How to Say Merry Christmas in Swedish

Merry Christmas in Swedish is God jul. Two short words, and the greeting for the run-up to Christmas, from mid-December to Christmas Eve. If your family came from Sweden, or you have a mormor in Gothenburg or cousins in Minnesota who still keep Swedish Christmas, it’s the natural first line of a card. Below you’ll find what it means, the greetings that come before and after it, and examples of how to write them.

God jul, word by word

• God means good. (It looks like the English word god, but it’s a different word.)
• Jul means Christmas.

So God jul is simply “good Christmas”. In Swedish the adjective comes before the noun, as in English.

God jul or God Jul?

You may see the greeting written God Jul, with two capitals. Swedish language advice prefers capitals to be used sparingly: when the greeting stands alone, as on a card, write God jul with only the first word capitalized; inside a sentence, write it all in lowercase, as in Jag vill önska dig en riktigt god jul, “I want to wish you a really merry Christmas.”

We don’t write out pronunciations on this page. Swedish vowels don’t match English spelling, so respellings mislead; a Swedish speaker in the family will say it better than we could print it.

Other Swedish greetings for the season

Adding the New Year

• Gott nytt år: “Happy New Year”. Gott is god with the ending it takes before år, year; nytt means new.
• God jul och gott nytt år: “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”. Och means “and”. This is the classic line for a card sent in December.

The greeting for after Christmas

• God fortsättning: literally “good continuation”. Swedes use it in the days after Christmas, roughly from December 25 to the end of the month, to wish someone a good rest of the holidays, and again in the first week of January, to wish them a good rest of the new year. It’s the right greeting for a card that arrives late.

Dear, hugs and missing you

• Kära: “Dear”, as in Kära mormor (“Dear Grandma”), or after the greeting, God jul, kära mormor. Swedish has precise words for grandparents: mormor is your mother’s mother, farmor your father’s mother.
• Kram: “a hug”, the friendly way to sign off. Kramar is “hugs”.
• Jag saknar dig: “I miss you”, to one person.
• God jul, min vän: “Merry Christmas, my friend.”

How to write it in a card: bilingual examples

You don’t need to write the whole card in Swedish. A Swedish greeting, your news in English and a Swedish sign-off is plenty. Under each example you’ll find what the Swedish means.

1. To a grandmother in Sweden

God jul och gott nytt år, kära mormor! We baked your saffron buns in Minneapolis and the whole street could smell them.

Kram, Elsa

Swedish parts: “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, dear Grandma!” and “Hug”.

2. To an old friend

God jul, min vän! Do you remember the winter we got the sled stuck on the lake? I still laugh about it every December.

Swedish part: “Merry Christmas, my friend!”

3. A card that arrives after Christmas

God fortsättning! The card is late, the wishes aren’t. We hope the holidays have been long and slow.

Kramar, Johan and Maria

Swedish parts: “Happy continuation (of the holidays)!” and “Hugs”.

4. When you miss someone

Jag saknar dig. It’s sixty degrees in San Diego and nobody here owns a single straw goat.

God jul! Annika

Swedish parts: “I miss you” and “Merry Christmas!”

5. A whole sentence, for someone learning Swedish too

Jag vill önska dig en riktigt god jul! Next year, let’s say it in person.

Swedish part: “I want to wish you a really merry Christmas!”

6. A short one for the New Year

Gott nytt år! Here’s to more visits and fewer time zones.

Kram

Swedish parts: “Happy New Year!” and “Hug”.

When Swedes say it

In Sweden the biggest day of Christmas is julafton, Christmas Eve, on December 24: it’s the day Swedes hold their main celebrations. Then come juldagen, Christmas Day, and annandag jul, December 26. Before all that comes Lucia, on December 13, when processions in white dresses, with candles, fill churches and parish halls in the darkest weeks of the year. Our guide to Christmas customs in Sweden and our page on Lucia and December 13 tell those stories properly.

For other languages, from Irish to Italian, see our page of Christmas greetings in many languages.

Checked by a native speaker

The Swedish greetings on this page were checked by a native Swedish speaker before publication.

Cards to carry your God jul

Our Nordic cards carry God jul beside the painting: a red cottage with candle arches in its windows and a straw Yule goat by the door, and a Lucia procession climbing to a little wooden church. Add your own words beneath the greeting, then send by email or text, or schedule your card to arrive on julafton.