Swedish/Verb tenses

Grammar

The Swedish verb has quite a few tenses. But these are, like with English, created by the help of auxiliary verbs. (N.B. Swedish does not change the verb depending on which grammatical person acts).

The regular verb arbeta

Regular endings are made bold.

File:AlfredNobelPainting.jpg

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1866.

INFINITIV

To work = (Att) arbeta

PRESENT TENSE

I work = Jag arbetar

PAST TENSE, IMPERFECT ASPEKT

I worked = Jag arbetade

PAST TENSE, PERFECT ASPEKT

I have worked = Jag har arbetat

FUTURE TENSE, FUTURUM SIMPLEX

I will work = Jag ska arbeta

The irregular verb gå:

INFINITIV

To walk = (Att) gå

PRESENT TENSE

I walk = Jag går

PAST TENSE, IMPERFECT ASPEKT

I walked = Jag gick

PAST TENSE, PERFECT ASPEKT

I have walked = Jag har gått

FUTURE TENSE, FUTURUM SIMPLEX

I will walk = Jag ska gå

The irregular verbs vara, ha and ska/skulle are used in complex verb tenses in much the same way as be, have, will/would are used in English.

vara

(att) vara	to be
jag var	I was
jag har varit	I have been
jag är	I am

ha

(att) ha	to have
jag hade	I had
jag har haft	I have had
jag har	I have

ska & skulle

jag ska	I will
jag skulle	I would

Past tense, imperfect aspekt of the verb arbeta:

jag arbetade	I worked
du arbetade	you worked
han arbetade	he worked
hon arbetade	she worked
den arbetade	it worked
det arbetade	it worked
man arbetade	you worked
vi arbetade	we worked
ni arbetade	you worked
de arbetade	they worked

Really simple and similar in both languages!

Example sentences

Jag arbetade igår.	I worked yesterday.
Det har gått ett år.	One year has passed.
Ni ska arbeta i morgon.	You will work tomorrow.
De gick och arbetade i parken.	They went for work in the park. or They walked and worked in the park.
De arbetade och gick i parken.	They worked and walked in the park.
Vi skulle har gått dit.	We should have walked there.
Jag hade tur.	I was lucky.
Jag arbetar (nu).	I am working.
Jag arbetar två dar i veckan.	I work two days a week.

Example Text

Kalles väg till arbetet

Det var morgon. Kalle gick ut på gatan. Han skulle gå vägen till arbetet. Den här vägen hade han gått många gånger förut. "När jag har arbetat klart ska jag gå hem igen.", sa Kalle. "Fast då går jag nog en annan väg!"

Kalle's way to his work.

It was morning. Kalle entered the street. He would walk the road to his work. This road he had walked many times before. "When I've finished work I will walk home again.", Kalle said. "But then I'll probably walk another route!"

Exercises

Please translate into English:

1. De har gått en annan väg.

2. Erik och Lina gick ut på puben.

3. Det var många i parken.

4. Hon har varit duktig.

5. Jag arbetade förut.

Please translate into Swedish:

6. Per, you are lucky!

7. He has another car.

8. She is exiting now.

9. Once upon a time mummy was lucky.

10. What is the meaning of this?

Answers to the exercises.

Glossary

annan	another, other
den här/det här	this
då	then
fast	but (in spoken language)
förut	previously
att arbeta klart	to finish work
ett arbete	a work
en gata	a street
(att) gå	to walk
(att) gå dit	to walk there
(att) gå ut	to exit
(att) gå ut på	to enter [a street], to go to [the pub], to mean something
en gång	one time
(att) ha	to have
(att) ha tur	to be lucky
ett hem	a home
en morgon	a morning
nu	now
många	many
nog	probably, enough
när	when
en pub	a pub
(att) säga	to say
vad	what
en väg	a road, way, route