-d/-t/-dd/-tt

Past Participle (Adjectives)

Level 2

Use past participles to describe a noun that has had an action performed on it, like 'a painted house' or 'a closed door'.

How It Works

The past participle is a versatile form that turns a verb's action into a descriptive quality. The transitive examples here describe something affected by an action. Other participles can come from intransitive verbs and have an active meaning, so not every past participle is passive.

The endings -d, -t, -dd, and -tt are used for weak verbs and must follow the rules of adjective agreement, changing based on the noun they describe.

Formation Rules for Weak Verbs:

1. Group 1 (-ar verbs): Verbs with the pattern måla–målar–målade. Not every infinitive in -a belongs to this group.
Add -d for en-words, -t for ett-words, and -de for plural.

  • att måla (to paint) → en målad vägg (a painted wall), ett målat hus (a painted house), målade stolar (painted chairs)

2. Group 2 Weak Verbs: Learn a consonant-stem pattern such as stänga–stängde or köpa–köpte. A consonant stem by itself does not distinguish weak from strong verbs.
The ending depends on whether the stem's final consonant is voiced or voiceless.

  • A pattern such as stäng-: Add -d for en-words, -t for ett-words, and -da for plural.
    att stänga (to close) → en stängd dörr (a closed door), ett stängt fönster (a closed window), stängda butiker (closed shops)
  • A pattern such as köp- or läs-: Add -t for both en-words and ett-words, and -ta for plural.
    att köpa (to buy) → en köpt bok (a bought book), ett köpt spel (a bought game), köpta presenter (bought presents)

3. Group 3 (-r verbs): Short verbs whose stem ends in a long vowel.
Add -dd for en-words, -tt for ett-words, and -dda for plural.

  • att sy (to sew) → en sydd klänning (a sewn dress), ett sytt örngott (a sewn pillowcase), sydda gardiner (sewn curtains)

Note: Strong and irregular verbs have different participle endings (often -en, -et, -na), such as skriva → skriven, skrivet, skrivna. This pattern focuses on the regular weak verb endings.

These are model patterns, not a letter-by-letter rule for every stem. Compare leda → ledd, lett, ledda. The plural-looking form is also used in definite constructions: den målade väggen and min målade stol.

Examples (5)

  1. Dörren är stängd.

    The door is closed.

    Word by Word: The door is closed.

    'Stängd' is the past participle of 'stänga' (to close). It ends with -d because 'dörr' is an 'en'-word.

  2. Fönstret är målat.

    The window is painted.

    Word by Word: The window is painted.

    'Målat' is the past participle of 'måla' (to paint). It ends with -t to agree with the 'ett'-word 'fönster'.

  3. Alla böcker är köpta.

    All the books are bought.

    Word by Word: All books are bought.

    'Köpta' is the plural form of the past participle of 'köpa' (to buy), agreeing with 'böcker' (books).

  4. Jag fick en hembakad kaka.

    I got a home-baked cookie.

    Word by Word: I got a home-baked cookie.

    Here, 'hembakad' (home-baked) acts as an adjective directly before the noun 'kaka' (an en-word).

  5. Det är ett älskat program.

    It is a loved program.

    Word by Word: It is a loved program.

    'Älskat' agrees with 'program', which is an 'ett'-word.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to change the ending to match the noun's gender.

    Huset är byggd i trä.
    Huset är byggt i trä.

    'Hus' is an 'ett'-word, so the participle adjective must end in -t ('byggt'), not -d ('byggd').

  • Confusing the past participle adjective with the supinum form used with 'har'.

    Väggen är målat vit.
    Väggen är målad vit.

    Vägg is an en-word, so the agreeing participle is målad. Målat can be a neuter participle (Huset är målat) or the supine after har (Jag har målat väggen). The identical spelling does not make them the same grammatical form.

How It Connects

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

-d/-t/-dd/-ttLevel 2Past Participle (Adjectives)

Learn This First

To understand the past participle endings (-d, -t, -dd, -tt), you first need to know how Swedish nouns are categorized by gender (en/ett) and how adjectives change their endings to match those nouns. Since these forms are derived from verbs, a basic grasp of verb stems and conjugation groups is also necessary.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.