Guide to verbs in Swedish
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In your mother tongue it is the sort of thing that you ‘just know’ as you can recognise what sounds right and wrong and how things work. In a second language this is not the case and thus grown up, well educated people can start to question their own intelligence when faced with what should be basic knowledge and techniques. I realise this might not be the same for everyone but this was my experience in any case and so I made it my mission to try and help the learning of verbs in Swedish that bit easier for people. When I first started to learn Swedish it seemed to start very well, that was when I was learning phrases and words and not having to think about grammar, sentence formation or anything else difficult. So I was happily learning away and then I hit VERBS and my little confident bubble of learning crumbled around my ears. Suddenly there were different forms of the same word that I should be using and inserting and working out which to use and how to use them. Learning this sort of thing when I was in school just kind of passed me by, I could never remember terms for words and had no idea what they meant even if I could – it was all I could do to remember that verbs were ‘doing’ words! I remembered when learning French at school there were tenses and things to remember and think about but quite frankly I relied on remembering phrases rather than rules which got me through. In Swedish I had no chance of working out my imperative from my infinitive and I was in a circle of misery, no matter how it was explained to me I just couldn’t get it to make sense or stick in my head. Then one day a teacher at my SFI course wrote a few words on my piece of grammar paper and it all clicked into place. She explained what words would be used with the verb forms and BANG it all became “translatable” in my head. Swedish Verbs There are 4 groups of verbs and I will try to go through each one and explain, as best as I can and as clearly as I can how each one works and how each is identifiable. However, the step that most of the teaching misses out is this one – I am going to explain exactly what each of the forms mean and when they are used so you can then work out which form of the verb you require in the first place! This isn’t meant to be patronising, I am just assuming no prior knowledge of things like this as it really confused me when trying to learn myself. Feel free to skip this section if you are happy with the tenses and their forms. www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Forms When learning verbs you will be presented with tables upon tables of words in their varying forms, this is what those forms are and how to identify when to use them. Imperativ and Stem – This is quite simply when you give someone an order. Imagine you yelling this at someone and watching them act. SPRING! KÖR! - RUN! DRIVE! Etc. Often these are actually written with exclamation points. The ‘imperitiv’ also creates the STEM of the verb (the bit that never changes) and is in every form – this is actually quite important so pay attention to the ‘imperativ’ even if you don’t want to yell orders at someone! Infinitiv – This is the basic form of the verb, so for example ‘to run’ or ‘to walk’ which is what one does – for example “I like to dance” is “Jag tycker om att dansa”. In Swedish this form is used after something called “help” words, these are words like ‘ska’ (Jag ska dricka cola – I will drink coke). It does not define when you shall do something just that you will at some point. There are other help verbs which can be used instead of ‘ska’ and these just need to be learned and recognised as help verbs as they pop up a lot. I will talk about those shortly. Presens – The present tense is describing what you are doing right now and would most often be equivalent of –ing words. Swedish generally uses fewer words than English to describe what they are doing – for example “solen skiner” would mean “The sun is shining”. Preteritum or Imperfekt – This is the past tense so think of yesterday or ‘igår’ in Swedish. So if you just want to say “I drank too much” then it would be “Jag drack för mycket”. For those of you who are into English grammar this is equivalent of the Imperfect Past Particle. This always confused me as there are the two potential and equally common names for the same form - the ‘preteritum’ and the ‘imperfekt’ – as a warning you are likely to come across them both. Supinum – This is also a past tense but this is used when you say you “have” done something. For example “I have drunk too much” would become “Jag har druckit för mycket” So you use this form when you use the word “har, hade or haft” to describe your actions. Technically when you use “hade” and then the supinum it can be known as the preteritum perfekt (or the perfect past participle in English) however I am not going to go into this as so far I have found no need to do so. So in short remember this – Order! / Stem Imperitiv Ska or help verb Infinitiv -ing or now Presens Igår or past Preteritum / Imperfekt Har, hade, haft Supinum OK so if you can get your head round that then it should help you out with the following sections… www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Help verbs – Hjälpverb You will come across these a lot when learning Swedish as they help decipher word order in sentences and things. The best idea to my mind is just to learn them off by heart as early as possible and recognise them as help verbs, even if you don’t quite understand what that means yet! The most common one and the one I use as