Contents · A1
- The present
- Word order and questions
- Nouns and articles
- Negation
- The infinitive and the auxiliaries
- The infinitive and the verb groups: att tala, att läsa, att bo
- Auxiliaries and the infinitive: kan, vill, ska, måste, får, behöver, brukar
- A polite request: Jag skulle vilja ha …
- Two verbs with inte and in questions: Jag kan inte komma, Kan du komma?
- Liking and the first particle verbs: tycker om, gillar, kommer ihåg
- Pronouns and possession
- Adjectives
- Time and place
- The future
- The preteritum
- The imperative
- The perfekt
Tap a sentence to see its translation.
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb. It follows the infinitive marker att and the auxiliaries kan, vill, ska, måste, which are followed by the infinitive without att. The infinitive and the present together show the group of a verb.
The infinitive and the verb groups: att tala, att läsa, att bo#
Formation
The infinitive is the form given in a dictionary. Most infinitives end in -a (tala, läsa, skriva); a few short verbs end in another vowel (bo, gå, se). The infinitive marker att corresponds to English “to”: att tala, att bo.
The verb groups
Swedish verbs fall into four groups, shown by the infinitive and the present. Group 1 has the infinitive in -a and the present in -ar. Group 2 has the infinitive in -a and the present in -er; a stem ending in -r takes no further ending (köra, kör). Group 3 has a short infinitive ending in a vowel other than -a and the present in -r. Group 4, the strong verbs, have the present in -er or -r and change their vowel in the past; their forms are learnt one by one. The groups differ most in the preteritum and the supinum.
| Group | Infinitive | Present | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -a | -ar | tala, talar; arbeta, arbetar; cykla, cyklar |
| 2 | -a | -er | läsa, läser; köpa, köper; stänga, stänger |
| 3 | another vowel | -r | bo, bor; tro, tror |
| 4 (strong) | -a or another vowel | -er or -r | dricka, dricker; äta, äter; gå, går; se, ser |
Use
The infinitive follows att, after an adjective, as a subject or after some verbs: Det är roligt att dansa, Att röka är dyrt. It follows the auxiliaries without att, as Auxiliaries and the infinitive: kan, vill, ska, måste, får, behöver, brukar sets out. An English -ing form used as a noun corresponds to att and the infinitive: “Swimming is fun” is Det är roligt att simma.
- Det är svårt att skriva svenska.It’s hard to write Swedish.
- Att cykla till jobbet är nyttigt.Cycling to work is good for you.
- Det är viktigt att sova.It’s important to sleep.
- Det är dags att gå hem.It’s time to go home.
Difference from English
English uses “to” and the -ing form where Swedish uses att and the infinitive: “It is nice to swim” and “Swimming is nice” are both expressed with att simma.
Common mistakes
Att bor här är bra.→ Att bo här är bra.After att the verb is in the infinitive.Läser är roligt.→ Det är roligt att läsa.“Reading is fun”: an activity is expressed with att and the infinitive, not with the present.
Practise
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Auxiliaries and the infinitive: kan, vill, ska, måste, får, behöver, brukar#
Formation
The auxiliaries are followed by the infinitive without att: kan (can), vill (want to), ska (shall, will, is going to), måste (must, has to), får (may, is allowed to), behöver (needs to) and brukar (usually does). Each has one form for every person. Kan is the present of kunna, vill of vilja, ska of skola, får of få, behöver of behöva and brukar of bruka; måste has the same form in the present and the past.
| Auxiliary | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kan | can, be able to | Jag kan simma. |
| vill | want to | Vi vill resa. |
| ska | shall; a plan | Ska vi gå? |
| måste | must, have to | Du måste vänta. |
| får | may, be allowed to | Får jag ringa dig? |
| behöver | need to | Hon behöver sova. |
| brukar | usually | Vi brukar äta klockan sex. |
Use
Vill ha (want to have) is used for “want” before a noun: Jag vill ha ett glas vatten. Ska vi …? suggests doing something together; ska for a plan is set out in The future: ska and the infinitive, or the present. Brukar expresses a habit, where English uses “usually”. In the negative, får inte means “must not” and behöver inte or måste inte means “need not”: Du får inte dricka vin här (“You mustn’t drink wine here”), Du behöver inte betala (“You don’t have to pay”).
- Erik kan tala tyska.Erik can speak German.
- Jag vill ha en kopp te.I want a cup of tea.
- Ska vi äta nu?Shall we eat now?
- Barnen måste sova nu.The children have to sleep now.
- Får jag öppna fönstret?May I open the window?
- Lisa brukar cykla till jobbet.Lisa usually cycles to work.
Difference from English
English “to” after “want” and “need” has no equivalent: “I want to eat” is Jag vill äta. English “usually” is an adverb; Swedish most often uses the verb brukar. English “must not” forbids, while Swedish måste inte only means “need not”; a prohibition is får inte.
