diska (to wash dishes) | Swedish Grammar

diska means "to wash the dishes" — and Swedish gives this everyday chore its own dedicated verb, where English has to say "do the dishes" or "wash up." It is a fully regular Group 1 verb, built from the noun disk ("the dishes; the washing-up").

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
diska	diskar	diskade	diskat	diska	Group 1

Regular throughout. Present is the infinitive plus -r (diska → diskar); the past adds -de (diskade); the supine after har ends in -at (diskat); the imperative is the bare stem (Diska! "Do the dishes!"). No stem change, no subject agreement.

Use 1: doing the dishes

The verb usually stands alone — diska already contains "the dishes," so you rarely need an object. When you do name what you washed, it follows directly.

Jag diskar efter middagen, så slappna av.

I'll do the dishes after dinner, so relax. diska — stands alone, no object needed.

Vems tur är det att diska ikväll?

Whose turn is it to do the dishes tonight? the bare infinitive diska after att.

Han diskade alla glasen för hand.

He washed all the glasses by hand. diskade — the regular Group 1 past, with an object.

Har du diskat redan? Vad snällt!

Have you done the dishes already? How kind! har diskat — the perfect, supine diskat after har.

Use 2: diska av — wipe down

The particle av gives diska av — "to wipe down, wash off" a surface like a counter or table.

Kan du diska av bänken innan vi börjar laga mat?

Can you wipe down the counter before we start cooking? diska av — 'wipe down'.

Hon diskade av bordet med en blöt trasa.

She wiped the table down with a wet cloth. diskade av — past of the particle verb.

diska vs tvätta

This is the key distinction for learners. diska is specifically for dishes — plates, glasses, cutlery, pots. tvätta is for clothes and bodies — laundry, your hands, your hair. English blurs these under one word "wash," but Swedish keeps them strictly apart. You never tvättar the dishes, and you never diskar your shirt.

Jag diskar tallrikarna och tvättar kläderna i morgon.

I'll wash the dishes and do the laundry tomorrow. diska for dishes, tvätta for clothes — never swapped.

Glöm inte att diska kastrullen — den får inte hamna i tvätten.

Don't forget to wash the pot — it mustn't end up in the laundry. the joke only works because diska and tvätta are different verbs.

The noun disk

The verb sits beside the noun disk, which means both "the dishes / the washing-up" (Disken står i vasken, "The dishes are in the sink") and, in another sense, "a counter" (a shop or bar counter). Context separates the two.

Det ligger en hög disk i vasken.

There's a pile of dishes in the sink. the noun disk = 'the dirty dishes'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag disker. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — diska is Group 1, so the present is diskar (-ar), not *disker (-er).

✅ Jag diskar.

I do the dishes.

❌ Han diskde glasen. (bare -de)

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

✅ Han diskade glasen.

He washed the glasses.

❌ Har du diskade?

Incorrect — after har you need the supine diskat, not the past diskade.

✅ Har du diskat?

Have you done the dishes?

❌ Jag tvättar tallrikarna.

Off — tvätta is for clothes and bodies. Dishes get diska: Jag diskar tallrikarna.

✅ Jag diskar tallrikarna.

I wash the plates.

💡

diska is a fully regular Group 1 verb (diska – diskar – diskade – diskat) and a dedicated word English lacks — it means "wash the dishes" specifically. Keep it apart from tvätta ("wash clothes/body"): you diskar plates but you tvättar shirts, never the other way around.

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