Chapter 7, lesson 62

Could, Wanted and Was Going To

Say what you could, wanted to and were going to do with kunde, ville and skulle, and what was not allowed with fick inte, with a dictionary form after them.

What you will learn

You can say what you could, wanted to and were going to do with kunde, ville and skulle, and what was not allowed with fick inte.

Four past forms before a verb

Present formPast formEnglish
kankundecould, was able to
villvillewanted to
skaskullewas going to
fårfickgot, was allowed to

As in the present, the next verb is in the dictionary form, and no att comes in between. Inte comes right after the past form, as in Jag kunde inte komma. When a time word comes first, the subject comes after the past form and inte follows the subject, as in I går kunde Kenji inte sova.

Examples

SwedishEnglish
Noor ville simma, men hon kunde inte.Noor wanted to swim, but she could not.
Vi skulle åka klockan tio, men bussen kom inte.We were going to leave at ten, but the bus did not come.
Viktor fick en ny cykel.Viktor got a new bike.
Vi fick inte bada i sjön.We were not allowed to swim in the lake.
I går kunde Kenji inte sova.Yesterday Kenji could not sleep.

Skulle tells about a plan that was made before, as in Vi skulle åka klockan tio. You already know it from Jag skulle vilja, I would like. In this course, skulle means was going to, or it is part of Jag skulle vilja.

Fick can mean got, as in Viktor fick en ny cykel, or was allowed to. Fick inte means was not allowed to.

Måste is not used about the past in this course.

Common mistakes

Not like thisLike thisWhy
Jag ville att komma.Jag ville komma.No att comes after ville.
Hon kunde inte kom.Hon kunde inte komma.After kunde, use the dictionary form.
Jag inte kunde komma.Jag kunde inte komma.Inte comes after kunde.

Check yourself

A few questions from the Learning Path on this lesson. Answer, then check, or show the answer with its explanation.

  1. Vilken mening betyder att det inte var tillåtet?
  2. Ordet kan står i presens. Skriv preteritum. Meningen ska betyda Yesterday Ida could not swim.

    Change the form of kan

    I går Ida inte simma.

  3. Skriv hela meningen med orden i rätt ordning.

    i går / inte / vi / komma / kunde

  4. Välj den engelska betydelsen av den svenska meningen eller frasen.

    Viktor fick en ny cykel.

  5. Använd preteritum av kan, med betydelsen hade möjlighet att.

    Förra veckan jag inte komma.

  6. Välj den engelska betydelsen av den svenska meningen eller frasen.

    Elin ville läsa.

How this lesson connects

Learning Path

Practice and review

Practice this lesson, check your answers and review mistakes in a separate round. Track your results as you work through the course.

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