får

May/get to

Level 2

Får means 'may' or 'get to', expressing permission or opportunity.

How It Works

får is a very common modal verb in Swedish with two primary meanings: permission and opportunity. Its expressed verbal complement is an infinitive (e.g., gå, äta, se) without the infinitive marker att.

1. Permission ("may" / "be allowed to")
This is a central use of får. It's used to ask for, grant, or deny permission.

  • Asking for permission: Får jag öppna fönstret? (May I open the window?)
  • Granting permission: Ja, du får öppna det. (Yes, you may open it.)
  • Denying permission (using får inte): Nej, du får inte röka här inne. (No, you are not allowed to smoke in here.)

2. Opportunity ("get to")
får can also mean that someone has the chance or opportunity to do something. The context usually makes it clear which meaning is intended.

  • I morgon får vi träffa den nya chefen. (Tomorrow we get to meet the new boss.)
  • Barnen fick se en älg i skogen. (The children got to see a moose in the forest.)

Conjugation
Learn the irregular paradigm få–får–fick–fått:

  • Present Tense: får (for all pronouns: jag, du, han, hon, vi, ni, de får)
  • Past Tense: fick
  • Supinum (for perfect tenses): fått

Example in past tense (fick): När jag var liten fick jag inte äta godis på vardagar. (When I was little, I wasn't allowed to eat candy on weekdays.)
Example with perfect tense (har fått): Hon har aldrig fått resa utomlands. (She has never gotten to travel abroad.)

The same verb can also mean “receive”: Du får en kaka (You get a cookie). In a context where the action is unwelcome, Du får vänta can mean “You will have to wait.” Context separates these uses from granting permission.

Examples (5)

  1. Får jag låna din penna?

    May I borrow your pen?

    Word by Word: May I borrow your pen?

    Here, 'får' is used to ask for permission.

  2. Man får inte parkera här.

    You are not allowed to park here.

    Word by Word: One may not park here.

    'Får inte' is the standard way to deny permission or state that something is forbidden.

  3. På lördagar får barnen vara uppe sent.

    On Saturdays, the children get to stay up late.

    Word by Word: On Saturdays get the children be up late.

    This example shows 'får' used to express opportunity or a special allowance.

  4. Igår fick jag äntligen se den nya filmen.

    Yesterday I finally got to see the new movie.

    Word by Word: Yesterday got I finally see the new movie.

    'Fick' is the past tense of 'får', used here to talk about a past opportunity.

  5. Om du är snäll så får du en kaka.

    If you are nice, you'll get a cookie.

    Word by Word: If you are nice so get you a cookie.

    Here får is the main verb meaning “receive/get,” with en kaka as its object. It has no following infinitive and is distinct from the modal permission construction.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'att' after 'får'.

    Jag får att gå hem nu.
    Jag får gå hem nu.

    In får gå, the verb governed by får is a bare infinitive. Do not insert att between the modal and its infinitive.

  • Using prohibition when absence of necessity is intended.

    (Intended: You do not have to come.) Du får inte komma.
    Du behöver inte komma.

    Får inte normally denies permission: you may not come. Behöver inte says coming is unnecessary. Kan jag komma? is also a normal permission question; it is not an error simply because it uses kan.

How It Connects

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

fårLevel 2May/get to

Learn This First

To use 'får' (may/get to), you need to understand the basic structure of Swedish sentences and how modal verbs are followed by a main verb in its infinitive form without 'att'. Familiarity with other modal verbs like 'kan' helps establish this pattern.

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Words in This Pattern

få