LW #58: Verb group 4 - strong and irregular verbs (1)

5 hours ago
7 min read

In the next few lessons we will learn about some strong and irregular verbs.

Strong and irregular verbs belong to verb group 4 and they exhibit much more irregularities than the verbs in the first three groups when it comes to verb forms (infinitiv, imperativ) and tenses (presens, preteritum, perfekt).

The irregular verbs are considered to show more irregularities than the strong verbs. The changes in the latter concern mainly the vowel in the verb stem (the main part of the verb).

Here we will not distinguish between strong and irregular verbs, but try to memorize as much as possible and find some regularities in the verbs selected for this lesson that will help us memorize easier. (The verbs that are called strong are marked in yellow in the following table.)

Exercises

Try to fill in the table with what you know so far. You can check the completed table among the correct answers below.

infinitiv infinitive	imperativ imperative	presens present tense	preteritum past tense	perfekt present perfect
att be to pray, to ask politely
att bära to carry
att dra to pull
att dö to die
att falla to fall
att få to get, to be allowed
att ge to give
att gråta to cry

Let's see if we can find any regularities in verb group 4. We'll start with their imperatives.

a) Write all the imperatives that are the same as their infinitives. There are 5 of them.

att be, att bära, att dra, att dö, att falla, att få, att ge, att gråta

____________, ____________, ____________, ____________, ____________

b) Write all the imperatives from the table that are different from their infinitives. There are 3 of them.

____________, ____________, ____________

c) Match A and B with the corresponding statements.

If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, _______.

If the verb infinitive is a monosyllabic word, _______.

A. its imperative will be the same as its infinitive

B. we get the imperative by removing the -a at the end of its infinitive.

d) Write the imperatives for the following verbs:

att falla ____________

att be ____________

att gråta ____________

att dra ____________

Now we will see how the present tense (presens) is formed.

a) Write the present tense of the following verbs.

att falla ____________

att gråta ____________

b) If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, and doesn't end in -ra, we form its present tense by removing the -a from its ending and adding ____________ to it.

A. -r

B. -er

C. -ar

b) If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, and it ends in -ra, we form its present tense by...

A. removing the -ra from its ending.

B. adding the -r to its ending.

C. removing the -a from its ending.

c) Give the example of the previous rule.

infinitive: ____________ → present tense ____________

d) Write the present tense for the following verbs.

att få ____________

att be ____________

att dra ____________

att dö ____________

e) true or false

If the verb infinitive is a monosyllabic word, we form its present tense by adding -er to its ending.

_____________

When it comes to the past tense (preteritum) in verb group 4, the easiest way for me is to learn it by heart.

a) However, there is one thing that we can establish as a rule. Choose the correct answer:

A. The vowel in the verb stem always remains the same.

B. The vowel in the verb stem usually changes.

b) Write the vowel change for the following verbs:

att bära ä → a (bar)

att falla ____ → ____ (____________)

att dra ____ → ____ (____________)

att be ____ → ____ (____________)

Regarding the present perfect tense (perfekt), we can say the following:

a) If it is a monosyllabic infinitive, the present perfect tense usually ends in ______ (2 letters). Otherwise, it ends in _______ (2 letters) or -at (we will learn about these verbs later).

b) Write the present perfect (perfekt) for the following verbs:

att ge ____________

att falla ____________

att bära ____________

att dö ____________

Now let's review what we have learned so far. Answer the questions in columns 2 and 3 and write the correct answer by following column 4.

	What verb form or tense is it (in Swedish)?	What is its infinitive?		Write the verb in the verb form/tense from column 4!
bad			presens
föll			perfekt
ger			imperativ
Dra!			presens
har dött			preteritum
grät			perfekt
Be!			preteritum
får			imperativ
har burit			preteritum

And finally, let's apply our knowledge in sentences.

a) Jag vet inte varför han ____________ hela tiden. (att gråta, presens)

I don't know why he cries all the time.

b) ____________ honom att hjälpa dig! (att be)

Ask him to help you!

c) Han ____________ mig en bok igår. (att ge)

He gave me a book yesterday.

d) Jag ____________ alltid ____________ bra feedback. (att få)

I have always received good feedback.

e) Han ____________ ____________ den bördan hela tiden. (att bära)

He has carried that burden all along.

f) Löven ____________ på hösten. (att falla, presens)

The leaves fall in autumn.

g) ____________ ditt svärd om du vågar! (att dra)

Draw your sword if you dare!

