vardagligt

Vardagligt is a Swedish word used as an adverb and, less commonly, as an attributive adjective meaning “in everyday language” or “in a casual, colloquial manner.” The base noun vardag means “everyday life” or “the daily routine,” and the suffix -ligt forms adjectives and adverbs indicating manner. In practice, vardagligt describes language, tone, or behavior that aligns with ordinary daily speech rather than formal or technical speech.

Usage: As an adverb, it modifies verbs: “att prata vardagligt” (to speak in everyday/colloquial terms). As an adjective in front of nouns: “ett vardagligt språk” (an everyday language; colloquial language) or “vardagligt tal” (colloquial speech). It is commonly used in media, education, and linguistic descriptions to distinguish register from formellt or tekniskt språk. Examples include: “Texten är skriven i vardagligt språk,” and “Prata vardagligt så att alla förstår.”

Notes: Vardagligt is not synonymous with slang; it covers the broader range of everyday speech, including common vocabulary and ordinary sentence structures, while slang is more restricted to particular groups and may be less widely understood. In contrast to informellt, vardagligt emphasizes the everyday character rather than a deliberate casualness. The term is widely used in Swedish grammars and dictionaries and has equivalents in English such as “colloquial” or “everyday language.”