| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att driva | to … |
| Present | driver | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | drev | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har drivit | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade drivit | had …ed |
| Future | ska driva / kommer att driva | will … |
| Imperative | driv! | … ! |
| Past participle | driven | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | drivande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag driver, du driver, hon driver, vi driver, de driver. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How driva 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. driva is one of them: driver, drev, drivit. 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 driven).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att drivas |
| Present | drivs |
| Past | drevs |
| Supine | har drivits |
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