| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att riva | to … |
| Present | river | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | rev | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har rivit | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade rivit | had …ed |
| Future | ska riva / kommer att riva | will … |
| Imperative | riv! | … ! |
| Past participle | riven | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | rivande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag river, du river, hon river, vi river, de river. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How riva 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. riva is one of them: river, rev, rivit. 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 riven).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att rivas |
| Present | rivs |
| Past | revs |
| Supine | har rivits |
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