hälsa means "to greet, to say hi." It is a regular Group 1 verb, but it carries one of the most famous ambiguities in everyday Swedish: hälsa på någon can mean either "greet someone" or "visit someone" — and the "visit" sense is so common that learners meet it constantly. This card untangles that, plus the useful hälsa till ("say hi to / pass on regards").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hälsa | hälsar | hälsade | hälsat | hälsa | Group 1 |
Textbook Group 1: present hälsar (+ -r), past hälsade (the full -ade), supine hälsat (+ -at), imperative the bare stem Hälsa! No vowel change, no agreement.
Use 1: hälsa på — greet OR visit
This is the heart of the card. hälsa på någon has two readings:
- "greet someone" — say hello to a person.
- "visit someone" — go and see a person, drop by.
In speech, Swedes disambiguate with stress: in the "visit" sense the stress falls on på (hälsa PÅ), while in the "greet" sense it falls on the verb. In writing you rely on context — and in practice the "visit" reading is extremely common, so when in doubt, "visit" is the safer first guess.
Vi ska hälsa på mormor i helgen.
We're going to visit grandma this weekend. The 'visit' sense — by far the most common reading of hälsa på.
Kom och hälsa på oss någon gång!
Come and visit us sometime! A standard friendly invitation — 'visit', not 'greet'.
Glöm inte att hälsa på läraren när du kommer in.
Don't forget to greet the teacher when you come in. Here the 'greet' sense fits — you say hello.
Vi hälsade på dem förra veckan.
We visited them last week. hälsade på — past tense, the 'visit' reading.
Use 2: hälsa till — pass on regards
To "say hi to" someone who isn't present — to send greetings via a third person — Swedish uses hälsa till. This is the everyday way to close a message or a goodbye.
Hälsa till din mamma!
Say hi to your mum! hälsa till — send regards to someone not present.
Han bad mig hälsa till er alla.
He asked me to say hi to all of you. hälsa till — passing the greeting along.
Vi har hälsat till grannarna från dig.
We've passed on your regards to the neighbours. har hälsat — perfect of hälsa till.
The related noun: en hälsning
The noun is en hälsning ("a greeting"). It is also how you sign off a letter or email: Med vänliga hälsningar ("With kind regards", often abbreviated Mvh).
Hon skickade en varm hälsning till hela familjen.
She sent a warm greeting to the whole family. en hälsning — the noun.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag hälser dig.
Incorrect — hälsa is Group 1, so the present is hälsar (-ar), not *hälser (-er).
✅ Jag hälsar på dig.
I'm greeting you / I'm visiting you (context decides).
❌ Vi hälsde på mormor igår.
Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade: hälsade, not *hälsde.
✅ Vi hälsade på mormor igår.
We visited grandma yesterday.
❌ Hälsa din mamma!
Off — to pass on regards you need till: Hälsa till din mamma! Without till it reads as 'greet your mum (in person)'.
✅ Hälsa till din mamma!
Say hi to your mum (for me)!
❌ Vi ska besöka på mormor.
Incorrect — 'visit a person' colloquially is hälsa på, not *besöka på. besöka takes no på.
✅ Vi ska hälsa på mormor.
We're going to visit grandma.
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