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Tala Conjugation

tala means "to to speak" in Swedish. Present: jag / du / han / hon / hen / den / det / vi / ni / de talar. Below: all 30 tenses we teach, with examples.

Present Presens

Stem + -ar (group 1), -er (groups 2 and 4) or -r (group 3; stems that already end in -r take no ending at all: hör, kör): talar, ringer, köper, bor, skriver. One form for every person. It covers what is happening now, habits and general truths, the planned future with a time word (Vi åker i morgon), and the historic present in lively narration.

Present continuous (håller på att / sitter och) Presens (pågående: håller på att, sitter och)

Swedish has no -ing tense, so the plain present usually means 'is doing'. To stress that something is under way right now, use håller på att + infinitive, or a posture verb + och + the same form as the main verb (sitter/står/ligger/går och skriver); the posture verb tells how the person is placed or moves. The past uses höll på att / satt och + preterite, and höll på att also means 'nearly' (Jag höll på att ramla). State verbs such as bo do not take it.

Simple past Preteritum

Stem + -ade (group 1), -de or -te (group 2), -dde (group 3); strong verbs change the vowel (skriva, skrev). One form for every person. Used for completed events at a stated or understood time and for narration; with a time word that closes the period (i går, förra veckan, 1999) Swedish needs the preterite, not the perfect.

Present perfect Perfekt

har + supine (talat, ringt, köpt, bott, skrivit); always with ha, never with vara. For past events that matter now, for experience with no stated time (aldrig, redan, någon gång) and for what began in the past and still goes on (Jag har bott här i tio år). In subordinate clauses har is often dropped: Jag vet att han skrivit det.

Pluperfect Pluskvamperfekt

hade + supine. An event already finished before another moment in the past; the same form is the past tense of unreal conditions (Om jag hade vetat...). Like the perfect, hade may be dropped in a subordinate clause (Hon sa att han skrivit brevet).

Future with ska (intention) Futurum (ska + infinitiv)

ska + infinitive (formal and older skall). Intentions, plans, promises, decisions made as you speak, and orders (Du ska göra som jag säger). In the past, skulle means 'was going to'. The plain present with a time word is more common than either future auxiliary in everyday speech.

Future with kommer att (prediction) Futurum (kommer att + infinitiv)

kommer att + infinitive. A neutral prediction of what will happen, with no intention involved: weather, schedules, consequences. Do not confuse it with lär + infinitive (Det lär bli regn), which marks hearsay or an assumption ('is said to', 'is bound to').

Future perfect Futurum exaktum (kommer att ha + supinum)

kommer att ha + supine (ska ha for a promise or deadline: Jag ska ha skrivit klart före fredag): something that will be finished by a future point. Fairly formal; in speech the present with redan or the plain present perfect often replaces it (Jag är klar före fredag).

Conditional Konditionalis (skulle + infinitiv)

skulle + infinitive: a hypothetical or unlikely situation (with om + preterite in the if-part), polite requests and suggestions (Skulle du kunna hjälpa mig?), and the future in the past (Han sa att han skulle komma). In the if-part, om + preterite is standard for a counterfactual; om du skulle... is used for a remote possibility ('should').

Conditional perfect Konditionalis perfekt (skulle ha + supinum)

skulle ha + supine, with om + hade + supine in the if-part: what would have happened. It is skulle ha (infinitive of ha), never 'skulle har', although ha and har sound alike in speech. In the main clause hade + supine can replace skulle ha (Om jag hade vetat det hade jag ringt), and skulle ha also gives the future perfect in the past (Han sa att han skulle ha skrivit klart före fredag).

Present subjunctive (literary, fixed phrases) Konjunktiv presens

Infinitive minus -a plus -e: leve, bevare, välsigne; vara gives vare. Literary and solemn: alive only in set wishes and concessions (Länge leve..., Gud bevare..., vare sig... eller), never in free use. The model forms tale, ringe, köpe and skrive are the paradigm and almost never occur outside such phrases; verbs ending in a stressed vowel (bo, tro, gå, stå) have no living form. For any other wish use måtte/må.