Common mistakes
Jag vill att äta.→ Jag vill äta.An auxiliary is followed by the infinitive without att.Hon kan spelar gitarr.→ Hon kan spela gitarr.The second verb is in the infinitive.Du måste inte dricka vin här.→ Du får inte dricka vin här.A prohibition is expressed with får inte.
Practise
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A polite request: Jag skulle vilja ha …#
Use
Jag skulle vilja ha … (“I would like …”) is a polite formula for asking for something in a shop, a café or a restaurant; Jag skulle vilja is followed by an infinitive: Jag skulle vilja betala. Skulle is the past of ska, and vilja the infinitive of vill; the formula is learnt as a whole. It is more polite than Jag vill ha ….
- Jag skulle vilja ha en smörgås, tack.I’d like a sandwich, please.
- Jag skulle vilja ha två biljetter till Göteborg.I’d like two tickets to Gothenburg.
- Vi skulle vilja betala, tack.We’d like to pay, please.
Difference from English
English “I’d like” has a short form and is followed by a noun directly; Swedish has three words before the noun, skulle vilja ha, with ha (have) before a thing asked for.
Common mistake
Jag skulle vilja en kopp kaffe.→ Jag skulle vilja ha en kopp kaffe.Before a thing asked for, ha is not left out.
Practise
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Two verbs with inte and in questions: Jag kan inte komma, Kan du komma?#
Formation
With an auxiliary and an infinitive, the auxiliary is the finite verb and follows the verb-second rule: inte comes after the auxiliary and before the infinitive (Jag kan inte komma), and in a question the auxiliary is placed first or after the question word (Kan du komma?, Vad vill du göra?).
| First element | Auxiliary | Subject | inte | Infinitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jag | kan | – | inte | komma. |
| – | Kan | du | – | komma? |
| – | Kan | du | inte | komma? |
| Vad | vill | du | – | göra? |
| I dag | måste | vi | inte | arbeta. |
- Lisa vill inte dansa.Lisa doesn’t want to dance.
- Kan du hjälpa mig?Can you help me?
- Var ska vi äta?Where shall we eat?
- I kväll kan jag inte komma.I can’t come tonight.
Difference from English
English adds “do” with “want” and “need”: “I don’t want to eat”, “Do you want to eat?”. Swedish treats every auxiliary as English treats “can”: Jag vill inte äta, Vill du äta?
Common mistakes
Jag inte kan komma.→ Jag kan inte komma.Inte comes after the auxiliary.Jag kan komma inte.→ Jag kan inte komma.Inte comes before the infinitive.
Practise
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Liking and the first particle verbs: tycker om, gillar, kommer ihåg#
Formation
“To like” is tycka om (present tycker om) or gilla (present gillar). Both are followed by a noun, a pronoun, or att and an infinitive: Jag tycker om svensk musik, Vi gillar att dansa. Tycka om is a particle verb: a verb with a small word, the particle, that completes its meaning. Other particle verbs of A1 are komma ihåg (remember), gå ut (go out), gå upp (get up), stå upp (stand up, get up) and stänga av (switch off).
Use
The particle is stressed: tycker OM, kommer IHÅG, går UT. Its meaning is often not the sum of the two words: tycka alone means “think” and stänga alone “close”. The particle comes directly after the verb, and inte comes between the verb and the particle: Jag kommer inte ihåg. An object, noun or pronoun, comes after the particle: Stäng av telefonen!, Jag tycker om honom. After an auxiliary the verb is in the infinitive, followed by its particle: Vi ska gå ut.
- Jag tycker om kaffe.I like coffee.
- Karin gillar att laga mat på kvällen.Karin likes cooking in the evening.
- Vi tycker om att laga mat.We like cooking.
- Jag kommer inte ihåg hans namn.I don’t remember his name.
- Erik går upp klockan sex.Erik gets up at six.
- Stäng av radion, tack!Switch off the radio, please!
Difference from English
English “like” is followed by an -ing form or “to”; Swedish uses att and the infinitive: tycker om att simma. English “remember” is one word; Swedish komma ihåg is two, with inte between them. English particle verbs such as “get up” also have a stressed particle, but the object may come between: “switch the radio off”; in Swedish it comes after the particle.
Common mistakes
Jag tycker om simma.→ Jag tycker om att simma.Before an infinitive, att is not left out.Jag tycker kaffe.→ Jag tycker om kaffe.Without om, tycka means “think”.Jag inte kommer ihåg.→ Jag kommer inte ihåg.Inte comes after the verb and before the particle.
In short
| Point | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| infinitive | -a or another vowel; att + infinitive | att läsa, att bo |
| verb groups | 1 -ar, 2 -er, 3 -r, 4 strong | talar, läser, bor, dricker |
| auxiliaries | kan, vill, ska, måste, får, behöver, brukar + infinitive | Jag vill äta. |
| prohibition | får inte; behöver inte = need not | Du får inte dricka vin här. |
| polite request | Jag skulle vilja ha … | Jag skulle vilja ha te. |
| two verbs | auxiliary + inte + infinitive | Jag kan inte komma. |
| particle verbs | stressed particle; inte before it | Jag kommer inte ihåg. |
Practise
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