The present tense

The present tense

Presens

Swedish verbs don't change for person — 'I speak' and 'she speaks' use the same form. Here's the whole story.

Quick rule

Take the infinitive (e.g. tala), drop the -a, add -ar, -er, or -r. The ending is the same for I, you, he, she, we, and they.

One form for everyone

Unlike English ('I speak' vs 'she speaks'), Swedish uses the same verb form for every person. Once you know the present tense of a verb, you're done.

Jag talar svenska.

I speak Swedish.

Hon talar svenska.

She speaks Swedish.

Vi talar svenska.

We speak Swedish.

Swedish verbs fall into four groups based on how they form their tenses. The present tense ending depends on the group.

Present tense by verb group
Group	Infinitive	Present	Example
1 (-ar verbs)	tala	talar	Jag talar (I speak)
2a (-er verbs)	ringa	ringer	Jag ringer (I call)
2b (-er verbs)	köpa	köper	Jag köper (I buy)
3 (-r verbs)	bo	bor	Jag bor (I live)
4 (irregular)	skriva	skriver	Jag skriver (I write)

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Group 1 is by far the largest — if you're making up a new Swedish word (Swedes do this!), it'll probably be a group 1 verb.

A handful of very common verbs are irregular. These just need to be memorised.

Test yourself — 6 quick exercises on this topic.

1 of 6

Fill in the blank:

Vad ___ du? (do/are doing)