dansa (to dance) | Swedish Grammar

dansa means "to dance" — and it is a perfect model of the regular Group 1 verb. Group 1 is the open, productive class: when Swedish borrows a foreign verb, it almost always lands here and conjugates exactly like dansa. Learn this one and you have the pattern for thousands more.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
dansa	dansar	dansade	dansat	dansa	Group 1

Every form is built by rule. The present is the infinitive plus -r (dansa → dansar); the past adds -de to that (dansade); the supine — the form after har — ends in -at (dansat); and the imperative is the bare stem (Dansa! "Dance!"). There is no stem change and no agreement with the subject: jag dansar, hon dansar, de dansar are identical.

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Group 1 is the productive class — the one foreign verbs join. Googla ("to google"), jogga ("to jog") and chilla ("to chill") all conjugate exactly like dansa: googlar, googlade, googlat. If you meet a new -a verb and aren't sure, betting on Group 1 is usually right.

Use 1: dancing

The plain verb stands on its own or takes a kind of dance as its object.

Vill du dansa?

Do you want to dance? dansa — the bare infinitive after vill.

Vi dansade hela natten på bröllopet.

We danced all night at the wedding. dansade — the regular Group 1 past.

Hon har dansat balett sedan hon var fem.

She has danced ballet since she was five. har dansat — the perfect, supine dansat after har.

Use 2: dansa med — dance with someone

To say whom you dance with, Swedish uses dansa med ("dance with"), the preposition med introducing the partner.

Får jag dansa med dig?

May I dance with you? dansa med — the polite invitation to a partner.

Han dansade med sin mormor på festen.

He danced with his grandmother at the party. dansade med — past, partner introduced by med.

Use 3: dansa runt midsommarstången — the midsummer custom

The most Swedish use of all: at midsommar, families gather to dansa runt midsommarstången — "dance around the maypole." The flower-decked pole is raised in a meadow and people dance and sing around it (the famous song is Små grodorna, "The Little Frogs"). It is the single most iconic Swedish summer tradition.

På midsommar dansar vi runt midsommarstången.

At midsummer we dance around the maypole. dansar runt + the definite midsommarstången.

Barnen dansade runt midsommarstången och sjöng Små grodorna.

The children danced around the maypole and sang 'The Little Frogs'. dansade runt — past of the custom.

Har du någonsin dansat runt en midsommarstång?

Have you ever danced around a maypole? har dansat runt — the perfect.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag danser. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — dansa is Group 1, so the present is dansar (-ar), not *danser (-er).

✅ Jag dansar.

I dance.

❌ Vi dansde hela natten. (bare -de)

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

✅ Vi dansade hela natten.

We danced all night.

❌ Hon har dansade balett.

Incorrect — after har you need the supine dansat, not the past dansade.

✅ Hon har dansat balett.

She has danced ballet.

❌ Får jag dansa dig?

Incorrect — you dance with a person: dansa med dig, not a bare object.

✅ Får jag dansa med dig?

May I dance with you?

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dansa is the model regular Group 1 verb: dansa – dansar – dansade – dansat, every form by rule, and the class all loanwords join. For the partner use dansa med, and remember the cultural keystone dansa runt midsommarstången — the midsummer maypole dance.

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