In Swedish, small verbs can do big things. Two of the most useful, and sometimes most confusing, are vara and bli. They may look harmless enough, but they have very different jobs. Think of it like this: Vara is about a state or situation. Bli is about a change. Jag är trött. (I am tired.) Jag blir trött. (I get tired / I become tired.)

Swedish prepositions are small words with strong opinions. Especially i and på. You can live i Göteborg (“in Gothenburg”), but go on holiday på Gotland (“on Gotland”). You can shop i affären (“in the shop”), but work på banken (“at the bank”). You can walk i parken (“in the park”), but meet someone på torget (“in/at the square”). And sometimes both i and på work, as in i skolan and på skolan, but they do not mean quite the same thing.