smisli

Swedish verb · Group 4 (strong / irregular)

ta conjugation


att ta means “take, grab”. Present tar, past tog, supine tagit.

FormSwedishEnglish pattern
Infinitiveatt tato …
PresenttarI …, he …s
Past (preteritum)togI …ed
Supine (perfect)har tagithave …ed
Past perfecthade tagithad …ed
Futureska ta / kommer att tawill …
Imperativeta!… !
Past participletagen…ed (adjective)

Swedish verbs do not change for person: jag tar, du tar, hon tar, vi tar, de tar. Learn one form per tense and you can use it with everyone.

How ta 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. ta is one of them: tar, tog, tagit. 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 tagen).

FormSwedish
Infinitiveatt tas
Presenttas
Pasttogs
Supinehar tagits

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

1 take, grab

skaffar sig kontroll (1) över, griper (1), fattar (1)

Pattern ngn tar ngt · ngn tar ngn (i ngt)

  • ta tag i spaken!grab the controls!
  • ta fatt bollengrab the ball
  • hon tog mitt äpple!she took my apple!
  • jag tar tillbaka detI take that back

2 touch

rör (vid)

Pattern ngn tar på ngn/ngt

  • man får inte ta på de utställda föremålenyou are not allowed to touch the objects on exhibit

3 take

använder sig av

Pattern ngn tar ngt

  • ta bussen till jobbettake the bus to work
  • hon brukar ta bussen till jobbet

4 take

dröjer, upptar (tid)

Pattern ngt tar TID

  • resan tar 20 minuterthe trip takes 20 minutes
  • resan till Stockholm tar 3 timmar

5 take; bring

för, transporterar

Pattern ngn tar (med) ngt/ngn (RIKTNING)

  • ta någon till sjukhusettake sby to the hospital
  • ta med sig matsäckbring a packed lunch
  • de tog den medvetslöse mannen till sjukhuset
  • Ta med matsäck på utflykten!

6 steal; to start burning; to go from embers into open flames; accept (as means of payment); to do, to get down to doing (something requiring some degree of decisiveness)

tar sig för

Pattern ngn tar och VERB

  • ska vi ta och koka kaffe?should we go and make some coffee?

Phrases with ta

Swedish builds many meanings by adding a particle (upp, ut, på, om) or a fixed phrase. These are the ones the dictionary lists:

  • ta del avstudy ("find out about")
  • över huvud tageton the whole ("at all")
  • praktiskt tagetpractically ("almost")
Questions

What is the past tense of ta in Swedish?

The past tense (preteritum) of ta is tog, the same for every person: jag tog, du tog, vi tog.

What is the supine of ta?

tagit. The supine is used with har and hade to form the perfect: jag har tagit, jag hade tagit.

Is ta a regular verb?

No. ta is a strong or irregular verb (group 4): tar, tog, tagit.

More group 4 (strong / irregular) verbs

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