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A2Swedish·46 cards

Words for Sounds and Neighbours

The nouns you need to describe what you can hear through the wall.

The noise dispute's cast and props, floor by floor: the sounds (oljud, bas, steg), the building's anatomy (vägg, tak, trapphus), the communication artifacts (lapp, klagomål, varning), the noise sources catalogued honestly (borrmaskin, tvättmaskin, barn, hund, stereo), the clock words that decide everything (kväll, natt, midnatt, vardag) — ending with the escalation chain: trivselregler, förening, fastighetsskötare, hyresnämnden.

Scrabble tiles spelling 'Loudness' scattered over a wooden surface, emphasizing sound themes.
Photo: Markus Winkler on Pexels
  1. 1

    oljud

    noise

    Tip: lit. 'un-sound' — unwanted noise

  2. 2

    ljud

    sound

    Tip: neutral, any sound

  3. 3

    musik

    music

    Tip: 'sänka musiken' = turn the music down

  4. 4

    bas

    bass

    Tip: what travels through concrete

  5. 5

    fest

    party

    Tip: 'ha fest' = to have a party

  6. 6

    granne

    neighbour

    Tip: plural 'grannar'

  7. 7

    vägg

    wall

    Tip: 'genom väggen' = through the wall

  8. 8

    tak

    ceiling

    Tip: same word as 'roof'

  9. 9

    golv

    floor

    Tip: 'stampa i golvet'

  10. 10

    trapphus

    stairwell

    Tip: where the notes appear

  11. 11

    dörr

    door

    Tip: 'knacka på dörren'

  12. 12

    brevlåda

    letterbox

    Tip: where complaints arrive

  13. 13

    lapp

    note

    Tip: the passive-aggressive kind

  14. 14

    klagomål

    complaint

    Tip: formal word

  15. 15

    anmälan

    report

    Tip: to the landlord or board

  16. 16

    varning

    warning

    Tip: what comes after the report

  17. 17

    regel

    rule

    Tip: 'trivselregler' = house rules

  18. 18

    kontrakt

    contract

    Tip: what you risk losing

  19. 19

    hyresvärd

    landlord

    Tip: lit. 'rent host'

  20. 20

    hyresgäst

    tenant

    Tip: lit. 'rent guest'

  21. 21

    tystnad

    silence

    Tip: 'efter tio ska det vara tyst'

  22. 22

    lugn

    peace

    Tip: 'lugn och ro' = peace and quiet

  23. 23

    natt

    night

    Tip: 'mitt i natten' = in the middle of the night

  24. 24

    kväll

    evening

    Tip: 'på kvällen'

  25. 25

    helg

    weekend

    Tip: when it usually happens

  26. 26

    midnatt

    midnight

    Tip: 'efter midnatt'

  27. 27

    vardag

    weekday

    Tip: 'på vardagar'

  28. 28

    borrmaskin

    drill

    Tip: the Sunday morning enemy

  29. 29

    steg

    footstep

    Tip: 'tunga steg'

  30. 30

    port

    door

    Tip: the building's main door

  31. 31

    våning

    floor (storey)

    Tip: 'tredje våningen'

  32. 32

    taklampa

    ceiling light

    Tip: what shakes when they dance

  33. 33

    högtalare

    speaker

    Tip: 'sänk högtalaren'

  34. 34

    volym

    volume

    Tip: 'sänk volymen'

  35. 35

    borr

    drill

    Tip: the bit itself

  36. 36

    hammare

    hammer

    Tip: 'en hammare'

  37. 37

    dammsugare

    vacuum cleaner

    Tip: 'dammsuga' is the verb

  38. 38

    tvättmaskin

    washing machine

    Tip: 'köra en maskin'

  39. 39

    barn

    child

    Tip: same in singular and plural

  40. 40

    hund

    dog

    Tip: 'hunden skäller'

  41. 41

    kalas

    party

    Tip: the birthday kind

  42. 42

    stereo

    music system

    Tip: 'sätta på stereon'

  43. 43

    trivselregler

    rule book

    Tip: lit. 'wellbeing rules'

  44. 44

    förening

    housing association

    Tip: 'kontakta föreningen'

  45. 45

    fastighetsskötare

    caretaker

    Tip: who fixes things

  46. 46

    hyresnämnden

    tribunal

    Tip: where disputes end up