depending on your how comfortable you are with the respective language, you can throw in the Norwegian words you know and try to speak with a more similar melody/prosody.

Limit your vocabulary to a more basic one for less confusion. Still there are many words that are completely different, so be prepared to explain them in Swedish or English. (One thing that comes to mind is sidewalk, trottoar vs fortauet).

The only thing that would be rude is if you cannot understand them, or they you, and you insist on speaking Swedish even though you could switch to English.

This answer is not specific to Norway, to which I have never been, so hopefully I am not missing something important here.

But try learning a simple phrase in a local language (in your case you may already know how to say that:

local language

Hello (excuse me), do you speak English / Swedish / etc?


In my experience it is perceived in a very positive way by locals (way better than asking the same way in English or any other non-native language). Usually people asked that way are willing to help a lost stranger so much that many of them really go out of their way.

Besides that, any in any Western country the idea of tolerance is quite big nowadays, so you probably will not have any problems whichever language you speak -- although it's definitely good to try your best when talking to locals.

My answer will be a bit more general and won't limit to Norway/Swedish only.

First let's point out one thing. The goal of any communication is to efficiently exchange messages between participants. Whatever method works, if you've managed to pass the message your communication was successful. Having this in mind it's absolutely fine to use any means of communication you have at hand, especially finding any mutual language is absolutely OK as long as both/all parties agree to use it.

If I were in your position, I would start with Norwegian, just to show courtesy. Then once I felt no longer comfortable (e.g. I felt I am unlikely to understand an answer to my question) I would ask if we can switch to some other language, suggesting English or Swedish. Sometimes (if I'm sure the other party knows English, e.g. at work or at a hotel) I would just switch to English apologising that my Norwegian reaches only that far. In Norway and other countries with a well developed English learning system it is very likely you'll never get to the point where you can suggest changing the language. It'll be the local person who'll immediately recognise you have difficulty speaking their language and offer you a language switch, probably suggesting English. There you are, continue in English and if there are some problems with that as well, you can suggest you know also Swedish (and whatever other languages, especially somehow related to the local language, so German/Dutch are good options too) if that can help the other participant.

Last few resorts, when finding a common working language fails is to:

As for using Swedish rather than Norwegian to show courtesy only when you know your communication is going to be better in English, I would be very cautious. You aren't actually using the local language anyway so you might be involuntarily suggesting you don't care about the difference (so actually the local language). While it should no longer play its role, remember the history between Norway and Sweden wasn't always as good as it is now. Norway gained independence from Sweden only in 1905. So I would not go that path.

Few examples from my own experience, some related to Norway specifically, some in other setups, that might give a better understanding.

You describe your first option as "Norwegian with Swedish mixed in". Given the language proficiency you describe, I think that a better description of your options would be to speak plain Swedish or to speak Swedish with a few Norwegian words mixed in. What I mean is that, since you know Swedish much better than Norwegian, what you say will likely be interpreted as Swedish either way. The few specifically Norwegian words that you may know and use will have much less weight when they subconsciously determine which language you are speaking than the specifically Swedish words and expression you cannot avoid using. On top of this your pronunciation/accent is likely to sound more Swedish than Norwegian no matter how hard you try. The thing is that a Swedish person will probably notice the Norwegian flavor that you may add to your Swedish, but to a Norwegian the Swedish flavor will still dominate their impression. People pay more attention to the things that doesn't fit with the language that they know well and speak themselves.

As a native Swede living in Sweden, I know several Norwegians who have lived in Sweden for many years. I know that they have adapted their vocabulary and and pronunciation quite a lot and that they would probably consider themselves to be speaking Swedish. Still I know that I and other Swedes instinctively perceive them as speaking Norwegian. I also know Swedish people who have lived in Norway for a long time and experienced the reversed situation.

That being said, I would recommend mixing in Norwegian words and expressions as you learn them. It will make it slightly easier for them to understand you and it will make you more comfortable speaking with Norwegians in the long run. Either way they are likely to think of you as speaking Swedish, but unlikely to find it rude. If someone would actually find it rude, it's unlikely that there is anything you could have done differently to avoid it.

Go with your limited Norwegian to start (even if extremely limited). Just say enough to say hello and to explore what language to speak best in. Personally, I think you will have best experience if you just struggle by in Norwegian especially if the conversation is short (buying things, restaurant, taxi, etc.) It's just that you are more in the culture and the country then.

If you need to have a long substantive conversation (e.g. solving a business or technical problem for instance), of course find the language of greatest mutual intelligibility, likely English.

My take on this as a Norwegian.

Speaking Swedish would not be seen as rude.

However it's fairly pointless. With the exception of people interacting with swedes daily we will understand English better than Swedish. - If a Norwegian and a Swede converse we will switch to English if we have difficulty understanding each others. This goes double if Swedish is not your native tongue.

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