an example below is “ska” meaning “will”. får Borde Behöver Hinner Ska Vill måste Brukar kan Be allowed or get (is my interpretation of the most commonly used version) Should Need Reach / manage / have time to Will Want Must Usually Can Groups of Verbs In Swedish verbs come in 4 groups, there is no reason for this other than so you can work out how to “bend” the verb into the different forms, as explained above. Try not to get too hung up on this as it will get easier the more practice you get. Remember the stem is made up from the imperitiv (this is actually quite important) – the ending of each tense depends largely on the stem and the stem NEVER changes between tenses (until we hit group 4), it is always the beginning of the verb with different things tagged on the end. Basically the group to which a verb belongs defines how that verb is formed in the different tenses; a brief breakdown is as such – Order / Stem Group 1 Group 2a Group 2b Group 3 Imperitiv Ska or help -ing or now verb Infinitiv Presens Tvätta! behöv! Sök! Bo! tvätta behöva söka bo tvättar behöver söker bor Igår or past Preteritum Imperfekt tvättade behövde sökte bodde / Har, hade, haft Supinum tvättat behövt sökt bott Group 4 has been left off this table as it is a bit of a law unto itself as you will see further down so believe me when I say you are just going to have to buckle down and get to know them individually! www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Group 1 The stem (or imperitiv) of this verb ALWAYS ends in an –A. It is also true that the infinitive also always ends in an A or said another way, whenever ska is used the word that follows ends in an A e.g. “Jag ska titta på teve” – “I will watch TV”. I personally find it difficult to recognise verbs in this way so I always bend them in my head to be the supinum or preteritum, as above as they sound more different to each other and is easier to recognise. So in short: The imperitiv or Stem always ends in -A When following “ska” the word ends in an -A When actively doing something right now it ends in -AR When you did something previously the ending is -ADE When you HAVE done something previously the ending is -AT Order / Stem Imperitiv Ska or help verb Infinitiv -ing or now Presens Titta! titta tittar Betala! betala betalar Studera! studera studerar Jobba! jobba jobbar Prata! prata pratar Parkera! parkera parkerar Arbeta! arbeta arbetar Städa! städa städar Bada! bada badar Duscha! duscha duschar Tala! tala talar Fråga! fråga frågar Svara! svara svarar Stanna! stanna stannar Lämna! lämna lämnar Hämta! hämta hämtar Börja! börja börjar Sluta! sluta slutar Hälsa! hälsa hälsar So to translate one of the examples above with examples: Imperitiv Infinitiv Presens Titta! titta Jag ska titta I am going to look tittar Jag tittar I am looking LOOK! Igår or past Preteritum Imperfekt tittade betalade studerade jobbade pratade parkerade arbetade städade badade duschade talade frågade svarade stannade lämnade hämtade började slutade hälsade Preteritum Imperfekt tittade Jag tittade I looked www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams / Har, hade, haft Supinum tittat betalat studerat jobbat pratat parkerat arbetat städat badat duschat talat frågat svarat stannat lämnat hämtat började slutat hälsat / Supinum tittat Jag har tittat I have looked Group 2 This group is a little more complex as there is 2a and 2b as you can see from the table above. This group is identifiable from Group 1 because the stem ALWAYS ends in a CONSONANT. If this consonant happens to be an R (eg Kör) then you do not add anything in the ‘presens’ tense, these are often short verbs like köra, höra, göra. The group 2b comes about when specific consonants are found at the end, this then only affects the peritium tense. These consonants are P, T, K, S, X. If the stem ends in one of these consonants then the past tense of this will end in –te instead of –de. So the basic rules for group 2 are: The imperitiv or stem always ends in a CONSONANT When following “ska” they always end in a –A When doing something right now it ends in –ER (unless the stem ends in R in which case you do nothing to it) When you did something previously you add –DE (unless the stem ends in P T K S X in which case you add –TE instead) When you HAVE done something previously you add –T Order / Stem Imperitiv Ska or help verb Infinitiv -ing or now Presens Behöv! Behöva behöver Bygg! Bygga bygger Fyll! Fylla fyller Följ! Följa följer Gäll! Gälla gäller Höj! höja höjer Ring! ringa ringer Släng! slänga slänger Stäng! stänga stänger Ställ! ställa ställer Sväng! svänga svänger Väg! väga väger Äg! äga äger Hör! höra hör Kör! köra kör Säg! säga säger Sök!* söka söker Sätt!* sätta sätter *Examples of group 2b verbs, see the difference? Igår or past Preteritum Imperfekt behövde byggde fyllde följde gällde höjde ringde slängde stängde ställde svängde vägde ägde hörde körde sade sökte satte www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams / Har, hade, haft Supinum Behövt Byggt Fyllt följt Gällt höjt ringt slängt Stängt ställt svängt vägt ägt hört kört sagt sökt satt Group 3 This is a relatively small group of verbs as they are the bulk of the short verbs. They are identifiable as they have long vowels sounds in the stem which are then shortened in the two past tenses. The stem can end in either a vowel or a consonant so these are harder to spot. Here we go with the rules: The ‘imperitiv’ or stem can end in anything but is a short word with a loooong vowel sound When following “ska” they take the same form as the stem When doing something right now you add a –R When you did something