gå (to go, walk) | Swedish Grammar

gå means "to go" — but specifically to go on foot, i.e. to walk. This narrowness is the single most important thing an English speaker must learn about it: where English "go" covers walking, driving, flying and sailing alike, Swedish splits that work between gå (on foot) and åka (by any vehicle). Beyond literal motion, gå has a second life meaning "to work / function / turn out," which powers the everyday greeting Hur går det? ("How's it going?"). The forms are irregular and contracted: a strong verb with the gick / gått past you simply memorise.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
gå	går	gick	gått	gå	irregular / contracted strong

The infinitive gå and present går are contracted single-syllable forms — the long å carries the word. The past gick (pronounced "yick," with the soft Swedish g before i) and the supine gått are the two forms you cannot derive and must own cold. As always in Swedish there is one present for every subject: jag går, du går, hon går, vi går.

Jag går till jobbet varje dag — det tar tjugo minuter.

I walk to work every day — it takes twenty minutes. går = goes on foot.

Vi gick hela vägen hem efter festen.

We walked the whole way home after the party. gick — irregular past.

Har du gått långt idag?

Have you walked far today? gått — the supine, used after har.

Use 1: go on foot — walk

This is the literal core. If a human moves on their own two legs, the verb is gå. Crucially, Swedish often uses gå where English would just say "go," precisely because the journey is on foot — so "Are we going home?" said while standing in the street is Ska vi gå hem?

Vi går hem nu, jag är trött.

We're going home now, I'm tired. On foot, so gå — even though English just says 'go'.

Kan vi gå och handla? Affären stänger snart.

Can we go and shop? The shop closes soon. Walking to the local shop = gå.

Hunden vill gå ut.

The dog wants to go out. gå ut — go out (on foot).

Use 2: work / function / turn out

The second great sense of gå is abstract: things "go" in the sense of working, functioning, or turning out a certain way. A machine går (runs), a plan går bra (goes well), and the most common greeting in the language is built on it.

Hur går det? — Det går bra, tack!

How's it going? — It's going well, thanks! The 'function/turn out' sense — the everyday greeting.

Klockan går för fort, den drar sig en minut om dagen.

The clock runs too fast, it gains a minute a day. A machine 'goes' = runs.

Det gick inte så bra på provet.

It didn't go so well on the test. gick — how something turned out.

Use 3: possibility — det går att

A neat idiom: det går att + infinitive means "it is possible to / one can." Impersonal det plus går plus att expresses feasibility, and the negative det går inte att means "it can't be done."

Det går att betala med kort här.

You can pay by card here. (literally 'it goes to pay') — det går att = it's possible to.

Det går inte att öppna fönstret, det har fastnat.

The window can't be opened, it's stuck. det går inte att = it isn't possible to.

Use 4: particle verbs

gå anchors a family of particle verbs whose meanings you cannot read off "walk." The most useful for beginners: gå ut (go out), gå sönder (break, "go to pieces"), and gå med på (agree to). Note that gå sönder is intransitive — the thing breaks by itself; you don't break it.

Telefonen gick sönder när jag tappade den.

The phone broke when I dropped it. gå sönder — break (intransitive); the phone 'went to pieces'.

Ska vi gå ut och äta ikväll?

Shall we go out to eat tonight? gå ut — go out.

Till slut gick chefen med på vårt förslag.

In the end the boss agreed to our proposal. gå med på — agree to, consent to.

The big trap: gå is NOT 'go by vehicle'

Here is the error every English speaker makes. In English you "go to Spain," "go by bus," "go to Stockholm" — all with "go." In Swedish, gå is reserved for the legs. The moment a vehicle is involved, you switch to åka (general travel by transport) — or a specific verb like köra (drive), flyga (fly), ta tåget (take the train). Saying Jag går till Spanien literally claims you are walking to Spain.

Jag åker till Spanien i sommar.

I'm going to Spain this summer. By plane/transport, so åka — never går.

Vi åker buss till centrum.

We're going by bus to the centre. åka buss — never *gå buss.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag går till Stockholm med tåget.

Incorrect — gå means on foot; with a train you must use åka or ta tåget.

✅ Jag åker till Stockholm med tåget.

I'm going to Stockholm by train.

❌ Vi går till Spanien på semester.

Incorrect — unless you literally intend to walk to Spain, this is åka.

✅ Vi åker till Spanien på semester.

We're going to Spain on holiday.

❌ Jag gådde hem. (regularised past)

Incorrect — gå is strong; the past is gick, not *gådde.

✅ Jag gick hem.

I walked home.

❌ Jag gick sönder telefonen. (transitive)

Incorrect — gå sönder is intransitive; the phone breaks by itself. To break something on purpose, use ha sönder / förstöra.

✅ Telefonen gick sönder.

The phone broke.

❌ Hur åker det? (intending 'how's it going')

Incorrect — the greeting uses the 'function' sense of gå, not åka.

✅ Hur går det?

How's it going?

💡

gå means GO ON FOOT — to walk — or, abstractly, to WORK / TURN OUT (Det går bra). It is never "go by vehicle": "I'm going to Spain" is åker, not går. Tie the two senses together with one phrase: Hur går det? ("How's it going?") uses the function sense, while Jag går hem uses the on-foot sense.

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