behandla (to treat, handle) | Swedish Grammar

behandla means "to treat" or "to handle" — a useful, register-flexible verb that runs from the doctor's office (behandla en patient) to the desk of a civil servant (behandla en ansökan). It is built on the be- prefix plus the stem handla ("to act, to shop"), and like every other be- verb it is a textbook Group 1 verb.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
behandla	behandlar	behandlade	behandlat	behandla	Group 1

Everything is derived by rule: present behandlar (stem + -r), past behandlade (stem + -ade), supine behandlat (the form after har: har behandlat), imperative the bare stem Behandla!. There is no vowel change and no subject agreement — jag behandlar, hon behandlar, de behandlar are identical.

The be- prefix is worth noticing. It is an unstressed, non-detachable prefix borrowed from German (compare German behandeln), and it almost always makes a verb transitive — it takes a direct object. Where handla on its own means "to act" or "to shop" (intransitive), behandla means "to treat something." This is a reliable pattern across the whole be- family (betala "pay for," besöka "visit," betyda "mean"): the prefix pulls an object in. And crucially for the learner, every be- verb built on an -a stem is Group 1, so the conjugation never surprises you.

Use 1: treat — a patient, an illness

The medical sense is the most distinctive. You behandla a patient, a wound, or a condition. This is the word a doctor or nurse uses.

Läkaren behandlar patienten med antibiotika.

The doctor is treating the patient with antibiotics. behandlar — present, the medical sense.

De behandlade infektionen direkt.

They treated the infection right away. behandlade — the regular Group 1 past.

Hon har behandlats för sin sjukdom i flera år.

She has been treated for her illness for several years. har behandlats — perfect passive, supine behandlat + passive -s.

Use 2: treat — handle a topic, a material

behandla also means "to deal with / cover" a subject in writing or discussion, and "to treat" a material (wood, metal) so it lasts.

Boken behandlar andra världskriget ur ett svenskt perspektiv.

The book deals with the Second World War from a Swedish perspective. behandlar + a topic = 'cover, treat of'.

Du måste behandla trät med olja innan vintern.

You have to treat the wood with oil before winter. behandla a material so it lasts.

Use 3: handle, process — an application, a case

In administrative language, behandla means "to process / handle" a case, an application, or a request. This is the verb on every official form and waiting-time notice.

Vi behandlar din ansökan inom två veckor.

We will process your application within two weeks. behandla en ansökan — the administrative sense.

Ärendet har redan behandlats av kommunen. (formal)

The matter has already been dealt with by the municipality. (formal) har behandlats — perfect passive in officialese.

Use 4: behandla någon väl / illa — treat someone well / badly

To say how you treat a person, behandla takes a direct object plus an adverb — most commonly väl ("well") or illa ("badly"). This is the moral sense, "to treat someone a certain way."

Man ska behandla andra som man själv vill bli behandlad.

You should treat others the way you yourself want to be treated. behandla + object, the golden-rule construction.

De behandlade gästerna väl.

They treated the guests well. behandla någon väl = 'treat someone well'.

Jag tycker att hon blev illa behandlad.

I think she was treated badly. illa behandlad — 'badly treated', a fixed pairing.

A note on the passive

Because behandla is so often used administratively and medically, you'll meet it constantly in the passive, where the focus is on the thing being treated rather than who does the treating. Swedish has two passives, and both are common with this verb: the -s passive (ärendet behandlas "the matter is being dealt with") and the bli-passive (hon blev illa behandlad "she was treated badly"). The -s passive feels neutral and bureaucratic; the bli-passive often carries an emotional or evaluative colour, which is exactly why it pairs so naturally with väl and illa.

Alla ärenden behandlas i tur och ordning.

All matters are processed in turn. behandlas — the neutral -s passive of the administrative sense.

Ingen vill bli illa behandlad på jobbet.

Nobody wants to be treated badly at work. bli illa behandlad — the evaluative bli-passive.

The noun: en behandling

The deverbal noun is en behandling ("a treatment / a processing"). It covers both the medical sense (en behandling hos läkaren) and the administrative one (behandlingen av ärendet). The pattern — Group 1 verb stem + -ing — is one of the most productive noun-forming patterns in Swedish, so once you have the verb, the noun is essentially free.

Behandlingen tog längre tid än väntat.

The treatment/processing took longer than expected. en behandling — the noun from behandla.

Common Mistakes

❌ Doktorn behandler patienten. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — behandla is Group 1, so the present is behandlar (-ar), not *behandler (-er).

✅ Doktorn behandlar patienten.

The doctor is treating the patient.

❌ De behandlde ansökan. (bare -de)

Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is behandlade, not *behandlde.

✅ De behandlade ansökan.

They processed the application.

❌ Han behandlade henne bra. (wrong adverb)

Off — the idiom is behandla någon väl, not *bra. Use väl with behandla.

✅ Han behandlade henne väl.

He treated her well.

❌ Vi har behandlad din ansökan. (wrong supine)

Incorrect — the supine after har ends in -at: har behandlat, not *har behandlad (that's the past participle, used for adjectives).

✅ Vi har behandlat din ansökan.

We have processed your application.

💡

behandla stretches across three worlds: medicine (behandla en patient), discourse (boken behandlar ämnet), and bureaucracy (behandla en ansökan). For people, use behandla någon väl/illa — and remember the noun en behandling. All Group 1, so every form is regular: behandla – behandlar – behandlade – behandlat.

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