| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att börja | to … |
| Present | börjar | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | började | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har börjat | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade börjat | had …ed |
| Future | ska börja / kommer att börja | will … |
| Imperative | börja! | … ! |
| Past participle | börjad | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | börjande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag börjar, du börjar, hon börjar, vi börjar, de börjar. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How börja conjugates
Group 1 is the largest and most regular group. The infinitive ends in -a, the present adds -r, the past adds -de and the supine adds -t: tala → talar, talade, talat. New verbs that enter Swedish (googla, chatta) almost always join this group. So börja → börjar, började, börjat.
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 börjad).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att börjas |
| Present | börjas |
| Past | börjades |
| Supine | har börjats |
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