bli + Adjective

Become + Adjective

Level 4

Use bli + an adjective to describe a transition into a new state or quality. For example, Jag blir glad means 'I become happy'.

How It Works

The structure bli + adjective is essential for expressing changes in qualities, feelings, or states. It contrasts with vara (to be), which describes a static condition.

Structure: Subject + bli (conjugated) + Adjective

The verb bli is a strong, irregular verb with the following forms:

  • Infinitive: bli (to become)
  • Present: blir (become/becomes)
  • Past (Preterite): blev (became)
  • Supine: blivit (become)

Adjective Agreement is Crucial
The adjective that follows bli must match the subject. This follows the standard rules for adjective agreement:

  • En-words (common gender): The adjective uses its base form. (e.g., en glad pojke -> Pojken blir glad)
  • Ett-words (neuter gender): A regular adjective generally uses its neuter form, often ending in -t. (e.g., ett rött hus -> Huset blir rött)
  • Plural: A regular adjective generally uses its plural form, often ending in -a. (e.g., glada barn -> Barnen blir glada)

Usage in Different Tenses:

  • Present (blir): Can describe a current, habitual or contextually future change.
    Maten blir kall om du inte äter nu. (The food will get cold if you don't eat now.)
  • Past (blev): Describes a completed change in the past.
    Jag blev förvånad när jag hörde nyheten. (I became surprised when I heard the news.)
  • Perfect (har blivit): Describes a change that has happened and is relevant now.
    Han har blivit mycket längre i sommar. (He has become much taller this summer.)
  • Future (kommer att bli / ska bli): Describes a future change.
    Det kommer att bli svårt, men vi klarar det. (It's going to become difficult, but we'll manage.)

Contrast with göra + adjective
While bli presents a change in the subject’s state without itself specifying the cause, the pattern göra + adjective is used when an external force causes the change (to make something + adjective).

  • Jag blir glad. (I become happy.) - Intransitive
  • Du gör mig glad. (You make me happy.) - Transitive

The agreement examples use ordinary inflecting adjectives. Some adjectives have unchanged forms, such as bra, and semantic agreement can occur with some subjects. Learn the adjective’s actual forms instead of attaching -t or -a mechanically.

Examples (5)

  1. Jag blir trött när jag läser för länge.

    I get tired when I read for too long.

    Word by Word: I become tired when I read for too long.

  2. Himlen blev plötsligt mörk.

    The sky suddenly became dark.

    Word by Word: The sky became suddenly dark.

  3. Barnen har blivit sjuka.

    The children have gotten sick.

    Word by Word: The children have become sick.

    Here, sjuka is the plural form of the adjective sjuk (sick) to agree with the plural subject barnen (the children).

  4. Det kommer att bli kallt i natt.

    It's going to get cold tonight.

    Word by Word: It comes to become cold tonight.

    Using the future tense kommer att bli. The adjective kallt is in its neuter form to agree with the impersonal subject det.

  5. Hon blev glad över presenten.

    She became happy about the present.

    Word by Word: She became happy over the present.

Common Mistakes

  • Using vara when you intend to emphasize becoming rather than being angry.

    Jag var arg när jag såg röran.
    Jag blev arg när jag såg röran.

    Both sentences are grammatical. Var describes being angry at that time; blev presents the change into anger. The change need not be instantaneous, and bli does not mean it happened without an outside cause.

  • Forgetting to make the adjective agree with the subject.

    Huset blev gammal och sliten.
    Huset blev gammalt och slitet.

    The adjective must agree with the gender and number of the noun it describes. Huset is a neuter (ett-word) noun, so the adjectives must take the neuter -t ending: gammalt and slitet.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

bli + AdjectiveLevel 4Become + Adjective

Learn This First

To use 'bli + adjective' correctly, you need to know how to conjugate the irregular verb 'bli' and ensure the following adjective matches the subject's gender and number (adjective agreement).

Words in This Pattern

bli