noun

en koll

grasp

En snabb kontroll eller överblick för att se hur något är eller fungerar.

Definition & meaning

Koll is an informal Swedish noun meaning a check, awareness, or understanding of something, depending on the context.

  • Jag gör en koll. — “I’ll do a check.”
  • Hon har koll på läget. — “She knows what’s going on” or “She has the situation under control.”

Grammar & Word origin

Koll is an en-word: en koll, definite form kollen. It is often used without an article in expressions such as ha koll.

It is related to the informal verb kolla , “to check” or “to look.”

Synonyms & antonyms

  • kontroll — “check” or “control”; more formal than koll.
  • överblick — “overview”; emphasizes seeing the bigger picture.
  • uppsikt — “supervision” or “watch”; emphasizes keeping an eye on something.

There is no direct antonym in every sense, but noll koll means “no idea” or “no awareness.”

Common phrases & collocations

  • ha koll på — to know about or have a handle on something.
  • hålla koll på — to keep track of or keep an eye on something.
  • kolla upp — to check or look something up.
  • ha noll koll — to have no idea or no grasp of something.

Make “koll” part of your vocabulary.

Build your Swedish vocabulary with flashcards, audio and spaced repetition.

Examples

Hon har bra koll på tiden.noun

She has a good grasp of time.

Keep exploring Swedish

Learn words from the content you love.

Add words from websites, books and videos, then remember them with spaced repetition (SRS).