bo means "to live" in the sense of to reside, to dwell — where your home is. It is one of the first verbs every learner needs (Var bor du? "Where do you live?") and it is the model Group 3 verb: the short class whose infinitive ends in a stressed vowel. Learn its three forms cold and you have the template for tro, sy, klä and the rest of the group.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bo | bor | bodde | bott | bo | Group 3 |
Because the infinitive already ends in a vowel, there is nothing to strip. The present just adds -r: bo → bor. The past adds a doubled -dde: bodde. The supine — after har — ends in doubled -tt: bott. The imperative is the bare bo (rare in practice — you don't often command someone where to live). The double d and t are not arbitrary: a short stressed vowel must be written with a following double consonant, the same length rule that gives you katt and vill. The o is long in bo (drawn out) but short in bodde and bott.
Use 1: bo i + place — the present
The everyday use is bo i + a place. The preposition is i ("in") for towns, countries and areas; for a street or a building you'll also meet på. The thing to remember is that bo needs a preposition before the place — it is not a direct object.
Jag bor i Stockholm, mitt i stan.
I live in Stockholm, right in the centre. bo i + place — the bread-and-butter pattern.
Var bor du nuförtiden?
Where do you live these days? The question every learner needs in week one.
Vi bor på landet, en timme från närmaste stad.
We live in the countryside, an hour from the nearest town. bo på landet is a fixed expression for 'live in the country'.
Use 2: the past — bodde
The preteritum bodde covers a finished stretch of residence — where you used to live.
Innan vi flyttade hit bodde vi i Göteborg i tio år.
Before we moved here we lived in Gothenburg for ten years. bodde — Group 3, doubled -dde past.
När jag var barn bodde vi granne med en bonde.
When I was a child we lived next door to a farmer. A framed past situation.
Use 3: the perfect — har bott
The perfect har bott covers residence that reaches into the present, or life experience ("I have lived in three countries"). After har you must use the supine bott, never the preteritum bodde.
Jag har bott utomlands i flera år, så jag saknar Sverige.
I've lived abroad for several years, so I miss Sweden. har bott — the perfect, supine bott after har.
Hon har bott på samma adress hela sitt liv.
She's lived at the same address her whole life. Experience reaching to the present.
bo vs leva
English "live" splits into two Swedish verbs, and mixing them up is the classic error. bo is about residence — the building, town or country where your home is. leva is about being alive and the life you lead — your existence, your lifestyle, your survival. You bor in Stockholm, but you lever a healthy life, and a person who is still alive is vid liv / lever fortfarande.
| Verb | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bo | reside, dwell (where your home is) | Jag bor i Malmö. — I live in Malmö. |
| leva | be alive, lead a life | Han lever fortfarande. — He's still alive. |
Jag bor i en liten lägenhet men jag lever ett bra liv.
I live in a small flat but I lead a good life. bor = where; lever = how/that you're alive — both in one sentence.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag boar i Sverige. (Group 1 ending)
Incorrect — bo is Group 3, with nothing to strip. The present is just bo + r: bor.
✅ Jag bor i Sverige.
I live in Sweden.
❌ Vi bode i Stockholm. (single d)
Incorrect — the short vowel forces a doubled consonant: the past is bodde, not *bode.
✅ Vi bodde i Stockholm.
We lived in Stockholm.
❌ Hon har bodde här länge.
Incorrect — after har you need the supine bott, not the preteritum bodde.
✅ Hon har bott här länge.
She has lived here a long time.
❌ Jag bor Stockholm.
Incorrect — bo needs a preposition before the place. Say bor i Stockholm.
✅ Jag bor i Stockholm.
I live in Stockholm.
❌ Min farfar bor fortfarande. (meaning 'is still alive')
Wrong verb — for 'is still alive' use leva: lever fortfarande. bo is only about where you reside.
✅ Min farfar lever fortfarande.
My grandfather is still alive.
Now practice Swedish
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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.