vad

What

Level 1

Vad is the Swedish question word for 'what'.

How It Works

Vad is the most common way to ask 'what' in Swedish. It's used to ask for information about things, concepts, or activities.

When you form a question with vad, it usually comes first, followed by the verb, and then the subject. This word order is a key part of Swedish sentence structure, often called the verb-second rule.

Common question structures:

  • Vad + verb + subject? (What does/is [subject]...?)
  • Vad är det? (What is it?)
  • Vad gör du? (What are you doing?)

Use vem to ask for a person’s identity. Vad can still ask about a person’s name, role or classification: Vad heter du?, Vad är hon till yrket?.

A larger question phrase can come first: På vad grundar du det? (What do you base that on?). Echo questions can leave vad later: Du köpte vad? (You bought what?). These are different from the basic direct-question pattern.

Examples (4)

  1. Vad är det?

    What is that?

    Word by Word: What is that?

  2. Vad gör du?

    What are you doing?

    Word by Word: What do you?

  3. Vad heter du?

    What is your name?

    Word by Word: What are-called you?

  4. Vad vill du äta?

    What do you want to eat?

    Word by Word: What want you eat?

Common Mistakes

  • Using vad when asking specifically for a person’s identity.

    Vad är din lärare?
    Vem är din lärare?

    Vad är din lärare? can ask about the teacher’s role or kind; it does not inherently treat the teacher as an object. Vem är din lärare? asks who the teacher is. The intended question determines the choice.

How It Connects

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

vadLevel 1What

Learn This First

To use 'vad' (what) effectively, you need to understand basic Swedish word order for questions and how to conjugate simple verbs to describe actions or states related to the object you are asking about.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

vad