| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att beskriva | to … |
| Present | beskriver | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | beskrev | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har beskrivit | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade beskrivit | had …ed |
| Future | ska beskriva / kommer att beskriva | will … |
| Imperative | beskriv! | … ! |
| Past participle | beskriven | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | beskrivande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag beskriver, du beskriver, hon beskriver, vi beskriver, de beskriver. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How beskriva 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. beskriva is one of them: beskriver, beskrev, beskrivit. 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 beskriven).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att beskrivas |
| Present | beskrivs |
| Past | beskrevs |
| Supine | har beskrivits |
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