ingripa means "to intervene, step in, take action" — the word for what the police, a referee, a teacher or a bystander does when a situation needs someone to act. It is in- ("in") + gripa ("grip, seize"), so it inherits gripa's strong i–e–i ablaut cell for cell: ingripa – ingriper – ingrep – ingripit. The mental picture is "to reach in and take hold," which lines up neatly with the Latin-rooted English intervene ("come between"). It is a fairly formal, often institutional verb, at home in news reports and official accounts.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ingripa | ingriper | ingrep | ingripit | ingrip | Group 4 (strong), i–e–i |
Read the vowels: infinitive and present keep i (ingripa, ingriper), the past drops to e (ingrep, a bare vowel-changed stem with no ending), and the supine returns to i (ingripit). This is exactly gripa – grep – gripit, just with the prefix bolted on the front. The imperative ingrip exists but is rare; the agreeing participle ingripen is essentially never used, because ingripa is intransitive and takes no direct object. Crucially, the past is not ingripade — strong verbs never take the weak -ade ending.
Polisen ingriper omedelbart vid bråk.
The police step in immediately when there's a fight. Present ingriper, vowel i.
Vakten ingrep innan det gick för långt.
The guard intervened before it went too far. Past ingrep, vowel e, no ending.
Ingen hade ingripit förrän det var för sent.
No one had intervened until it was too late. Pluperfect hade ingripit, supine vowel i.
Use 1: stepping in to stop or control a situation
The core sense is to act decisively in an unfolding situation — usually to stop something bad or restore order. ingripa is intransitive: it takes no direct object, but is often followed by an adverbial saying when, where or how.
Domaren var tvungen att ingripa flera gånger.
The referee had to intervene several times.
Brandkåren ingrep snabbt och släckte elden.
The fire brigade moved in fast and put out the fire.
Du måste våga ingripa om någon blir illa behandlad.
You have to dare to step in if someone is being mistreated.
Use 2: ingripa mot — taking action against
To name the target of the intervention, Swedish uses ingripa mot ("take action against, crack down on") — against a person, a group, or a behaviour.
Myndigheterna ingrep mot den olagliga handeln.
The authorities cracked down on the illegal trade. ingripa mot = take action against.
Skolan måste ingripa mot mobbningen.
The school has to take action against the bullying.
Varför har ni inte ingripit mot honom tidigare?
Why haven't you taken action against him earlier? Perfect har ingripit.
Use 3: the noun ett ingripande
The action noun is ett ingripande ("an intervention, a crackdown"), built on the infinitive stem just like ett genomförande or ett deltagande. It is very common in reporting on police and emergency services.
Polisens ingripande blev hårt kritiserat.
The police intervention was heavily criticised. The noun ett ingripande.
Det krävdes ett snabbt ingripande för att rädda henne.
A swift intervention was needed to save her.
Common Mistakes
❌ Polisen ingripade direkt.
Incorrect — ingripa is strong (it inherits gripa), so it takes no -ade. The past is the vowel-changed ingrep.
✅ Polisen ingrep direkt.
The police stepped in immediately.
❌ Vi har ingrep mot dem.
Wrong form after har — you need the supine ingripit, not the past ingrep.
✅ Vi har ingripit mot dem.
We've taken action against them.
❌ Vakten ingrep bråket.
ingripa is intransitive — it can't take a direct object. To name the target, use ingripa mot.
✅ Vakten ingrep mot bråket.
The guard stepped in to stop the fight.
❌ Polisens ingripning kritiserades.
Wrong noun — there's no *ingripning. The action noun built on this verb is ett ingripande.
✅ Polisens ingripande kritiserades.
The police intervention was criticised.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Index of Strong Verbs by PatternB1 — A navigable index of the common Swedish strong verbs, grouped by ablaut pattern rather than alphabetically — i–e–i (skriva/skrev/skrivit), i–a–u (dricka/drack/druckit), a–o–a (ta/tog/tagit), and the irregular/contracted set (gå/gick/gått). Each group is a four-part table of principal parts with English cognate hints, because organising strong verbs by shared vowel pattern turns a scary list into a few learnable families.
- gripa (to grasp, seize)B2 — gripa means 'to grasp, seize' and also 'to arrest': it is an i–e–i strong verb, gripa – griper – grep – gripit. Watch its offshoots — gripa in 'intervene', gripa tag i 'grab hold of', and the participle gripande, which has drifted to mean 'moving, touching' (en gripande film).
- Prefixed (Inseparable) Verbs (förstå, bestämma)B2 — Swedish has two opposite verb-building systems: native particles that are STRESSED and split off (stå ut), and borrowed prefixes be-, för-, an-, und-, er- that are UNSTRESSED, glued on, and never separate (förstå, bestämma). Stress placement alone tells you which system a verb belongs to.