Phrasal verbs
A verb + a small word (particle) that creates a new meaning, like 'give up' in English. The particle normally carries the main stress of the combination.
How It Works
Particle verbs (partikelverb) are a fundamental part of everyday Swedish. They are formed by combining a verb with a particle, which is typically a preposition or an adverb. This combination creates a new semantic unit.
Key Characteristics:
1. New Meaning: The meaning of a particle verb is often idiomatic and cannot be deduced from its individual parts. For example:
- hålla (to hold) + med (with) → hålla med (to agree)
- tycka (to think, have an opinion) + om (about) → tycka om (to like)
2. Stress: In the ordinary pronunciation of the combination, the particle carries the stress and the verb is unstressed; sentence focus and regional pronunciation can affect the realization. This is the main way to distinguish a particle verb from a regular verb followed by a preposition.
- Particle verb: Jag tycker OM dig. (I like you.)
- Verb + Preposition: Vad TYCKER du om filmen? (What do you think about the movie?)
3. Word Order: The particle normally follows the lexical verb, but a finite verb can be separated from it by the subject or a middle-field adverbial.
- Present/Past/Imperative: The particle follows the lexical verb, but not necessarily immediately: Sätter hon inte på teven? has both hon and inte between them.
Ex: Hon sätter på teven. (She turns on the TV.) - Perfect/Pluperfect (har/hade + supinum): In these tenses, the particle comes after the supinum form of the verb. The word order is: auxiliary verb + supinum + particle.
Ex: Hon har satt på teven. (She has turned on the TV.) - Subordinate Clauses: In an ordinary subordinate clause, inte precedes the finite verb; the lexical verb still precedes its particle. Compare the BIFF rule for verb placement.
Ex: Jag vet att hon sätter på teven. (I know that she turns on the TV.)
Particle Position And Meaning
Do not move an ordinary object pronoun before the particle by copying English turn it off: Swedish uses stäng av den. Reflexive combinations have their own established order, such as ta på sig but ge sig av. Learn these as units.
The stress contrast describes ordinary lexical pronunciation, not a prohibition on contrastive sentence focus. Emphasizing Jag or another word does not automatically turn a sentence into a different dictionary construction. In ordinary speech, släcka ljuset is the usual way to say turn off the light; the retained stänga av example emphasizes switching something off.
Examples (5)
- Jag tycker om att läsa böcker.
I like to read books.
Word by Word: I like / to read books.
- Kan du stänga av ljuset?
Can you turn off the light?
Word by Word: Can you close off the light?
'Stänga' means 'to close', but 'stänga av' means 'to turn off'.
- Vi ska hälsa på mormor i helgen.
We are going to visit grandma this weekend.
Word by Word: We shall greet on grandma in the-weekend.
- Ge inte upp, du klarar det!
Don't give up, you can do it!
Word by Word: Give not up, you manage it!
- Jag har redan tagit på mig skorna.
I have already put on my shoes.
Word by Word: I have already taken on me the-shoes.
This example shows a reflexive particle verb ('ta på sig') in the perfect tense. The particle 'på' follows the main verb 'tagit'.
Common Mistakes
Placing the particle incorrectly in perfect/pluperfect tenses.
Jag har på satt teven.Jag har satt på teven.In the perfect and pluperfect tenses, the particle comes after the supinum form of the verb. It is separated from the auxiliary verb ('har') by the main verb.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To learn particle verbs, you need to understand how Swedish verbs conjugate and how they interact with sentence structure. Since the particle's position can change depending on whether the object is a noun or a pronoun, familiarity with object pronouns and the V2 word order rule is crucial for natural phrasing.
- Verb-second rule
The placement of the particle relative to the verb and other sentence elements depends on the V2 rule and general word order.
Level 3 - mig/dig/honom/henneObject Pronouns
Object pronouns are frequently placed between the verb and the particle in Swedish, making knowledge of object pronouns necessary for correct usage.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- Prepositional verbs
Ordinary particle stress helps distinguish tycka OM (like) from TYCKA om (have an opinion about). Prepositional constructions also have lexical meanings; their prepositions need not be literal. Learn the whole construction, not only its spelling.
Level 3 - har + SupinePerfect Tense
In the perfect tense, the particle still follows the lexical verb, now in its supine form: Jag har stängt av teven. The auxiliary does not attract the particle.
Level 2 - Subordinate clause word order
When using a particle verb in a subordinate clause, the verb and particle unit must be placed correctly according to the subordinate clause word order, typically after adverbs like 'inte'.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Phrasal verbs in Bubblegum
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