What is a verb?

You have already met a few verbs in the previous chapters. Verbs are "doing-or-being words", words that show what is happening or what someone/something is or does: "I am", "It was raining", "They screemed". In old Indo-European languages like Latin and Greek each verb could have a hundred different forms or more. One single verb could at the same time show when something happened, who did it or who did what to whom, whether the action was completed or not, and if it actually had happened at all. And all that just by adding a specific ending and/or slightly changing the stem of the verb. In English and in Swedish there is fortunately very little left of this, even though English, in contrast to Swedish, in some cases still has a separate ending if it is a he, she, or it doing something: "I sing" ("jag sjunger"), but "she sings" ("hon sjunger"). Instead of inflecting the verb, that is modifying it through a change of vowels or through various endings or other ways, these two languages - like many other modern languages - mainly use "helping" verbs (auxiliary verbs) to show the exact meaning of the verb: I speak. I will speak. I have spoken. Jag tlar. Jag ska tla. Jag har tlat. The Swedish verb groups Verbs are traditionally divided into groups, based on the time aspect, the tense, of the verb. (Tense is derived from the Latin word tempus, which means just time.) In the sentence "I spoke", the word spoke is a past form of the verb speak, while "I will have spoken" points to an action that will have been completed sometime in the future. (Please note that not all forms of a verb carry this temporal meaning.) The Swedish verb system is somewhat more complex than the English. Depending on which ending a verb takes in some tenses, it is referred to one of four groups. The fourth group consists of irregular verbs, of which many are very common.

How to learn the Swedish verbs

To learn all or almost all possible variants of a Swedish verb you should in heory memorize five forms: the infinitive, the present, the past, the supine, and the past participle; if you know these you will be able to easily deduce the rest. Such memorizing is facilitated by the fact that most verbs follow an overall-pattern, but is still a rather dreary procedure on the whole. There is an easier and more effective and entertaining way of learning the verb forms, though: By reading Swedish texts, newspaper articles, comic strips, and novels written in an everyday language (translations of Agatha Christie crime novels or love-stories by Barbara Cartland or whatever you personally prefer), you will soon meet all the common verbs - they are actually not that many - in a meaningful context, you will see their function in different sentences, how they are used in idiomatic phrases, and you will not have to spend time on the numerous verb forms that theoretically exist but are rarely used. The first pages of such a book in Swedish may naturally take some time to tackle, but it will not be long before you will be able to recognize and understand an amazingly large number of words. With a basic knowledge of the verb system in Swedish it will be even easier.

Swedish verb forms: The imperative

The imperative expresses a command or an exhortation, that is you tell someone to do something: Be quiet!, Come here!, Run!. The imperative is the basic form of the verb in both English and Swedish. English uses this basic form also for the infinitive (see below), whereas the Swedish imperative is a unique form and therefore should be learned separately. The infinitive is a timeless form of the verb, the form given in the dictionaries. It is formed by adding an -a to the imperative (the main exception to this rule is

Swedish verb forms:

The infinitive

when the basic form already ends in an -a; in such case no further ending is added). It is often used together with the word att, which usually has the same function as the English to when it is combined with an infinitive:

Att vra ller [att] nte vra, det r frgan. To be or not [to] be, that is the question. Difference in use of the infinitive In some cases English prefers or requires a verb with the ending -ing (e.g. after prepositions, that is "direction/position" words like on, under, with, to), where Swedish would use the infinitive: Im looking forward to [here used as a preposition] going to Stockholm.

Jag ser fram emt att rsa till Stckhlm. I look forward towards to go/travel to Stockholm. He has problems (with) getting up in the mornings.

Han har svrt att klva upp p mrgnarna. He has difficult to step up on the mornings.

Swedish verb forms: The present tense

A verb in the present tense is sometimes a bit carelessly described as referring to an action taking place now, but should more accurately be seen as showing an continuous action or state or a series of actions that is not completed, or something which someone usually do: "I play football" will most likely mean that you sometimes play football, or that you can or know how to play football, not necessarily that you are playing football at this very moment. To show that something is happening right now, English, by using an auxiliary verb and by adding the ending -ing to the main verb, has a special "progressive" form: "I am playing football". In Swedish there is strictly speaking only one form for the present that you will have to pay attention to, however, a form that almost always end in an -r. The endings of the verbs in the present are, to be more specific: Group 1: -ar (or -[a]r, since the a technically speaking is a part of the stem of the verb and not the ending) Group 2A and 2B: -er Group 3: -r Group 4: The verbs in this often - but not always - end in -er and -r as well.

