finnas means "to exist" — but in practice you meet it as the everyday verb for "there is / there are", in the fixed frame det finns. It belongs to a small, high-frequency class called deponents: verbs that always carry an -s yet are completely active in meaning. So although finns looks like a passive, it never is, and you must never peel the -s off. This card lays out its forms and the one distinction that trips up every English speaker: finnas versus the copula vara (det är).
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| finnas | finns | fanns | funnits | (none in use) | s-deponent, irregular |
Every form keeps the -s: that is the whole point of a deponent. The present finns is shortened from the infinitive (finnas → finns, not *finnas as a present), the past fanns has an irregular vowel change (i → a), and the supine funnits (used after har/hade) shifts again to u. There is no everyday imperative — you don't command something to exist — so that slot stays empty in practice. Like all Swedish verbs, finns is the same for every subject; but since it is almost always existential, its real subject is the dummy det.
Det finns en lösning på det här problemet.
There is a solution to this problem. det finns = 'there is' — the bread-and-butter existential frame.
Förr fanns det en liten bokhandel på hörnet.
There used to be a little bookshop on the corner. fanns = past of finnas, with the i→a vowel change.
Det har alltid funnits folk som tvivlar.
There have always been people who doubt. funnits = supine, after har.
Use 1: the existential "there is / there are"
The core job of finnas is to assert that something exists or is available — Swedish's match for English "there is / there are." The frame is det finns + a noun, and crucially the verb does not change for singular versus plural: det finns covers both "there is" and "there are."
Det finns många sjöar i Sverige.
There are many lakes in Sweden. det finns is used for the plural too — no separate 'there are' form.
Det finns en bra restaurang precis runt hörnet.
There's a good restaurant just around the corner. Singular here, but the verb is identical: det finns.
Finns det något kvar i kylen?
Is there anything left in the fridge? In a question the dummy det moves after the verb: Finns det…?
English splits this into "there is" (singular) and "there are" (plural); Swedish keeps one verb form and lets the noun do the counting. This makes the construction easier than English, not harder — once you trust that det finns alone handles both numbers.
Use 2: asking whether something is available
Because finnas is about availability, it is the natural verb for asking whether a thing is on offer, in stock, or present at all — in shops, cafés, kitchens, schedules.
Finns det mjölk?
Is there any milk? / Have you got milk? The everyday way to ask about availability.
Finns det några lediga rum för i natt?
Are there any free rooms for tonight? finns det + plural noun — still the same verb.
Det fanns ingen kvar när jag kom.
There was none left when I got there. fanns + ingen — 'there was no one / none' in the past.
Use 3: existence in the abstract
Beyond "is there milk?", finnas also handles existence in a broader, more abstract sense — whether something exists at all in the world, in principle, in a person's life.
Tror du att det finns liv på andra planeter?
Do you think there's life on other planets? Abstract existence — det finns, again number-neutral.
Det finns inga genvägar; man måste öva.
There are no shortcuts; you have to practise. A general truth, framed with det finns.
finnas vs. det är: existence vs. identity
Here is the distinction that English speakers must nail. English "there is" maps to det finns, but English also says "it is / that is," which maps to det är (the copula vara). They are not interchangeable:
- det finns = something exists / is available ("there is a problem" = a problem exists).
- det är = identifying or describing a specific thing ("it is a problem" = this particular thing is a problem), or stating weather/time/general states.
Det finns ett problem med planen.
There's a problem with the plan. (A problem exists.) Existence → finns.
Det är ett problem att vi inte har pengar.
It's a problem that we have no money. (Identifying THIS situation as a problem.) Identity → är.
Det finns en man vid dörren. — Det är min granne.
There's a man at the door. — It's my neighbour. First existence (finns), then identity (är).
A reliable test: if you can replace English "there is" with "there exists," use finns. If you mean "it/that is [a specific thing]," use är.
Common Mistakes
❌ Det finn en lösning.
Incorrect — finnas is a deponent; the present is finns, never *finn or *finnar. The -s never drops.
✅ Det finns en lösning.
There is a solution.
❌ Det är många sjöar i Sverige. (meaning 'there are')
Off — for plain existence ('there are…') Swedish uses det finns, not det är.
✅ Det finns många sjöar i Sverige.
There are many lakes in Sweden.
❌ Det finnar inget kaffe.
Incorrect — don't regularise it with an -ar present. The present of finnas is finns.
✅ Det finns inget kaffe.
There's no coffee.
❌ Det fanns många människor är där. (mixing finnas and är)
Incorrect — one existential verb is enough; finnas alone carries 'there were'.
✅ Det fanns många människor där.
There were many people there.
❌ Det har funnit en affär här länge.
Incorrect — the supine keeps the -s: funnits, not *funnit. (funnit is the supine of 'finna', a different, literary verb 'to find'.)
✅ Det har funnits en affär här länge.
There has been a shop here for a long time.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Deponent Verbs (s-verbs That Aren't Passive)B1 — A small but extremely common set of Swedish verbs that always end in -s yet mean something fully active: hoppas ('hope'), trivas ('feel at home'), lyckas ('succeed'), minnas ('remember'), andas ('breathe'), and — most importantly — finnas, the everyday verb for 'there is'. You never strip the -s, and you use one of these constantly without realising it forms a category.
- Existential Sentences (det finns / det är)A2 — How to say 'there is / there are' in Swedish — and why it splits into two constructions English merges into one. Det finns marks pure existence ('is there such a thing?': Det finns en lösning), while det är and presentational verbs mark located presence ('is something here right now?': Det är någon vid dörren / Det står en man där). The dummy subject is det, the real ('logical') subject follows the verb — and it must be INDEFINITE.
- den and det for Things (and Sentence det)A2 — Swedish has no single word for 'it': you say den for a singular en-word and det for a singular ett-word — the pronoun follows the noun's gender. But det also has a second life as a dummy subject (Det regnar, Det är kallt) and as a neutral 'it/that' pointing at a whole situation (Det är sant), and there it is ALWAYS det, gender or no gender.
- 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.