Verbbjning Conjugation of verbs Four categories Swedish verbs

Verbböjning Conjugation of verbs

Four categories • Swedish verbs are conjugated in four different categories (I-IV) • Of each verb there is usually four forms • four forms = – infinitive – present tense – imperfekt (past tense) – supinum • supinum is not a ”time” but used to form pluskvamperfekt (with har) and perfekt (with hade), aka har/hade skrivit, har/hade läst, har/hade studerat

I-verb • • arbeta, arbetar, arbetade, arbetat jobba, jobbar, jobbade, jobbat installera, installerar, installerade, installerat studera, studerar, studerade, studerat à most verbs belong to this group à also all new loan words fall into this category

II-verb • two subcategories in imperfekt forms: • a) ending is –de: ringde, hände, sände (to call, to happen, to send) • b) ending is –te if the root ends in k, p, t, s, x: åkte, köpte, läste (to go/ride, to buy, to read) • spelling: if there is mm or nn in the root, the double falls out in imperfekt form: glömma, glömmer, glömde, glömt (to forget) • ringa, ringer, ringde, ringt • köpa, köper, köpte, köpt (to phone, to ring) (to buy)

III-verb • verbs that consist of only one syllable • not very common • bo, bor, bodde, bott (to live/reside somewhere) • må, mår, mådde, mått (to be feeling) • ro, ror, rodde, rott (to row)

IV-verb • a) strong verbs, that have umlaut (change of vowel) in the root and end in –it in supinum • b) irregular verbs, no rules, need to know by heart – to some extent the change of vowels can be categorised and there is a pattern for those who are interested

IV, strong verbs • • ta, tar, tog, tagit komma, kommer, kommit skriva, skriver, skrev, skrivit sitta, sitter, satt, suttit (to take) (to come) (to write) (to sit)

IV, irregular verbs • se, ser, såg, sett (to see) • ge, ger, gav, givit (to give) • få, får, fick, fått (to get, to be allowed to)