What you will learn
You can say what has happened and what someone has done with har and a new form called supinum. You can also choose between the imperative, infinitive, present, past and supinum of familiar verbs.
Har and a new verb form
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Jag har köpt en bok. | I have bought a book. |
| Vi har ätit. | We have eaten. |
| Hon har varit i Malmö. | She has been to Malmö. |
| De har läst brevet. | They have read the letter. |
The two parts work together. Har is the present form of ha. The next verb is in supinum, such as köpt, ätit, varit or läst. Together they make the tense called perfekt, the present perfect. Supinum is a verb form, not a tense on its own. In these main clauses, keep har.
The form stays the same with every person. Say jag har köpt, hon har köpt and vi har köpt. Do not put att between har and supinum.
How to make supinum
| Kind of verb | Infinitive | Past | Supinum | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | jobba | jobbade | jobbat | har jobbat |
| Group 2 with -de | ringa | ringde | ringt | har ringt |
| Group 2 with -te | köpa | köpte | köpt | har köpt |
| Group 3 | bo | bodde | bott | har bott |
| Irregular | skriva | skrev | skrivit | har skrivit |
| Irregular | se | såg | sett | har sett |
Group 1 keeps the a of the infinitive and adds t. For the group 2 examples ringa, köpa and läsa, remove the final a and add t, giving ringt, köpt and läst. Some group 2 stems also change their spelling, so learn the whole form with the verb. Group 3 adds tt to the infinitive, as in bo, bott. Learn irregular forms with the verb. Do not guess that every short verb follows bo. Gå gives gått, but se gives sett.
Five forms together
Each column has a different job. Imperativ gives an instruction, infinitiv is the dictionary form, presens is the present, preteritum is the simple past, and supinum follows har in this lesson.
| Imperativ | Infinitiv | Presens | Preteritum | Supinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jobba | jobba | jobbar | jobbade | jobbat |
| ring | ringa | ringer | ringde | ringt |
| köp | köpa | köper | köpte | köpt |
| läs | läsa | läser | läste | läst |
| bo | bo | bor | bodde | bott |
| gå | gå | går | gick | gått |
| kom | komma | kommer | kom | kommit |
| se | se | ser | såg | sett |
| ät | äta | äter | åt | ätit |
| gör | göra | gör | gjorde | gjort |
| skriv | skriva | skriver | skrev | skrivit |
| var | vara | är | var | varit |
| ha | ha | har | hade | haft |
| drick | dricka | dricker | drack | druckit |
| sov | sova | sover | sov | sovit |
| vänta | vänta | väntar | väntade | väntat |
Some forms look the same. Kom! is an instruction, while Hon kom i går reports a past event. Var försiktig! is an instruction to be careful, while Hon var hemma is a statement about the past. The whole sentence tells you which form is doing the work.
What job does the verb do
| Meaning | Swedish | Form to choose |
|---|---|---|
| Read the letter. | Läs brevet! | imperativ |
| I want to read the letter. | Jag vill läsa brevet. | infinitiv |
| I am reading the letter. | Jag läser brevet. | presens |
| I read the letter yesterday. | Jag läste brevet i går. | preteritum |
| I have read the letter. | Jag har läst brevet. | supinum after har |
The infinitive also follows the modal verbs you know, such as kan, vill and måste. Compare Jag kan skriva with Jag har skrivit. The first says what I can do. The second says what I have done.
Questions and inte
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| Har du ringt Mira? | Have you called Mira? |
| Vad har ni gjort? | What have you done? |
| Jag har inte sett filmen. | I have not seen the movie. |
| Vi har inte ätit än. | We have not eaten yet. |
| Har hon redan gått? | Has she already left? |
In a yes or no question, put har before the subject. After a question word, put har next, then the subject. In a statement, inte comes after har and before supinum. Redan means already. Än means yet in inte … än.
Perfekt or preteritum
Use har and supinum to talk about an experience or a result connected with now. With Jag har köpt en biljett, having the ticket matters now. Jag har varit i Malmö tells about an experience without naming one finished occasion.
Use preteritum when you place the event at a particular finished time. Compare Jag köpte boken i går with Jag har köpt boken. The first places the purchase yesterday. The second tells that it is done.
| Swedish | What it emphasizes |
|---|---|
| Hon ringde klockan åtta i går. | A particular finished event |
| Hon har ringt. | The call has happened |
| Jag har jobbat här i två år. | The work started before now and continues now |
| Jag jobbade där i två år. | A finished period of work |
Perfekt can include time expressions. Jag har läst i dag is possible when today is still the current period. Jag läste i dag can describe a finished reading session earlier today. Do not choose the tense from one time word alone. Read what the speaker means.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Jag har köpa en biljett. | Jag har köpt en biljett. | After har, use supinum. |
| Vi har gick hem. | Vi har gått hem. | Gick is preteritum. Supinum is gått. |
| Hon har att läst. | Hon har läst. | Do not add att. |
| Jag har sett inte filmen. | Jag har inte sett filmen. | In this statement, inte comes before supinum. |
| Har du åt? | Har du ätit? | Keep the supinum form in a question too. |
The next stage of Swedish can build on this with hade and supinum. For now, the exercises here use har.