Correct answers

Try to fill in the table with what you know so far. You can check the completed table among the correct answers below.

infinitiv infinitive	imperativ imperative	presens present tense	preteritum past tense	perfekt present perfect
att be to pray, to ask politely	Be!	ber	bad	har bett
att bära to carry	Bär!	bär	bar	har burit
att dra to pull	Dra!	drar	drog	har dragit (har dratt)
att dö to die	Dö!	dör	dog	har dött
att falla to fall	Fall!	faller	föll	har fallit
att få to get, to be allowed	Få!	får	fick	hat fått
att ge to give	Ge!	ger	gav	har gett (har givit)
att gråta to cry	Gråt!	gråter	grät	har gråtit

Let's see if we can find any regularities in verb group 4. We'll start with their imperatives.

a) Write all the imperatives that are the same as their infinitives. There are 5 of them.

att be, att bära, att dra, att dö, att falla, att få, att ge, att gråta

Be!, Dra!, Dö!, Få!, Ge!

b) Write all the imperatives from the table that are different from their infinitives. There are 3 of them.

Bär!, Fall!, Gråt!

c) Match A and B with the corresponding statements.

If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, B.

If the verb infinitive is a monosyllabic word, A.

A. its imperative will be the same as its infinitive

B. we get the imperative by removing the -a at the end of its infinitive.

d) Write the imperatives for the following verbs:

att falla - Fall!

att be - Be!

att gråta - Gråt!

att dra - Dra!

Now we will continue to see how the present tense (presens) is formed.

a) Write the present tense of the following verbs.

att falla - faller

att gråta - gråter

b) If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, and doesn't end in -ra, we form its present tense by removing the -a from its ending and adding ____________ to it.

A. -r

B. -er

C. -ar

b) If the verb infinitive is not a monosyllabic word, and it ends in -ra, we form its present tense by...

A. removing the -ra from its ending.

B. adding the -r to its ending.

C. removing the -a from its ending.

c) Give the example of the previous rule.

infinitive: att bära → present tense: bär

d) Write the present tense (presens) for the following verbs.

att få - får

att be - ber

att dra - drar

att dö - dör

e) true or false

If the verb infinitive is a monosyllabic word, we form its present tense by adding -er to its ending.

false: We do it by by adding -r to its ending.

When it comes to the past tense (preteritum) in verb group 4, the easiest way for me is to learn it by heart.

a) However, there is one thing that we can establish as a rule. Choose the correct answer:

A. The vowel in the verb stem always remains the same.

B. The vowel in the verb stem usually changes.

b) Write the vowel change for the following verbs:

att bära ä → a (bar)

att falla a → ö (föll)

att dra a → o (drog)

att be e → a (bad)

Regarding the present perfect tense (perfekt), we can say the following:

a) If it is a monosyllabic infinitive, the present perfect tense usually ends in -tt (2 letters). Otherwise, it ends in -it (2 letters) or -at (we will learn about these verbs later). And the stem vowel is also often affected.

b) Write the present perfect (perfekt) for the following verbs:

att ge - har get (har givit)

att falla - har fallit

att bära - har burit

att dö - har dött

Now let's review what we have learned so far. Answer the questions in columns 2 and 3 and write the correct answer by following column 4.

	What verb form or tense is it (in Swedish)?	What is its infinitive?		Write the verb in the verb form/tense from column 4!
bad	preteritum	att be	presens	ber
föll	preteritum	at falla	perfekt	faller
ger	presens	att ge	imperativ	Ge!
Dra!	imperativ	att dra	presens	drar
har dött	perfekt	att dö	preteritum	dog
grät	preteritum	att gråta	perfekt	grät
Be!	imperativ	att be	preteritum	bad
får	presens	att få	imperativ	Få!
har burit	perfekt	att bära	preteritum	bar