"Vi bor på första våningen."

Translation: We live on the first floor.

[jairapetyan]

Just curious, is there a ground floor and then the first floor in Swedish buildings, or does the first floor correspond to what is called the second floor in the USA?

[Zmrzlina]

Första våningen normally refers to the first floor above ground level in Sweden. The ground floor is commonly referred to as bottenvåning(en).

[Lundgren8]

I don’t know how common it is, but in my building I live on the first floor which is the ground floor. It might be an exception though. It was the same with the classrooms in my highschool however; the classrooms on the first floor were on the ground floor.

[Arnauti]

You're right, there are two systems in Sweden. I think it is partly because elevators are imported from different countries.
I used to live in a house where the first floor was the entrance floor too.

[Zmrzlina]

But for houses where you live, isn't it that the first floor is normally above ground level? That's what it's been where I've lived.

[Lundgren8]

Yeah, that was the case where I lived before, but not now.

[jairapetyan]

Okay, well if I get off the elevator early I'll just take the stairs. :)

[LenaStorli]

This is the long-time standard in Sweden as far as I know. Ground floor = första våningen, or bottenvåningen. First floor = andra våningen (even if you said "bottenvåningen" in the first place). Second floor = tredje våningen, and so on. However, in recent years, we tend to shift towards the same system as is used in English, perhaps under international influence.

[Arnauti]

I think it's the other way around (that 0, 1, 2 was the old system whereas 1, 2, 3 is the newer one). I haven't been able to find out for sure, but for instance Strindberg writes things like "… hördes uppifrån fönstret i första våningen…" which suggests that "första våningen" was not the same as "bottenvåningen" in his days.

Anyway it isn't even the same in British vs American English, so this is one chaotic word: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storey

[layne712526]

I'm living in Malmö now. Our unit in the building is LGH 1101 (first floor), and it is on the first floor above ground level. However, when riding the elevator, we have to hit 2 for our floor. Not confusing at all, right? ;D

[CitharaNova]

Why is the definite article not used here ("den första våningen")?

[Arnauti]

We usually don't use the definite article with ordinal adjectives. It isn't totally wrong to add it in this case (it's an accepted answer) but it's more natural to leave it out.

[Chris-Butler]

Våningen is definitive so it is being used. I don't know a rule for when den/det is or isn't also required, but I'm sure someone can elaborate a little

[Metlieb]

I once put in "flat" and another time "apartment" for "våningen", yet it always tells me it's wrong. Is the only acceptable translation for "våningen" floor?

[Arnauti]

In this case only floor works. It is true that en våning can mean 'an (upscale) apartment', but if you're lucky enough to live in one of those, you always live i ('in') it, never på ('on') it, so there can be no confusion in this case.

[Metlieb]

Got it. Thanks :)

[LouisOng]

Is först being used in the plural here because våning is used here in the definitive?

[Arnauti]

It isn't plural, it's just that the definite form and the plural form are the same.

[DiegoLebru]

Could you please include 'storey' and 'story' as valid translations of våning?

[devalanteriel]

There was a bug earlier with those words that caused meanings containing them to show incorrect translations. I'll have to check if it's fine to add them again now...