Är, har, heter: your first three Swedish verbs
The Swedish verbs vara, ha and heta (to be, to have, to be called), why Swedish verbs never change for person, and how to negate with inte.
Three verbs carry most beginner Swedish: vara (to be), ha (to have), and heta (to be called). Learn their present tense forms and one wonderful fact about Swedish grammar, and you can already build dozens of real sentences.
The wonderful fact: verbs never change for person
In English, you say "I am" but "she is". In Spanish, French, or German, every verb has six or more present tense forms to memorise. Swedish has exactly one.
Jag är, du är, han är, hon är, vi är, ni är, de är. The verb stays är no matter who is doing the being. This holds for every verb in the language, in every tense. Swap the subject, keep the verb.
This is the single best piece of news a beginner gets about Swedish grammar, so enjoy it before the noun genders arrive.
The three verbs
These three are irregular: you can't guess är from vara, you just learn it. (Most Swedish verbs are regular and follow four tidy patterns, covered later in this series.) The good news again: irregular in Swedish only means the present form is unpredictable. It is still the same single form for every person.
Är: saying what things are
- Jag är trött. I am tired.
- Hon är läkare. She is a doctor.
- Vi är hemma. We are at home.
- Det är kallt. It is cold.
One detail worth noticing in the second example: Swedish drops the article with professions. She is a doctor, but in Swedish simply Hon är läkare, never "en läkare" in this sentence. Saying what someone works as takes no en.
Har: saying what you have
- Jag har en katt. I have a cat.
- Han har en bil. He has a car.
- Vi har en fråga. We have a question.
- Du har rätt. You are right. (Literally: you have right. A very common idiom.)
Heter: names, and not just for people
- Jag heter Sara. My name is Sara.
- Vad heter du? What is your name?
- Hon heter Linnea. Her name is Linnea.
- Vad heter det på svenska? What is that called in Swedish?
That last sentence might be the most useful thing in this article. Point at anything, ask Vad heter det på svenska?, and every Swede becomes your teacher.
Negating with inte
To say something is not the case, put inte right after the verb:
- Jag är inte trött. I am not tired.
- Jag har inte tid. I don't have time.
- Han heter inte Erik. His name is not Erik.
No helper verb, no "do not", just inte after the verb. (Where inte goes in longer and more complex sentences is part of Swedish word order, which has its own article: the V2 rule.)
Hear them in context
Five sentences using all three verbs. Play each line and repeat it out loud.
Swedish
Hej! Jag heter Omar och jag är från Syrien.
Vi har en lägenhet i Malmö.
Hon är trött i dag.
Vad heter det på svenska?
Du har rätt!
English
Hi! My name is Omar and I'm from Syria.
We have an apartment in Malmö.
She is tired today.
What is that called in Swedish?
You're right!