A Simplified Grammar of the Swedish Language/Part I/Verbs

by E. C. Otté

VERBS. (Händelseord.)

In Swedish, there are three forms of verbs—the active, passive, and deponent.

The auxiliary verbs are divided by Swedish grammarians into three classes: (1) temporala, or those which help to form compound tenses; as, hafva, 'to have,' and skola, 'shall' or 'will;' (2) modala, or those which serve to express different moods; as, må, måste (defect.), 'may,' 'must;' kunna, 'can;' låta, 'let;' vilja, 'will;' böra, 'ought;' (3) passiva, or those which serve to conjugate the passive; as, vara, 'be;' varda, blifva, 'become.'

Infinitive.
	att hafva, to have.	att vara, to be.
Partic. Present,	hafvande, having.	varande, being.
Partic. Past,	haft, had.	varit, been.

Indicative.
present tense.
Singular.
Jag, du, han, hon, den, det,	⁠	Jag, du, han, hon, den, det
har (hafver), I have, etc.		är, I am, etc.

Plural.
Vi hafva (ha),	we	have.	⁠	Vi äro,	we	are.
I hafven (han),	ye	"		I ären,	ye	"
De hafva (ha),	they	"		De äro,	they	"

imperfect tense.

Singular.

All 3 persons hade, I had, etc.⁠var, I was, etc.

Plural.
Vi hade,	we	had.	⁠	Vi voro,	we	were.
I haden,	ye	"		I voren,	ye	"
De hade,	they	"		De voro,	they	"

Subjunctive or Optative.
Present.
Singular.
All 3 persons,	hafve or må hafva, have, or may have.
"⁠"	vare, I may be, etc.

Plural.
Vi hafve	or	må	hafva,	we	have,	or may	have,	etc.
I hafven	"	mån	"	ye	"	"	"
De hafve	"	må	"	they	"	"	"
Vi vare,	we	may	be.
I varen,	ye	"	"
De vare,	they	"	"

Imperative.
2nd	person	sing.,	haf; var; have, be thou.
1st	"	plur.,	hafvom; varom; let us have, be.
2nd	"	"	hafven; varen; have, be ye.

The other auxiliaries, which may also in certain cases be used independently, are conjugated as follows:—

Infinitive.	Pres. Indic.		Imperfect.		P. Part.
	Sing.	Plur.	Sing.	Plur.
skola, shall.	skall,	skola.	skulle,	skulle.	skolat.
vilja, will.	vill,	vilja.	ville,	ville.	velat.
må, may.	må,	må (måga).	måtte,	måtte.	måst.
måste, may.	måste,	måste.			måst.
tör, töra, dare.	tör,	töra.	torde,	torde.
kunna, can.	kan,	kunna.	kunde,	kunde.	kunnat.
böra, ought.	bör,	böra.	borde,	borde.	bort.
varda, become.	varder,	varda.	vardt,	vordo.	vorden.
blifva, be, remain.	blifver,	blifva.	blef,	blefvo.	blifvit.

Here, as in all other verbs, the second person plural ends in en; as, I skolen; I bören; etc.

There are four modes of conjugation in Swedish, the three first of which include so-called weak verbs, while the fourth comprises all so-called strong verbs.

First conjugation (Active).

The Imperf. Indic. ends in ade, Past Part. in ad, Supine in at. Example:—Infinitive Pres., (att) kalla, 'to call;' Perfect, hafva kallat, 'to have called;' Pres. Part., kallande, 'calling;' Sup., kallat, 'called.'

Indicative.
⁠Present.	Imperfect.	⁠Past tenses.
Sing., all persons: kallar,	kallade,	har, or hade kallat, have, or had called.
Plur., 1st and 3rd persons: kalla.

future tenses.
Simple Future and Conditional.	Compound Future.
skall, or skulle kalla,	skall, or skulle hafva kallat,
shall, or should call.	shall, or should have called.

Subjunctive or Optative.
Present.	Imperfect.	Perfect.
kalle.	The same as Imperf. Indicative.	må hafva, or hade kallat, may have, or had called.

Imperative.
Sing.	2	pers.	kalla (du).
Plur.	1	"	kallom (vi).
	2	"	kallen (I).

It must be observed here, that in accordance with what has already been stated, the second person plural in this, as in the other conjugations, differs from the other persons by ending in en or n, according to the termination of the tense or mood; as, I kallen, 'ye call' (pres. indic.); I kalladen, 'ye were calling' (imperf. indic.). The first person plural of the imperative has also a special termination, viz. om, as kallom, 'let us call;' but beyond these differences, which, moreover, refer to the written language only, there is no exception to the rule that the first person of either number indicates the termination of the other persons of the tense or mood, and on this account we shall only give the first persons in the following conjugations.

The Second Conjugation takes de or te in the imperf. indic., d or t in the perfect past participle, and t in the supine.

Examples of these two classes:—

Infinitive.
(att)	böja, to bend,	Part. Pres.	bojande,	Past Part.	böjd.
"	köpa, to buy,	"	köpande,	"	köpt.

