| Form | Swedish | English pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | att säga | to … |
| Present | säger | I …, he …s |
| Past (preteritum) | sade | I …ed |
| Supine (perfect) | har sagt | have …ed |
| Past perfect | hade sagt | had …ed |
| Future | ska säga / kommer att säga | will … |
| Imperative | säg! | … ! |
| Past participle | sagd | …ed (adjective) |
| Present participle | sägande | …ing |
Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag säger, du säger, hon säger, vi säger, de säger. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.
How säga 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. säga is one of them: säger, sade, sagt. 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 sagd).
| Form | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | att sägas |
| Present | sägs |
| Past | sades |
| Supine | har sagts |
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