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
Infinitive ends in long vowel; add -dde	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.

Swedish Phrases, Vocabulary, and Grammar with free audio