Indicative.
Present.		⁠	⁠	Imperfect.
Sing. Plur.	böjer, köper. böja, köpa.			Sing. and Plur.		böjde, köpte

Optative.
Present.				Imperfect.		Imperative.
Sing. and Plur.		böje, köpe.		The same as Imperf. Indic.		Sing. Plur. "	2 1 2	pers. " "	böj, köp. böjom, köpom. böjen, köpen.

The Third Conjugation takes dde in the imperfect indicative, dd in the past participle, and tt in the supine. The infinitive does not take the terminal a, and the present participle takes ende.

Infinitive.

Example: (att) tro, 'to believe;' Part. Pres. troende; Past Part. trodd; Sup. trott.

Indicative.
Present.		Imperfect.		Imperative.
Sing.	tror.	Sing.	trodde.	Sing.	2	pers.	tro.
Plur.	tro.	Plur.	trodde.	Plur.	2	"	tron

Optative.
Present.			⁠	⁠	Imperfect.
Sing. and Plur.		må tro.			The same as Imperf. Indic.

The Fourth Conjugation.

This conjugation includes all the so-called strong verbs, i.e. verbs whose imperfect indicative tense is formed through some internal change of the radical vowel.

This conjugation is divided into two classes, viz.:

1. Verbs which undergo only one change of vowel, affecting the imperfect indicative; as, gripa, imperfect grep, past part. gripen, supine gripit, 'to grasp.'

2. Verbs which undergo a change of vowel, both in the imperfect indicative and in the perfect participle and supine; as, binda, imperfect band, part. past bunden, supine bundit.

Examples:—

Infinitive.
(att)	gripa to grasp,	Part. Pres.	gripande,	Part. Past,	gripen,	Sup.	gripit.
"	binda, to bind,	"	bindande,	Part. Past,	bunden,	Sup.	bundit.

Indicative.
Present.		⁠	⁠	Imperfect.
Sing.	griper, binder.			Sing.	grep, band.
Plur.	gripa, binda.			Plur.	grepo, bundo.

Optative.
Present.			⁠	⁠	Imperfect.
Sing. and Plur.		gripe, binde.			Sing. and Plur.		grepe, bunde.

Imperative.
Sing.	2	pers.	grip, bind.
Plur.	1	"	gripom, bindom.
"	2	"	gripen, binden.

Passive Verbs. (Passivum.)

The modern Swedish form of the passive has originated from the Old Northern, in which it was a mere adaptation of the reflective pronoun sik, sig, and was conjugated with the help of the auxiliaries vera, verda (varða), 'to be,' and the past participle of the active form of the verb.

In modern Swedish the passive is formed by adding s (for sig) to the transitive active form of the verb; as—

Infinitive.
Present.
(att)	kallas,	to be	called.
"	böjas,	"	bent.
"	tros,	"	trusted.
"	bindas,	"	bound.

Past.
att	hafva	kallats,	to	have	been	called.
"	"	böjts,	"	"	"	bent.
"	"	trotts,	"	"	"	trusted.
"	"	bundits,	"	"	"	bound.

Supine.	⁠	Past Participle.
kallats.		kallad.
böjts.		böjd.
trotts.		trodd.
bundits.		bunden.

Indicative.
Present.
		kallas.	(All	persons	but	2 plur.)
2 pers.	plur.	(kallens).
		böjes.	"	"	"	"
"	"	(böjens).
		tros.	"	"	"	"
"	"	(trons).
		bindes.	"	"	"	"
"	"	(bindens).

Imperfect.
			kallades.
	2 pers.	plur.	(kalladens).
			böjdes.
	"	"	(böjdens).
			troddes.
	"	"	(troddens).
			bands.
1 and	3 pers.	plur.	bundos.
2	"	"	bundens

Compound Tenses.
Sing.	har, hade	kallats,	or	blifvit	kallad.
Plur.	hafva, hade	"	"	"	"
Sing.	har, hade	böjts	"	"	böjd.
Plur.	hafva, hade	"	"	"	"
Sing.	har, hade	trotts	"	"	trodd.
Plur.	hafva, hade	"	"	"	"
Sing.	har, hade	bundit,	"	"	bunden.
Plur.	hafva, hade	"	"	"	"

Deponents are conjugated after the passive form, while they have an active significance; as, minnas, 'to remember,' jag minnas, 'I remember.'

Some deponents are merely the passive of some other reflective active verb; as, förifras, 'to be in a passion,' from förifra sig, 'to put oneself in a passion.' Others have no relation to any corresponding active verb; as, hoppas, 'to hope.'

Most intransitive verbs are without the passive; as falla, 'to fall,' hända, 'to happen' etc., and such verbs may generally be used as impersonals; as, det faller sig svårt, 'it is difficult;' det hände mig, 'it happened to me.'

Intransitives may be used in some cases in the passive when they have an impersonal sense; as, det dansas här i huset, 'there is dancing going on in the house.'

For an explanation of the principal forms of deviations from the normal modes of conjugation, see Part II.