It may be comforting to know that the third group is quite small and only comprises a couple of the more frequent verbs. Progressive expressions The on-going (progressive) -ing form in English can in Swedish often be expressed by adding an additional verb:

Jag splar ftbll. Jag hller p att spla ftbll. I play football. I hold on (i.e.I am busy with) to play football.

Vi tttar p tv. Vi stter och tttar p tv. We watch on TV. We sit and watch on TV.

Han lgar mat. Han str och lgar mat. He cooks food. He stands and cooks food.

Hon sver. Hon lgger och sver. She sleeps/is asleep. She lies and sleeps. This way of showing that the action is progressive can also be used in other tenses in Swedish.

Swedish verb forms: The past

The past tense is used in different ways in different languages. In German, for instance, the perfect has assumed some of the function of the past ("Ich hab ihn gesehen" - "I saw him"). In Swiss German the past tense has been replaced entirely by the perfect. A Romance language like Spanish does not only focus on the time aspect of the verb when forming the past, but also on whether the action is seen as demarcated and completed (pretrito: "Grit" - "I shouted") or not completed, alternatively repeated (imperfecto: "Gritaba" - "I was shouting", "I shouted [several times]", "I began to shout" etc.). In spoken French the old preterite (pass simple) has disappeared in favour of the pass compos (resembling the German perfect), while the imperfect tense has a similar usage as in Spanish. In spite of its close relationship to German, the Swedish uses the past tense just about the same way as English, however. The past is formed by adding the ending -de or -te to the basic form (the imperative); the -te ending is used after any of the voiceless consonants p, t, k, and s. (Some irregular verbs form the past by changing their vowel instead.)

Jag rbtade [basic form: arbeta] hrt frra vckan. I worked/was working hard previous the week [i.e. last week].

Jag lste [basic form: ls] en ny bok vrje dag nder semstern. I read a new book every day during the vacation.

Swedish verb forms: The supine and the past participle

I have closed the door. The door is closed. In these two sentences the word closed is a form of the verb which in English is called the past participle. Combined with the auxiliary verb have (as above) it forms the perfect tense, and with the same "help" verb in the past you have the past perfect (pluperfect) form: "I had closed the door." Perfect is derived from a Latin word for complete(d), finished, which fairly well describes the primary function of the perfect tense, namely to show that a certain action or state is completed in relation to present time. That sounds more complicated than it is. The pluperfect refers to an action or state that was completed in relation to an event in the past "The door was [past] closed; he had closed [pluperfect] the door." The usage of the perfect and the pluperfect tenses is on the whole the same in English and Swedish. Now, Swedish has actually two forms for the English past participle: The supine and the past participle. The supine The supine, which is made by adding a -t to the basic form (the imperative), is always used after the auxiliary verb have:

Jag har stngt drren. I have closed the door.

The past participle The past participle is composed by adding -d, -t, or -dd to the basic form (depending on the final letter). It is used like an adjective, and takes endings similar to the adjectives:

With an en word:

Psten r stngd idg. The post office is closed today. Allt r stngt. Everything is closed. Till och med affrerna r stngda. To and with (i.e. even) the shops/stores are closed. De ["dom"] stngda drrarna The closed doors

With an ett word:

With a word in the plural:

After an identifying word:

Note Some verbs exist only in compound forms in the past participle, often with a preposition (a 'direction' word: in, out, from, to etc.) as a prefix. The meaning of the verb is then also many times changed. See the list below, where the prefixes have been put within square brackets for the sake of clarity.

Swedish verb forms: The future tense

English and Swedish have several ways to show that something will take place in the future, since they both lack a proper future tense. Please note that the Swedish and English variants of the future are not synonymous, and that the chart below only gives a rough outline of the usage of the future in Swedish. It is not always easy to tell why one way of expressing a future action is favored instead of another. But since they all convey a clear future sense, you will not have any problems in making yourself understood, regardless of which variant you choose. Future construction 1 kmmer att + infinitive: neutral, pure future [very common] 2 ska (formal: skall) + infinitive: future (neutral, intention) 3 tnker + infinitive: showing intention 4 using the present tense: Jag ker till Stckhlm nsta future (neutral, intention) vcka. I go to Stockholm next [very common] week. I am going to Jag tnker study. studra. I think/intend [to] study. I will go to Stockholm next week. Jag kmmer att studra. I come to study. Jag ska studra. I will study. I am going to study. Swedish English I will study.

The passive

All the verbs you have met so far have been active, that is someone or something is doing something. If you want to show that something is being done in English and the person who does it is either not identified or mentioned after the word

by, you use a form of the verb be together with the past participle: The car has been repaired. They were killed in an accident. We have not been informed by anyone. This passive construction is very simple to make in Swedish: You just add an -s to the other endings of the verb. The main exception is the present tense, where the final -r disappears before the -s.

