ge (to give) | Swedish Grammar

ge means "to give," and it is the model ditransitive verb in Swedish — the verb that, by its very meaning, takes two objects: someone you give to (the indirect object) and something you give (the direct object). Because of this, ge is also the template for how Swedish orders indirect and direct objects, so learning its card teaches you a pattern that transfers to visa (show), skicka (send), köpa (buy for) and many more. On top of that, ge heads a set of common particle verbs. The forms are strong: ge – ger – gav – gett (with a formal variant givit in the supine).

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
ge	ger	gav	gett (formal: givit)	ge	strong

The everyday infinitive is contracted ge; the full giva (literary / archaic) survives only in older or very formal writing. The present is ger, the strong past gav. The supine has two living forms: gett is the ordinary modern choice, while givit is a (formal) variant you'll meet in writing and set expressions. Both are correct; gett dominates speech.

Ge mig en sekund, jag kommer strax.

Give me a second, I'll be right there. ge — imperative.

Hon gav mig ett bra råd.

She gave me good advice. gav — strong past, with two objects.

Vad har de gett dig i present?

What have they given you as a present? gett — the ordinary supine.

Use 1: the double object — V + IO + DO

The default order with ge is verb – indirect object (the receiver) – direct object (the thing), mirroring English "give him the book." The indirect object (a person, often a pronoun) comes first, the direct object second.

Jag gav honom boken.

I gave him the book. Order: gav (V) + honom (IO) + boken (DO).

Kan du ge barnen lite mjölk?

Can you give the children some milk? V + IO (barnen) + DO (mjölk).

Ge mig pennan, är du snäll.

Give me the pen, please. Imperative + IO (mig) + DO (pennan).

Use 2: the till-paraphrase — V + DO + till + IO

Swedish also allows a prepositional reordering: verb – direct object – till + indirect object, like English "give the book to him." This puts focus on the receiver and is often preferred when the receiver is new, long, or emphasised.

Jag gav boken till honom.

I gave the book to him. Order: gav (V) + boken (DO) + till honom (IO).

Ge pennan till mig, inte till henne.

Give the pen to me, not to her. The till-form lets you contrast receivers.

Hon gav alla sina gamla böcker till biblioteket.

She gave all her old books to the library. A long/new receiver fits the till-form well.

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The two orders are not freely interchangeable in feel. Jag gav honom boken (IO first) is the neutral default; Jag gav boken till honom (DO + till) shifts emphasis onto the receiver — useful for contrast or when the receiver is heavy/new. When the indirect object is a short pronoun (mig, dig, honom), the IO-first order is usually the more natural.

Use 3: particle verbs

ge heads several everyday particle verbs whose meanings you can't read off "give": ge upp (give up, surrender), ge sig (give in / yield — reflexive), and ge ut (publish / release, or hand out). Note the contrast: ge upp is to stop trying altogether; ge sig is to yield in an argument or struggle.

Ge inte upp! Du klarar det här.

Don't give up! You can do this. ge upp — give up; note the imperative word order with inte.

Till slut gav han sig och bad om ursäkt.

In the end he gave in and apologised. ge sig — yield, back down (reflexive).

Förlaget gav ut hennes första roman förra året.

The publisher released her first novel last year. ge ut — publish.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag gav till honom boken.

Incorrect — you can't mix the orders. Use either IO-first (gav honom boken) or DO + till (gav boken till honom).

✅ Jag gav honom boken. / Jag gav boken till honom.

I gave him the book.

❌ Jag gevde honom boken. (regularised past)

Incorrect — ge is strong; the past is gav, not *gevde.

✅ Jag gav honom boken.

I gave him the book.

❌ Ge upp inte!

Incorrect word order — in an imperative the negation comes before the particle: Ge inte upp!

✅ Ge inte upp!

Don't give up!

❌ Han gav sig upp. (mixing ge upp and ge sig)

Off — 'surrender/give up' is gav upp; 'gave in/yielded' is gav sig. Don't blend them.

✅ Han gav upp. / Han gav sig.

He gave up. / He gave in.

❌ Jag har ge dig allt. (infinitive for supine)

Incorrect — after har use the supine gett (or formal givit), not the infinitive ge.

✅ Jag har gett dig allt.

I've given you everything.

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ge is the model ditransitive verb: V + IO + DO (Jag gav honom boken) or V + DO + till + IO (Jag gav boken till honom) — never a mix. The strong past is gav; the supine is gett in everyday use and givit in formal writing — both standard.

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