beskriva means "to describe." It is built from the inseparable prefix be- plus the strong verb skriva ("to write"), and the single most useful fact about it is that the prefix changes nothing about the conjugation: beskriva runs exactly parallel to skriva, keeping the i–e–i ablaut — beskriva – beskrev – beskrivit, participle beskriven. Learn one strong base verb and its prefixed relatives come almost for free.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beskriva | beskriver | beskrev | beskrivit | beskriv | Group 4 (strong), be- + skriva, i–e–i |
Read the vowels across the row, ignoring the prefix: i in beskriva / beskriver, e in the past beskrev, i again in the supine beskrivit — identical to skriva – skrev – skrivit. The agreeing past participle is beskriven (en-word), beskrivet (ett-word), beskrivna (plural/definite), again mirroring skriven / skrivet / skrivna.
Why the prefix doesn't touch the ablaut
The prefix be- is inseparable and unstressed. The main stress falls on the root — beSKRIva, beSKREV — and be- simply glues to the front for all of time; it never detaches and never floats to the end of the clause the way a true particle (like upp in skriva upp) does. Because the strong vowel alternation lives inside the root skriv-, and the prefix leaves the root untouched, the whole i–e–i machinery carries over wholesale. This is a reliable, general principle: an inseparable prefix (be-, för-, ur-, an-, miss-) rides along and inherits the base verb's strong forms.
Kan du beskriva mannen du såg utanför banken?
Can you describe the man you saw outside the bank? beskriva — infinitive, vowel i.
Vittnet beskrev bilen i minsta detalj.
The witness described the car down to the smallest detail. beskrev — strong past, vowel e.
Forskarna har beskrivit en helt ny art.
The researchers have described a completely new species. har beskrivit — perfect, supine vowel i.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts directly: beskriver (present, covering both "describe" and "am describing"), beskrev (simple past), har beskrivit (perfect), hade beskrivit (pluperfect).
Hon beskriver alltid sina resor så levande att man känner doften.
She always describes her travels so vividly that you can smell them. beskriver — present, no separate progressive.
Hur skulle du beskriva stämningen på mötet igår?
How would you describe the mood at yesterday's meeting? beskriva after the modal skulle.
Hade läkaren beskrivit symptomen tydligare hade vi förstått.
Had the doctor described the symptoms more clearly, we would have understood. hade beskrivit — pluperfect, still the supine.
Use 2: the participle beskriven and the passive
As an agreeing participle, beskriven describes a noun ("a described X") and forms the periphrastic passive with vara/bli; the s-passive is beskrivs / beskrevs. Watch the agreement just as with skriven.
Den ovan beskrivna metoden fungerar bäst på små grupper.
The method described above works best on small groups. beskrivna — agreeing participle, definite.
Problemet är väl beskrivet i rapporten.
The problem is well described in the report. ett-word problemet → beskrivet.
Use 3: the noun en beskrivning
The standard noun is en beskrivning ("a description"), formed with the productive -ning suffix on the verb stem — the same machinery that turns skriva into skrivning and läsa into läsning. Plural: beskrivningar.
Polisen gick ut med en detaljerad beskrivning av den misstänkte.
The police released a detailed description of the suspect. en beskrivning — the -ning noun.
Bilderna stämmer inte med beskrivningen på hemsidan.
The pictures don't match the description on the website. beskrivningen — definite.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vittnet beskrivde bilen i detalj.
Incorrect — beskriva is strong; it takes no -de ending. The past is the vowel-changed beskrev.
✅ Vittnet beskrev bilen i detalj.
The witness described the car in detail.
❌ Forskarna har beskrev en ny art.
Wrong form after har — you need the supine beskrivit, not the past beskrev.
✅ Forskarna har beskrivit en ny art.
The researchers have described a new species.
❌ Kan du skriva be mannen? (splitting the prefix)
The prefix be- is inseparable — it can never float off like a particle. It stays welded to the verb: beskriva.
✅ Kan du beskriva mannen?
Can you describe the man?
❌ Problemet är väl beskriven i rapporten.
Wrong agreement — problemet is an ett-word, so the participle must be beskrivet, not beskriven.
✅ Problemet är väl beskrivet i rapporten.
The problem is well described in the report.
❌ Polisen gav ut en beskrivelse av den misstänkte.
Wrong noun suffix — Swedish forms this noun with -ning, not the Danish/Norwegian-style -else: it's beskrivning.
✅ Polisen gav ut en beskrivning av den misstänkte.
The police released a description of the suspect.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Index of Strong Verbs by PatternB1 — A navigable index of the common Swedish strong verbs, grouped by ablaut pattern rather than alphabetically — i–e–i (skriva/skrev/skrivit), i–a–u (dricka/drack/druckit), a–o–a (ta/tog/tagit), and the irregular/contracted set (gå/gick/gått). Each group is a four-part table of principal parts with English cognate hints, because organising strong verbs by shared vowel pattern turns a scary list into a few learnable families.
- Strong Pattern: i – e – i (skriva, bita)B1 — The cleanest strong class: infinitive i, past e, supine back to i — skriva/skrev/skrivit, bita/bet/bitit, gripa/grep/gripit, stiga/steg/stigit, rida/red/ridit, skina/sken/skinit. This is the same family as English write/wrote/written and bite/bit/bitten, so the cognate intuition transfers with only a vowel adjustment. The trap is regularising (*skrivade) or using the wrong supine vowel.
- Prefixed (Inseparable) Verbs (förstå, bestämma)B2 — Swedish has two opposite verb-building systems: native particles that are STRESSED and split off (stå ut), and borrowed prefixes be-, för-, an-, und-, er- that are UNSTRESSED, glued on, and never separate (förstå, bestämma). Stress placement alone tells you which system a verb belongs to.