kännas is the verb for how something feels — from the receiving end. Det känns bra — "it feels good." Det känns kallt här inne — "it feels cold in here." It is a middle-voice s-verb built on känna ("to feel, to sense"): it always carries an -s, it looks like a passive but isn't one, and it takes a thing or the dummy Det as its subject, never a person describing their own emotion. That last point is the one English speakers must drill: for "I feel tired," Swedish uses a different construction, känna sig — covered below.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kännas | känns | kändes | känts | (none) | middle s-verb (deponent) |
Every form keeps the -s — that is the signature of a middle/deponent verb. The present is känns (the -s sits on the present stem). The past is kändes — built on the känd- stem of the parent verb känna (whose own past is kände) plus -es. The supine, after har, is känts. There is no imperative: you don't command something to feel a certain way, so the slot stays empty. As always in Swedish the verb doesn't change for the subject, and here the subject is almost always Det or a concrete thing.
Det känns bra att vara tillbaka.
It feels good to be back. Det känns + adjective — the core frame.
Tröjan kändes lite för liten.
The jumper felt a bit too small. kändes — the past, with a thing (tröjan) as subject.
Hela dagen har känts overklig.
The whole day has felt unreal. har känts — the perfect, supine känts after har.
Use 1: Det känns + adjective
The everyday frame is Det känns plus an adjective: it describes the impression or sensation a situation gives off. Det is the dummy subject here, just as in det finns, det regnar.
Det känns konstigt att säga adjö.
It feels strange to say goodbye. Det känns + adjective + infinitive clause.
Hur känns det nu då?
How does it feel now then? The standard question — Hur känns det?
Det kändes som en evighet.
It felt like an eternity. kändes som — 'felt like', past tense.
Use 2: a thing feels [some way] — physical sensation
kännas also reports the physical quality of an object as you experience it — its temperature, texture, weight. The thing is the subject, and an adjective follows.
Vattnet känns iskallt!
The water feels ice-cold! The thing (vattnet) is the subject; känns + adjective.
Den här tröjan känns mjuk.
This jumper feels soft. A texture impression — känns mjuk.
Pannan känns varm — har du feber?
Your forehead feels warm — do you have a fever? känns reporting temperature.
Use 3: kännas vs känna sig — the key contrast
This is the distinction to nail. kännas describes how a thing or situation feels (subject = Det / a thing). känna sig (reflexive känna + sig) describes how a person feels — their own bodily or emotional state (subject = a person, then sig agreeing with them). They are not interchangeable, and mixing them is the classic error.
- kännas → Det känns kallt. "It feels cold." (the situation/thing)
- känna sig → Jag känner mig kall. / Jag känner mig trött. "I feel cold / tired." (me, the person)
Det känns kallt här inne.
It feels cold in here. The room/situation feels cold → kännas.
Jag känner mig trött idag.
I feel tired today. A person's own state → känna sig, with mig agreeing with jag.
Rummet kändes tomt, och hon kände sig ensam.
The room felt empty, and she felt lonely. First kännas (the room), then känna sig (the person).
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag känns trött.
Incorrect — kännas takes a thing/Det subject, not a person describing themselves. For 'I feel tired' use känna sig.
✅ Jag känner mig trött.
I feel tired.
❌ Det känner bra. (dropping the -s)
Incorrect — kännas is a middle s-verb; the -s is permanent. Without it you've written the active känna ('to sense').
✅ Det känns bra.
It feels good.
❌ Hur känner det? (active for middle)
Incorrect — for 'how does it feel?' you need the s-form: Hur känns det?
✅ Hur känns det?
How does it feel?
❌ Det kände bra igår. (active past)
Incorrect — the middle past keeps the -s: Det kändes bra. kände without -s is the active past of känna.
✅ Det kändes bra igår.
It felt good yesterday.
❌ Det har känt konstigt. (active supine)
Incorrect — the middle supine is känts, with the -s: Det har känts konstigt.
✅ Det har känts konstigt.
It has felt strange.
Now practice Swedish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
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.
- känna (to feel; to know a person)A2 — känna is a Group 2 -de verb (känner – kände – känt) that covers two English senses: 'feel' (känna sig trött) and 'know a person / be acquainted' (Jag känner honom). It sits in the three-way Swedish 'know' split alongside veta (facts) and kunna (skills).
- 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.