Blen reparrades (instead of: Han reparrade blen). The car was repaired. (He repaired the car.)

Sklan ska stngas (instead of: Rktorn ska stnga sklan). The school is going to be closed. (The headmaster is going to close the school.) In everyday Swedish an active construction is often preferred to the passive: "De ska stnga sklan" ("They are going to close the school"). It is also very common to use a construction with 'bli' (become) instead, without any significant change in meaning: Blen blev reparrad. Active verbs with a passive ending There are a few verbs, which, in spite of having this -s form characteristic for the passive, always have an active function. Three of the most common are:

fnnas (to be, exist): "Finns det ngon mjlk kvar?" ("Is there any milk left?") hppas (to hope): "Jag hppas det" ("I hope it", that is "I hope so.") mnnas (to remember): "Jag minns nte" ("I remember not.") In the sentence "I wash myself" English uses the pronoun myself to show that the action is reflexive, that it is I who am the object of the washing. Some Swedish verbs are likewise used together with a special pronoun, which is identical with the objective forms of the personal pronouns (see chapter 1), with one exception: The reflexive pronoun for the persons he, she, it, and they is always sig (in spite of its spelling pronounced like the English word 'say'). Jag tvttar mig (mej). Du tvttar dig (dej). Han tvttar sig (sej). Hon tvttar sig (sej). Den/det tvttar sig (sej). Vi tvttar oss. Ni tvttar er. De tvttar sig (sej). I wash myself. You wash yourself. He washes himself. She washes herself. It washes itself. We wash ourselves. You wash yourselves. They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs

The use of verbs with reflexive pronouns is more frequent in Swedish than in English.

Note on the verbs selected

All the following verbs can be found in lists of the most common words in Swedish, based on the press from 1995 and 60 novels from 1980-81, compiled by Sprkbanken, Department of Swedish, Gteborg University: http://spraakdata.gu.se/lb/konk/eng/index.html

Group 1 (-ar verbs)

Infinitive bertta (to) tell brka (to) use/cultivate

Imperative Bertta! Tell! Bruka! Cultivate!

Present berttar (I) tell brkar (I) use to/cultivate

Past berttade (I) told

Supine berttat (I have) told

Past participle (r) berttad, berttat, berttade (It is/they are) told (r) brkad, brkat, brkade (It is/they are) used/cultivated (r) [p]brjad, [p]brjat, [p]brjade (It is/they are) started (r) [tll]frgad, [tll]frgat, [tll]frgade (It is/they are) asked (r) [v]klrad, [v]klrat, [v]klrade (It is/they are) taken care of (r) lmnad, lmnat, lmnade (It is/they are) left

brkade (har) brkat (I) used to/cultivated (I have) used to/cultivated brjade (I) began (har) brjat (I have) begun

brja (to) begin

Brja! Begin!

brjar (I) begin

frga (to) ask

Frga! Ask!

frgar (I) ask

frgade (I) asked

frgat (I have) asked

klra (to) manage

Klra (av det)! Manage (it)!

klrar (I) manage

klrade (I) managed

klrat (I have) managed

lmna (to) leave

Lmna (den)! Leave (it)!

lmnar (I) leave prtar (I) talk stnnar (I) stop

lmnade (I) left prtade (I) talked stnnade (I) stopped

lmnat (I have) left prtat (I have) talked stnnat (I have) stopped

prta Prta! (to) talk [colloquial] Talk! stnna (to) stop Stnna! (Stop!)

(r) stnnad, stnnat, stnnade (It is/they are) stopped [rarely used; replaced by the regular verb 'stoppa' (group 1) in the past participle] [tll]tlad, [tll]tlat, [tll]tlade (It is/they are) addressed (r) [t]tttad, [t]tttat, [t]tttade (It i/they ares) stared at (r) [fr]ndrad, [fr]ndrat, [fr]ndrade (It is/they are) wondered (r) vsad, vsat, vsade (It is/they are) shown

tla (to) speak, talk

Tla! Speak!/Talk!

tlar (I) speak/talk

tlade (I) spoke/talked

tlat (I have) spoken

ttta (to) look

Ttta! Look!

tttar (I) look

tttade (I) looked

tttat (I have) looked

ndra (to) wonder

Undra! Wonder!

ndrar (I) wonder

ndrade (I) wondered

ndrat (I have) wondered

vsa (to) show

Vsa! Show!

vsar (I) show

vsade (I) showed

vsat (I have) shown

vnta (to) wait

Vnta! Wait!

