dö means "to die." It is a short but fully strong verb — dö – dog – dött — with a vowel-changed past dog and the strong -tt supine dött. Two things make it worth a careful card. First, it is intransitive: you cannot "die someone." To express killing, Swedish uses a completely separate verb, döda ("to kill"), a regular Group 1 verb. Second, the participle död lives a double life as the everyday adjective "dead," and döden is the noun "death." Keep dö (die) and döda (kill) apart and the rest falls into place.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dö | dör | dog | dött | dö (rare) | strong |
The present is dör (one syllable, with ö), the past is dog (vowel shifts to o), and the supine is dött — the strong -tt ending you also see in gå → gått and få → fått. The perfect is har dött, the pluperfect hade dött. The imperative dö exists but is naturally rare in real speech (you don't often command someone to die, outside drama or curses). The related adjective/participle is död ("dead"); the noun is döden ("death").
Många träd dör när det är så här torrt.
Many trees die when it's this dry. dör — present, vowel ö.
Min farfar dog förra året, nittiotvå år gammal.
My grandfather died last year, ninety-two years old. dog — strong past. This is the form to lock in.
Tyvärr har flera av de gamla almarna dött.
Sadly, several of the old elms have died. har dött — perfect, supine dött.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts. The present dör covers "die / am dying." The past is dog, the perfect har dött. Note that for the state of being dead afterwards, Swedish often switches to the adjective död with vara (see Use 3) rather than piling on the perfect.
Batteriet dör mitt i samtalet varje gång.
The battery dies in the middle of the call every time. dör — present, also used figuratively.
Tusentals fiskar dog när sjön förorenades.
Thousands of fish died when the lake was polluted. dog — simple past.
Hur många har dött i epidemin?
How many have died in the epidemic? har dött — perfect, supine dött.
Use 2: dö (die) vs döda (kill) — the intransitive/transitive split
This is the heart of the card. dö is intransitive — it has no object; the subject is the one who dies. To say someone kills something, you need the separate verb döda, which is a perfectly regular Group 1 verb: döda – dödar – dödade – dödat. English uses "die" and "kill" as two different verbs too, so the trap is not the concept but reaching for dö with an object by mistake.
Räven dödade tre höns i natt.
The fox killed three hens last night. döda — transitive, takes an object; regular past dödade.
Han dog inte av sjukdomen — det var olyckan som dödade honom.
He didn't die of the illness — it was the accident that killed him. dog (intransitive) vs dödade (transitive), in one sentence.
Frosten dödade alla tomatplantorna, så nu är de döda.
The frost killed all the tomato plants, so now they're dead. döda (kill) → the result, döda the adjective 'dead'.
Use 3: död as the adjective, and dö ut
The participle död is the everyday adjective "dead," used with vara ("be") for the resulting state: Han är död ("He is dead"). It agrees like any adjective — död (en-word), dött (ett-word), döda (plural/definite): en död fågel, ett dött träd, de döda löven. Separately, the particle verb dö ut means "die out / go extinct."
Är du säker på att han är död?
Are you sure he's dead? död — the adjective with vara.
Vi hittade en död fågel och ett dött träd i trädgården.
We found a dead bird and a dead tree in the garden. död (en-word) vs dött (ett-word) agreement.
Många språk dör ut varje år.
Many languages die out every year. dö ut = die out / go extinct.
Common Mistakes
❌ Min farfar döade förra året.
Incorrect — dö is strong, not a Group 1 verb, so no -ade. The past is dog. (It's döda, not dö, that takes -ade.)
✅ Min farfar dog förra året.
My grandfather died last year. Strong past: dog.
❌ Räven dog tre höns.
Incorrect — dö is intransitive and can't take an object. To kill is döda: Räven dödade tre höns.
✅ Räven dödade tre höns.
The fox killed three hens.
❌ Jag har dog hela dagen. (meaning 'I've been dying ...')
Incorrect — after har you need the supine dött, not the past dog.
✅ Jag har skrattat så jag nästan dött.
I've laughed so hard I nearly died. Supine: dött.
❌ Han dödade igår. (meaning 'he died')
Wrong verb entirely — döda means 'kill', so this says 'he killed (someone) yesterday'. For 'he died' use dog.
✅ Han dog igår.
He died yesterday.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
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