Introduction to Swedish/Verb tenses
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Grammar
[edit | edit source]Just like in English, Swedish verbs have two inflected tenses: present and past. Verb forms: example arbeta
| Form | English | Swedish | Formation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | ----! | ----! | Stem |
| Infinitive | (to) ---- | (att) ---- | stem + -a, or no change |
| Present | (I) ---- | (jag) ----r | stem + -r, -er |
| Past | (I) ----ed | Jag ----de | stem + -de, -te |
| Supine | (I have/had) ----ed | Jag har ----t | stem + -t, -tt, -it |
1st conjugation tenses: example arbeta
| Tense | English | Swedish | Form of verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Work! | Arbeta! | stem |
| Present | I work | Jag arbetar | stem + -r |
| Past | I worked | Jag arbetade | stem + -de |
| Simple perfect | I have worked | Jag har arbetat | har + supine |
| Past perfect | I had worked | Jag hade arbetat | hade + supine |
| Simple future | I will work | Jag ska arbeta | ska + infinitive |
2nd conjugation: example bränna
| Tense | English | Swedish | Form of verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Burn! | Bränn! | Stem |
| Present | I burn | Jag bränner | stem + -er |
| Past | I burned | Jag brände | stem + -de, -te |
| Simple perfect | I have burned | Jag har bränt | har + supine |
| Past perfect | I had burned | Jag hade bränt | hade + supine |
| Simple future | I will burn | Jag ska bränna | ska + infinitive |
3rd conjugation: example tro
| Tense | English | Swedish | Form of verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Believe! | Tro! | Stem |
| Present | I believe | Jag tror | stem + -r |
| Past | I believed | Jag trodde | stem + -dde |
| Simple perfect | I have believed | Jag har trott | har + supine |
| Past perfect | I had believed | Jag hade trott | hade + supine |
| Simple future | I will believe | Jag ska tro | ska + infinitive |
Irregular verbs
Like English, Swedish also has irregular verbs (past tense is shown through a vowel change). Most verbs that are irregular in English are also irregular when translated to Swedish.
| Form | English | Swedish | Formation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | eat! | äta! | Stem |
| Infinitive | (to) eat | (att) äta! | stem + -a, or no change |
| Present | (I) eat | (jag) äter | stem + -r, -er |
| Simple past | ate | åt | vowel change |
| Past participle | eaten | ätit | stem + -t, -tt, -it |
| Tense | English | Swedish |
|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Walk! | Gå! |
| Present | I walk | Jag går |
| Past | I walked | Jag gick |
| Simple perfect | I have walked | Jag har gått |
| Past perfect | I had walked | Jag hade gått |
| Simple future | I will walk | Jag ska gå |
Some irregular verbs combine a vowel change with word endings:
| Tense | English | Swedish | Formation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Find! | Finn! | Stem |
| Present | I find | Jag finner | stem + -er |
| Past | I found | Jag fann | Stem + vowel change |
| Simple perfect | I have found | Jag har funnit | har + vowel change + -it |
| Past perfect | I had found | Jag hade funnit | hade + vowel change + -it |
| Simple future | I will find | Jag ska finna | ska + infinitive |
The irregular verbs har/hade and ska/skulle are used in complex verb tenses in much the same way as have/had and will/would are used in English.
har & hade
| (att) ha | to have |
| jag hade | I had |
| jag har haft | I have had |
| jag har | I have |
ska & skulle
| jag ska | I will |
| jag skulle | I would |
Note that Swedish does not have a correlate to the English continuous/progressive forms. In extremely formal language, you could use a noun form to express this concept: Jag är i arbete
| English | Swedish |
|---|---|
| I work | Jag arbetar |
| I am working | Jag arbetar |
| I worked | Jag arbetade |
| I was working | Jag arbetade |
Participles
[edit | edit source]Past participles
[edit | edit source]In English, the supine and past participle forms of verbs are the same. In Swedish however, the past participle form is separate from the supine, and is only used for adjectivialising the verb. For instance:
| det gångna året. | the past year |
Regular verb past participle:
If the following noun is in the singular common gender, then the past participle is formed by adding -d to the stem. If it is in the singular neuter gender, it is instead formed with -t. All plural forms of the regular past participle are formed with -de.
Irregular verb past participle when verb stem ends with a:
If the following noun is in the singular common gender, then the past participle is formed with -en. If it is in the singular neuter gender, it is formed with -et instead. All plural forms are formed with -na.
Irregular verb part participles when verb stem ends with any other vowel:
If the following noun is in the singular common gender, then the past participle is formed with -ngen. If it is in the singular neuter gender, it is formed with -nget instead. All plural forms are formed with -ngna.
Present participles
[edit | edit source]In Swedish, present participles are formed with -ande, unless the verb stem ends with any vowel other than a, in which case it is formed with -ende. Like in English, present participles can be used adjectivially, adverbially/to make another verb in the sentence more specific, and as a noun. Unlike in English, as mentioned previously, past participles cannot be used as continuous/progressive forms.
Adjectivially
| Klara har ett lysande leende | Klara has a beeming smile |
Adverbially
| Carl kom hoppande | Carl came hopping |
| Jag ringer angående din annons | I'm calling in regards to your ad |
Nounally
| ett meddelande | a message |
Example sentences
[edit | edit source]| Jag arbetade igår. | I worked yesterday. |
| Det har gått ett år. | One year has passed. |
| Ni ska arbeta i morgon. | You will work tomorrow. |
| De gick och arbetade i parken. | They went for work in the park. (or They walked and worked in the park.) |
| De arbetade och gick i parken. | They worked and walked in the park. |
| Vi skulle ha gått dit. | We should have gone there. |
| Jag hade tur. | I was lucky. |
| Jag arbetar (nu). | I am working (right now). |
| Jag arbetar två dagar i veckan. | I work two days a week. |
Example text
[edit | edit source]Kalles väg till arbetet
Det var morgon. Kalle gick ut på gatan. Han skulle gå vägen till arbetet. Den här vägen hade han gått många gånger förut. "När jag har arbetat klart ska jag gå hem igen.", sa Kalle. "Fast då går jag nog en annan väg!"
Kalle's way to his work.
It was morning. Kalle entered the street. He would walk the road to his work. This road he had walked many times before. "When I've finished work I will walk home again.", Kalle said. "But then I'll probably walk another route!"
Exercises
[edit | edit source]Please translate into English:
1. De har gått en annan väg.
2. Erik och Lina gick ut på puben.
3. Det var många i parken.
4. Hon har varit duktig.
5. Jag arbetade förut.
Please translate into Swedish:
6. Per, you are lucky!
7. He has another car.
8. She is exiting now.
9. Once upon a time mummy was lucky.
10. What is the meaning of this?
Glossary
[edit | edit source]| annan | another, other |
| den här/det här | this |
| då | then |
| fast | but (in spoken language) |
| förut | previously |
| att arbeta klart | to finish work |
| ett arbete | a work |
| en gata | a street |
| (att) gå | to walk |
| (att) gå dit | to walk there |
| (att) gå ut | to exit |
| (att) gå ut på | to enter [a street], to go to [the pub], to mean something |
| en gång | one time |
| (att) ha | to have |
| (att) ha tur | to be lucky |
| ett hem | a home |
| en morgon | a morning |
| nu | now |
| många | many |
| nog | probably, enough |
| när | when |
| en pub | a pub |
| (att) säga | to say |
| vad | what |
| en väg | a road, way, route |