| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att äta | to … |
| Present | äter | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | åt | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har ätit | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade ätit | had …ed |
| Future | ska äta / kommer att äta | will … |
| Imperative | ät! | … ! |
| Past participle | äten | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | ätande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag äter, du äter, hon äter, vi äter, de äter. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How äta conjugates
Group 4 holds the strong and irregular verbs. They change their vowel in the past and supine (skriva → skrev, skrivit) or are fully irregular (vara → är, var, varit). They are few, but they are the most frequent verbs in the language, so they are worth learning one by one. äta is one of them: äter, åt, ätit. Learn these forms together.
Passive (s-form)
Swedish makes the passive by adding -s: the doer drops out and the thing acted on becomes the subject. Spoken Swedish often prefers bli + past participle (blev äten).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att ätas |
| Present | äts |
| Past | åts |
| Supine | har ätits |
Meanings and examples
Patterns: ngn = någon (someone) · ngt = något (something) · SATS = a clause · VERB = a verb · PLATS = a place · RIKTNING = a direction · TID = a time · SÄTT = a manner · ADJ = an adjective