Verbs
Swedish verbs are very easy, even easier than English. They are the same throughout each tense and do not change for person or number. There are four groups of verbs:
groups 1-3 are regular verbs (sometimes called weak) and group 4 are irregular (or strong) verbs.
Imperative
This is the form you start out from when you are going to make all other forms of the verb. You use imperative when giving orders of various sorts.
Lyssna! - Listen!
Stäng fönstret! - Close the window!
Läs texten! - Read the text!
Tro mig! - Believe me!
Skriv! - Write!
The imperative is also the stem, the basic form, of the verb.
Conjugation: Regular (Weak) Verbs
| Group | Imperative (stem) | Infinitive(stem + -a) | Present(stem + -r/-er) | Past(stem + -de) | Supine(stem + -t) |
| 1. | Arbeta! Fråga! | *att arbeta (to work) att fråga (to ask) | arbetar frågar | arbetade frågade | (har/hade) arbetat (har/hade) frågat |
| 2a. | Ring! Stäng! | att ringa (to call) att stänga (to close) | ringer stänger | ringde stängde | (har/hade) ringt (har/hade) stängt |
| 2b. | Läs! Köp! **Kör! | att läsa (to read) att köpa (to buy) att köra (to drive) | läser köper kör | läste köpte körde | (har/hade) läst (har/hade) köpt (har/hade) kört |
| 3. | Tro! Må! | att tro (to believe) att må (to feel) | tror mår | trodde mådde | (har/hade) trott (har/hade) mått |
*Note: -a is not doubled for the infinitive form.
*The imperative form and the present tense form look the same for some verbs in the second conjugation. No extra –r or –er is added to create the present tense of the verb.
Group 2 is split into two groups: words that end in voiced consonants, and words that end in voiceless consonants -k, -p, -s, -t, or -x..
A few types of group 2 verbs have slightly different patterns:
-
Verbs whose stems end with -d or -t, only add -e in the past tense, and drop the -d/-t in the supine:
använd - att använda (to use) - använder - använde - använt
gift - att gifta (to marry) - gifter - gifte - gift -
Verbs whose stems end in -mm and -nn drop an m or n before adding -de in the past tense and -t in the supine:
glöm - att glömma (to forget) - glömmer - glömde - glömt
känn - att känna (to feel) - känner - kände - känt -
Verbs whose stems end in short ä or ö with an extra -j in the infinitive and present tense, drop the -j and have a long vowel in other tenses:
välj - att välja (to choose) - väljer - valde - valt
Conjugation: Strong Verbs
Group 4 are the strong verbs. They vary widely and sometimes, same as in English, it is easier to remember the different tense forms rather than a pattern.
| Group 4 | Imperative | Infinitive | Present | Past | Supine |
| i-e-i (long i) | Skriv! Skrik! Bli! | att skriva (to write) att skrika (to scream) att bli (to become) | skriver skriker blir | skrev skrek blev | skrivit skrikit blivit |
| i-a-u (short i) | Drick! Sitta! Finns! | att dricka (to drink) att sitta (to sit) (att) finnas (to exist) | dricker sitter finns | drack satt fanns | druckit suttit funnits |
| y-ö-u | Flyg! Frys! Kryp! | att flyga (to fly) att frysa (to freeze) att krypa (to creep) | flyger fryser kryper | flög frös kröp | flugit frusit krupit |
| ju-ö-u | Sjung! Bjud! Njut! | att sjunga (to sing) att bjuda (to invite) att njuta (to enjoy) | sjunger bjuder njuter | sjöng bjöd njöt | sjungit bjudit njutit |
Some other patterns:
| Imperative | Infinitive | Present | Past | Supine |
| Dra! | att dra (to pull) | drar | drog | dragit |
| Bär! | att bära (to carry) | bär | bar | burit |
| Kom! | att komma (to come) | kommer | kom | kommit |
| Ät! | att äta (to eat) | äter | åt | åtit |
| Var! | att vara (to be) | är | var | varit |
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs do not fit any pattern and need to be learned individually. Some of them are:
| Imperative | Infinitive | Present | Past | Supine |
| Betala! Koka! | att betala (to pay) att koka (to boil) | betalar kokar | betalade/betalte kokade/kokte | (har/hade) betalt (har/hade) kokt |
| Gör! Ha! - - Säg! Vet! - |
att göra (to do) att ha (to have) att kunna (to be able) att skola (will) att säga (to say) att veta (to know) att vilja (to want) |
gör har kan ska säger vet vill |
gjorde hade kunde skulle sa(de) visste ville |
(har/hade) gjort (har/hade) haft (har/hade) kunnat (har/hade) skolat (har/hade) sagt (har/hade) vetat (har/hade) velat |
| Be! Dö! Få! Ge! Gå! Le! Se! Stå! |
att be (to ask) att dö (to die) att få (to get) att ge (to give) att gå (to go) att le (to smile) att se (to see) att stå (to stand) |
ber dör får ger går ler ser står |
bad dog fick gav gick log såg stod |
(har/hade) bett (har/hade) dött (har/hade) fått (har/hade) gett (har/hade) gått (har/hade) lett (har/hade) sett (har/hade) stått |
Negation
To make the sentence negative, simply add the word inte after the verb:
- Jag äter inte. - I do not eat
- Han talar inte svenska. - He does not speak Swedish.
Future
Future tense is expressed with a separate word ska (will), and the infinitive without its marker:
- Jag ska arbeta. - I will work.
- De ska läsa. - They will read.
Another way to express future is by using kommer att (going to):
- Du kommer att skriva. - You are going to write.
- Vi kommer inte att sova. - We are not going to sleep.
A third way to express the future is to use the present tense with a time reference:
- Hon arbetar imorgon. - She works tomorrow.
- Ni har ett möte imorgon. - You have a meeting tomorrow.
Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary (modal) verbs are usually combined with the infinitive of the verb.
The most common auxiliary verbs are:
brukar (to usually do something) - Jag brukar läsa tidningen. - I usually read the newspaper.
får (be allowed to, may) - Han får inte röka. - He is not allowed to smoke.
kan (be able to, can) - Du kan prata svenska. - You can speak Swedish.
måste (have to, must) - Vi måste äta. - We have to eat.
vill (will, want) - Jag vill köpa en väska. - I want to buy a bag.
behöver (need) - Du behöver gå hem. - You need to go home.