bero means "to depend" — and it is almost always glued to the preposition på. You rarely meet bero alone; in practice it lives in bero på ("depend on"), the conversational Det beror på ("it depends"), and bero på att ("be because"). It's also a clean example of a Group 3 verb, the small class of verbs whose stem ends in a stressed vowel.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bero | beror | berodde | berott | — (none in practice) | Group 3 |
Group 3 verbs have a stem ending in a stressed vowel (here bero), and you can see the consequences in the table. The present is stem + -r (beror, not -ar). The past is stem + -dde with a doubled d (berodde). The supine is stem + -tt (berott), giving the perfect har berott. There is no real imperative — you don't order something to "depend" — so the form is absent in practice.
Use 1: bero på — depend on
The core meaning is bero på — "depend on." Crucially, the på is a governed preposition, fixed by the verb. It is not the English "on"; it's simply the preposition Swedish demands after bero. Whatever the outcome depends on follows på.
Allt beror på vädret i morgon.
Everything depends on the weather tomorrow. beror på + the thing depended on.
Hur länge vi stannar beror på dig.
How long we stay depends on you. på governs the person here.
Priset berodde på hur många som kom.
The price depended on how many people came. berodde — the Group 3 past with doubled d.
Resultatet har alltid berott på tur.
The result has always depended on luck. har berott — the perfect, supine berott.
Use 2: Det beror på — 'it depends'
On its own, Det beror på is the standard Swedish way to say "it depends" — the answer you give when something isn't fixed. You can leave it bare, or continue with what it hinges on.
— Kommer du i morgon? — Det beror på.
— Are you coming tomorrow? — It depends. Det beror på, left hanging.
Det beror på hur mycket tid jag har.
It depends on how much time I have. Det beror på + an indirect question.
Use 3: bero på att — 'be because'
When the reason is a whole clause, you use bero på att — literally "depend on that," but idiomatically "be because." This is the natural way to attribute a cause in Swedish.
Förseningen berodde på att det hade snöat.
The delay was because it had snowed. berodde på att + clause = 'was because'.
Att han var trött berodde på att han hade jobbat hela natten.
His being tired was because he'd worked all night. bero på att linking effect to cause.
Common Mistakes
❌ Allt beror av vädret.
Incorrect — bero governs på, not av. The fixed preposition is bero på.
✅ Allt beror på vädret.
Everything depends on the weather.
❌ Priset berade på resultatet. (Group 1 ending)
Incorrect — bero is Group 3, so the past is berodde with doubled d, not the Group 1 *berade.
✅ Priset berodde på resultatet.
The price depended on the result.
❌ Det berott på hur mycket tid jag har.
Wrong form — the present is beror; berott is the supine, used only after har.
✅ Det beror på hur mycket tid jag har.
It depends on how much time I have.
❌ Förseningen berodde på det hade snöat. (missing att)
Incomplete — when the cause is a full clause you need att: bero på att det hade snöat.
✅ Förseningen berodde på att det hade snöat.
The delay was because it had snowed.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Using the Verb ReferenceA2 — How to read the single-verb reference cards and the principal-parts citation system that underpins them. Every Swedish verb is cited as a short chain — infinitive – present – preteritum – supine – (past participle) — because every other form is derivable from those parts. This page decodes one weak verb (tala – talar – talade – talat) and one strong verb (skriva – skriver – skrev – skrivit – skriven), explains the conjugation-group labels (1/2/3/4), and gives a key to everything on a card.
- The Four Conjugation GroupsA2 — Swedish verbs sort into four conjugation classes, identified not by the present tense but by the PAST (preteritum) and supine: Group 1 (talar/talade/talat), Group 2 (ringer/ringde/ringt, köper/köpte/köpt), Group 3 (bor/bodde/bott), and Group 4, the strong verbs (skriver/skrev/skrivit) that change their vowel. Group 1 is so dominant and regular that every new and borrowed verb joins it — so treat it as the default and memorise only the closed list of strong verbs.
- Verb + Preposition GovernmentB2 — Many Swedish verbs demand a specific, unpredictable preposition: tänka på (think about), vänta på (wait for), tro på (believe in), be om (ask for), tycka om (like), längta efter (long for), bero på (depend on). The governed preposition rarely matches English's, and it's unstressed (unlike a particle), so these combinations are vocabulary items you learn as whole units.