vntar (I) wait

vntade (I) waited

vntat (I have) waited

(r) vntad, vntat, vntade (It is/they are) expected (r) [fr]vrkad, [fr]vrkat, [fr]vrkade (It is/they are) forfeited (r) ppnad, ppnat, ppnade (It is/they are) opened

vrka Verka! (to) seem/appear/act Act!

vrkar (I) seem/act

vrkade (I) seemed/acted

vrkat (I have) seemed/acted

ppna (to) open

ppna! Open!

ppnar (I) open

ppnade (I) opened

ppnat (I have) opened

Verb group 2 (-er verbs) Group 2 A

Infinitive behva (to) need flja (to) follow

Imperative Behv! Need! Flj (mig)! Follow (me)!

Present behver (I) need fljer (I) follow

Past behvde (I) needed fljde (I) followed

Supine (har) behvt (I have) needed (har) fljt (I have) followed

Past participle (r) behvd, behvt, behvda (It is/they are) needed (r) fljd, fljt, fljda (It is/they are) followed (r) hrd, hrt, hrda (It is/they are) heard (r) knd, knt, knda (It is/they are) felt, known (r) [t]lvad, [t]lvat, [t]lvade (It is/they are) decrepit (r) lrd, lrt, lrda (It is/they are) taught/learned (r) stlld, stllt, stllda (It is/they are) put

hra (to) hear knna (to) feel, (to) know [someone] lva (to) live

Hr! Hear! Knn! Feel (it)!

hr (I) hear knner (I) feel, know

hrde (I) heard knde (I) felt, knew

(har) hrt (I have) heard (har) knt (I have) felt, known

Lev! Live!

lver (I) live

lvde (I) lived

(har) levt (I have) lived

lra [sig] Lr [dig]! (to) teach [reflexive: Teach [reflexive: to learn] Learn]! stlla (to) put Stll (den dr)! Put (it there)!

lr [mig] (I) teach [reflexive: (I) learn] stller (I) put

lrde [mig] (har) lrt [mig] (I) taught [reflexive: (I have) taught (I) learned] [reflexive: (I) have learned] stllde (I) put (har) stllt (I have) put

Verb group 2 (-er verbs) Group 2 B

Infinitive frska (to) try hjlpa

Imperative Frsk! Try! Hjlp!

Present frsker (I) try hjlper

Past frskte (I) tried hjlpte

Supine (har) frskt (I have) tried (har) hjlpt

Past participle

(r) hjlpt, hjlpt,

(to) help

Help!

(I) help

(I) helped

(I have) helped

hjlpta (It is/they are) helped (r) kpt, kpt, kpta (It is/they are) bought (r) lst, lst, lsta (It is/they are) read (r) skt, skt, skta (It is/they are) sought (r) mtckt, mtckt, mtckta It is/they are) wellliked (r) tnkt, tnkt, tnkta (It is/they are) thought

kpa (to) buy

Kp! Buy!

kper (I) buy

kpte (I) bought

(har) kpt (I have) bought

lsa (to) read ska (to) seek

Ls! Read! Sk! Seek!

lser (I) read sker (I) seek

lste (I) read skte (I) sought

(har) lst (I have) read (har) skt (I have) sought

tcka (to) have an opinion about something, (to) think tnka (to) think

Tyck! Have an opinion (about something)!

tcker (I) have an opinion (about something), (I) think tnker (I) think

tckte (I) had an opinion (about something), I thought tnkte (I) thought

(har) tyckt (I have) had an opinion (about something), (I have) thought (har) tnkt (I have) thought

Tnk! Think!

ka (to) go Infinitive bo (to) live in (as in reside, dwell) tro (to) believe, think

k! Go! Imperative Bo! Reside!

ker (I) go Present bor (I) reside

kte (I) went Past bdde (I) resided

(har) kt (I have) gone Supine bott (I have) resided Past participle (r) bebdd, bebtt, bebdda (It is/they are) inhabited (r) trodd, trott, trdda (It is/they are) believed Past participle (r) blven, blvet, blvna (It is/they are) become [rarely used] (r) bren, bret, brna (It is/they are) carried (r) drgen, drget, drgna (It is/they are) drawn, pulled

VErb group 3 (-r verbs)

Tro! Believe!

tror (I) believe, think

trdde trott (I) believed, thought (I have) believed, thought

Verb group 4 (irregular verbs) Infinitive bli (to) become Imperative Bli! (Become!) Present blir (I) become Past blev (I) became Supine (har) blivit (I have) become

bra (to) carry

Br!

br (I) carry

bar (I) carried

(har) brit (I have) carried

dra (to) draw, pull

Dra! Draw! Pull!

