Conjugating Regular Verbs in Swedish

Learn the present and past tenses of regular verbs in Swedish

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Conjugating Regular Verbs in Swedish in the Present and Past Tenses

Infinitives in Swedish end in -a. When conjugating verbs, the same form is used for all subject pronouns, whether singular or plural. To form the present tense of verbs, either add -r to the infinitive or remove the -a and add -er.

tala - to speak (-ar verb) and stänga - to close (-er verb)

Present Tense
Past Tense
Present Tense
Past Tense
jag talar I speak jag talade I spoke jag stänger I close jag stängde I closed
du talar you speak du talade you spoke du stänger you close du stängde you closed
han talar he speaks han talade he spoke han stänger he closes han stängde he closed
hon talar she speaks hon talade she spoke hon stänger she closes hon stängde she closed
vi talar we speak vi talade we spoke vi stänger we close vi stängde we closed
ni talar you speak ni talade you spoke ni stänger you close ni stängde you closed
de talar they speak de talade they spoke de stänger they close de stängde they closed

Please note the three present tenses in English (simple, progressive and emphatic) are all translated by one verb form in Swedish. Jag talar can mean I speak, I am speaking or I do speak.

 

Four Past Tense Conjugations

To form the past tense, most verbs add -de to the present tense form of -ar verbs and to the stem of -er verbs (infinitive minus -a). But if the stem ends in a voiceless consonant (k, p, t, or s), then add -te instead. Another group of verbs, short verbs ending in a vowel, add -dde to form the past tense. (See Irregular Verbs for a longer list as many of these verbs have irregular forms in other tenses.)

 
Infinitive
Present
Past
Infinitive of -ar verbs; add -de arbeta to work arbetar arbetade
fråga to ask frågar frågade
öppna to open öppnar öppnade
tala to speak talar talade
Stem of -er verbs; add -de ringa to ring ringer ringde
stänga to close stänger stängde
följa to follow följer följde
bygga to build bygger byggde
Stem ends in k, p, t, or s; add -te tänka to think tänker tänkte
röka to smoke röker rökte
läsa to read läser läste
köpa to buy köper köpte
Infinitive ends in long vowel; add -dde tro to believe tror trodde
bo to live, dwell bor bodde

 

Negative Sentences

 

To make a sentence negative in Swedish, simply add inte after the verb. If there is an auxiliary verb and a main verb, inte goes between the two.
In addition, if you answer "yes" to a negative question, you must use jo instead of ja.

 


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