Optative (måtte / må + infinitive) Optativ (måtte, må + infinitiv)

måtte + bare infinitive expresses a hope or earnest wish ('may...', 'let us hope'): Måtte det gå bra! It is ordinary spoken and written Swedish. The present må + infinitive is solemn or fixed (Må han leva!, Må så vara = so be it, Må Gud vara med dig) and is not used freely.

Imperative Imperativ

The bare stem: the infinitive minus -a for groups 2 and 4 (ring, köp, skriv), the infinitive itself for groups 1 and 3 (tala, bo). The same form is used to one person or many.

Negative imperative Imperativ (negerad)

Imperative + inte, the same word order as in a main clause. Signs and written rules often use ej and the infinitive or imperative (Rör ej, Parkera ej).

Let us (låt oss + infinitive) Hortativ (låt oss + infinitiv)

låt oss + infinitive for 'let us...'; a little formal or written. In speech, suggestions are made with Ska vi + infinitive? (Ska vi tala svenska?) or with a plain present (Nu går vi).

Present s-passive Presens (s-passiv)

Stem + -s: tala becomes talas, and groups 2 and 4 give rings, köps, skrivs (older and formal -es: köpes, skrives). Used when the doer is unimportant or unknown, for rules and general statements. Intransitive verbs such as bo have no personal form.

Preterite s-passive Preteritum (s-passiv)

Preterite + -s: talades, ringdes, köptes, skrevs. The written past passive: an event done to the subject at a past time.

Perfect s-passive Perfekt (s-passiv)

har + supine + -s: har talats, har ringts, har köpts, har skrivits. Something that has been done and is relevant now.

Pluperfect s-passive Pluskvamperfekt (s-passiv)

hade + supine + -s: hade talats, hade skrivits. An event that had already been done to the subject before another past moment.

Future s-passive Futurum (s-passiv)

kommer att (or ska) + passive infinitive (infinitive + -s: talas, ringas, köpas, skrivas). Something that will be done to the subject.

Present bli-passive Presens (bli-passiv)

blir + past participle agreeing with the subject (en/ett/plural: talad / talat / talade). Stresses a happening or a change, natural in speech, mostly with a person as subject. Also used for the future of a certain event.

Preterite bli-passive Preteritum (bli-passiv)

blev + past participle in agreement. One event that happened to the subject; the usual spoken past passive for people.

Perfect bli-passive Perfekt (bli-passiv)

har blivit + past participle in agreement. Something that has happened to the subject and still matters.

Resultative (vara + past participle) Resultativ (vara + particip)

är (past: var) + past participle in agreement. Describes the state that results, with no action in progress: Dörren är stängd (is closed) against Dörren stängs (is being closed) and Dörren blir stängd (gets closed).

Infinitive Infinitiv

The dictionary form; most verbs end in -a, but verbs with a stressed vowel (bo, tro, gå, stå, se, ge, ta, dö, le) do not. It follows att (Det är svårt att tala) and stands bare after the modals (kan, vill, ska, måste, får, bör), after låta and after brukar.

Perfect infinitive Infinitiv perfekt

ha + supine. After modals, for the past: a guess (Han måste ha glömt det), a regret (Jag borde ha ringt), a report (Hon lär ha rest).

Passive infinitive Infinitiv (s-passiv)

Infinitive + -s: talas, ringas, köpas, skrivas. After modals and att; in the future passive after kommer att/ska. Intransitive verbs such as bo have no personal form.

Supine Supinum

Used only after har, hade and ha (skulle ha, kan ha): -at (group 1), -t (group 2), -tt (group 3), -it (strong verbs). It never agrees with anything. Compare Jag har skrivit brevet (supine) with Brevet är skrivet (past participle, agrees).

Present participle Presensparticip

Infinitive stem + -ande (verbs in -a) or -ende (other verbs): talande, ringande, köpande, skrivande; but boende. An adjective or a noun: en talande papegoja, de boende (the residents). Unlike English -ing it never forms a progressive tense.

Past participle Perfektparticip

Agrees with its noun: en (common gender), ett (neuter), plural and definite forms. Group 1: talad / talat / talade; 2a: ringd / ringt / ringda; 2b: köpt / köpt / köpta; strong: skriven / skrivet / skrivna. Intransitive verbs usually have none (bo), except verbs of motion and change (kommen, gången, fallen, försvunnen).

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