drar (I) draw, pull

drog (I) drew, pulled

(har) drgit (I have) drawn, pulled

fnnas [passive form, but active meaning] (to) exist, be frtstta (to) continue Frtstt! Continue!

finns (it) exists, there is/are frtstter (I) continue

fanns (it) existed, there was/were frtstte (I) continued

(har) fnnits (r) fnnen, fnnet, (it has) existed, there fnna has/have been (It is/they are) found (har) frtstt (I have) continued (r) frtstt, frtstt, frtstta (It is/they are) continued

f (to) receive, be allowed to, have to frst (to) understand Frst! Understand!

fr (I) receive, am allowed to, have to frstr (I) understand

fick (I) received, was allowed to, had to frstd (I) understood

(har) ftt (I have) received, have been allowed to, have had to (har) frsttt (I have) understood (r) frstdd, frsttt, frstdda (It is/they are) understood (r) gven, gvet, gvna (It is/they are) given (r) gngen, gnget, gngna (It is/they are) gone by, past (r) gjord, gjort, gjrda (It is/they are) done, made

ge (to) give g (to) walk, leave

Ge! Give! G! Walk! Leave!

ger (I) give gr (I) walk, leave

gav (I) gave gick (I) walked, left

(har) gett, gvit (I have) given (har) gtt (I have) walked, left

gra (to) do, make

Gr! Do! Make!

gr (I) do, make

gjrde (I) did, made

(har) gjort (I have) done, made

ha (to) have hlla (to) hold, give [a speech] kmma (to) come

Ha! Have! Hll! (Hold!)

har (I) have hller (I) hold

hde (I) hade hll (I) held

(har) haft (I have) had (har) hllit (I have) hold (r) hllen, hllet, hllna (It is/they are) hold, given (r) [vl]kmmen, [vl]kmmet, [vl]kmna (It is/they are) welcome

Kom! Come!

kmmer (I) come

kom (I) came

(har) kmmit (I have) come

knna (to) be able to lgga (to) be lying down, be situated lta (to) let/permit, sound Ligg! Lie (down)!

kan (I) can lgger (it) lies, is situated

knde (I) could

(har) knnat (I have) been able to (r) [fr]lgad, [fr]lgat, [fr]lgna (It is/they are) antiquated (r) [tll-]lten (tllten), [tll]ltet, [tll-]ltna (It is/they are) allowed (r) lagd, lagt, lgda (It is/they are) put, laid (r) sedd, sett, sdda (It is/they are) seen (r) [nd]stten, [nd]sttet, [nd]sttna (It is/they are) saggin [only used about furniture]

lg (har) lgat (it) lied, was situated (it has) been lying, been situated lt (I) let/permitted, sounded (har) ltit (I have) let/permitted, sounded (har) lagt (I have) put, laid (har) sett (I have) seen (har) sttit (I have) been sitting

Lt! Let!

lter (I) let/permit, sound

lgga (to) put, lay se (to) see stta (to) sit

Lgg! Put! Lay! Se! See! Sitt! Sit!

lgger (I) put, lay ser (I) see stter (I) sit

lde (colloquial: la) (I) put, laid sg (I) saw satt (I) sat

skla [very rarely used] (to) be going to skrva (to) write Skriv! Write!

ska, skall (I) will, am going to skrver (I) write

sklle (I) was going to skrev (I) wrote (har) skrvit (I have) written (r) skrven, skrvet, skrvna (It is/they are)

written sl (to) beat, hit Sl! Beat! Hit! slr (I) beat, hit slog (I) beat, hit (har) slgit (I have) beaten, hit (r) slgen, slget, slgna (It is/they are) beaten, hit (r) [pp]stnden, [pp]stndet, [pp]stndna (It is/they are) resurrected (r) satt, satt, stta (It is/they are) put (r) tgen, tget, tgna (It is/they are) taken

st (to) stand

St! Stand!

str (I) stand

stod (I) stood

(har) sttt (I have) stood

stta [sig] (to) put [reflexive: to sit down] ta (to) take vra (to) be vta (to) know vlja (to) want, wish

Stt [dig]! Put! [refl: Sit down!] Ta! Take! Var! Be! Vet! Know! (Vill!) Want!

stter [mig] (I) put [refl: (I) sit down] tar (I) take r (I) am vet (I) know vill (I) want, wish

stte [mig] (I) put [refl: (I) sat down] tog (I) took var (I) was visste (I) knew vlle (I) wanted, wished

(har) satt [mig] (I have) put [refl: (I have) seated myself] (har) tgit (I have) taken (har) vrit (I have) been (har) vtat (I have) known (har) vlat (I have) wanted, wished