| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att be | to … |
| Present | ber | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | bad | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har bett | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade bett | had …ed |
| Future | ska be / kommer att be | will … |
| Imperative | be! | … ! |
| Past participle | bedd | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | beende | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag ber, du ber, hon ber, vi ber, de ber. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How be 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. be is one of them: ber, bad, bett. 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 bedd).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att bes |
| Present | bs |
| Past | bads |
| Supine | har betts |
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