previously you add –DDE When you HAVE done something previously you add -TT Order / Stem Imperitiv Ska or help verb Infinitiv -ing or now Presens Bo! bo bor Bero! bero beror Ro! ro ror Sno! sno snor Tro! tro tror Ske! ske sker Avsky! avsky avskyr Bry! bry bryr Fly! fly flyr Spy! spy spyr Sy! sy syr Må! må mår Nå! nå når Spå! spå spår Så! så sår Klä! klä klär So to translate one of the examples above with examples: Imperitiv Infinitiv Presens Bo! bo Jag vill bo i Sverige I want to live in Sweden bor Jag bor i Sverige I am living in Sweden LIVE! Igår or past Preteritum Imperfekt bodde berodde rodde snodde trodde skedde avskydde brydde flydde spydde sydde mådde nådde spådde sådde klädde / Preteritum / Imperfekt bodde Jag bodde i sverige I lived in Sweden Har, hade, haft Supinum bott berott rott snott trott skett avskytt brytt flytt Spytt sytt mått nått spått sått klätt Supinum bott Jag har bott i sverige I have lived in Sweden That’s not so hard right? Wait till you get to group 4 they will blow your mind! They throw away all of the rules above and make up their own set entirely changing letters etc. I find it easiest to think of all verbs in group 4 as irregular verbs and thus just need learning off by heart. Oh did I mention they also have their own set of irregular verbs too?! www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Group 4 – Verbs with -it endings when used after hade or har or haft A good rule to remember is if a verb has the letter it in the middle of it, then it will probably belong to these group of odd verbs which all adhere to the following rules. The defining feature of group 4 verbs is that they all end in –IT when in the supinum form! To make your life easier I have included tables below of the different types of Group 4 verbs you can get and how to bend them… Order / Stem Ska or help verb -ing or now Igår or past Har, hade, haft Imperitiv Infinitiv Presens Preteritum / Imperfekt Supinum i bind drick finns hinn sitt slipp spring vinn binda dricka finnas hinna sitta slippa springa vinna binder dricker finns hinner sitter slipper springer vinner a u band drack fanns hann satt slapp sprang vann bundit druckit funnits hunnit suttit sluppit sprungit vunnit Order / Shout! Ska or help verb -ing or now Igår or past Imperativ Infinitiv Presens Preteritum/ Imperfekt Har, hade, haft Supinum i e i beskrev blev drev red sken skrek skrev steg vred beskrivit blivit drivit ridit skinit skrikit skrivit stigit vridit beskriv bli driv rid skin skrik skriv stig vrid beskriva bli driva rida skina skrika skriva stiga vrida beskriver blir driver rider skiner skriker skiver stiger vrider Order / Shout! Ska or help verb -ing or now Imperativ Infinitiv Presens Igår or past Har, hade, haft Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum u ö u bjöd dammsög högg sjöng sjönk sköt bjudit dammsugit huggit sjungit sjunkit skjutit bjud dammsug hugg sjung sjunk skjut bjuda dammsuga hugga sjunga sjunka skjuta bjuder dammsuger hugger sjunger sjunker skjuter www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Imperativ Infinitiv Presens y bryt flyg frys stryk Imperativ bryta flyga frysa stryka bryter flyger fryser stryker Infinitiv Presens a/å dra slå ta Imperativ dra slå ta drar slår tar Infinitiv Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum ö u bröt flög frös strök Brutit Flugit Frusit strukit Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum o a drog slog tog dragit slagit tagit Presens å gråt låt Imperativ gråta låta Infinitiv gråter låter Presens a/å fall håll Imperativ falla hålla faller håller Infinitiv Presens ät äta äter Imperativ Infinitiv Presens stjäl stjäla Imperativ Infinitiv stjäl Presens o försov kom sov återkom försova komma sova återkomma försover kommer sover återkommer Supinum ä å grät lät gråtit låtit Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum ö a/å föll höll fallit hållit ä ä Preteritum/ Imperfekt Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum å ä åt ätit Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum a u stal stulit Preteritum/ Imperfekt Supinum o o försov kom sov återkom försovit kommit sovit återkommit www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams Group 4 – Irregular Verbs Some of these are also the most common verbs you will use. Imperativ be bestå ligg lägg Infinitiv be bestå böra dö fortsätta få förstå ge gå göra ha heta kunna ligga lägga se skola stå säg sälj sätt vet vill välj var pågå se ska stå sägs sälja sätta veta vilja välja vara dö fortsätt få förstå ge gå gör ha het Presens ber består bör dör fortsätter får förstår ger går gör har heter kan ligger lägger måste pågar ser ska står säger säljer sätter vet vill väljer är Preteritum/ Imperfekt bad bestod borde dog fortsatte fick Förstod (g) gav gick gjorde hade hette kunde låg la(de) måste pågick såg skulle stod (stog) sa(de) sålde satte visste ville valde var Supinum bett bestått bort dött fortsatt fått förstått Get/givit gått gjort haft hetat kunnat legat lagt måst pågått sett skolat stått sagt sålt satt vetat velat valt varit The end! Still with me? If so I am most impressed. You will be delighted to know that that is all there is to say about verbs in Swedish…at least for now! So, if you understand everything I have said above, and can cope with having to learn at least the most used of the group 4 verbs then you will never struggle with verbs again. I hope this guide has been some kind of help for you, your thoughts and feedback would be much appreciated to umea@hillsideweb.co.uk. Good luck / Lycka till! www.umea.host56.com | umea@hillsideweb.co.uk © 2011 Claire Williams
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