kika means "to peek, to take a look." It is the easy-going, conversational verb of looking — what you say when you glance, drop by, or have a quick look at something. It is a fully regular Group 1 verb, and it lives mostly in casual speech, where it competes with the more neutral titta. Its particles (på, in, fram) carry most of its everyday meaning.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kika | kikar | kikade | kikat | kika | Group 1 |
All four parts are textbook Group 1: present kikar, past kikade, supine kikat, imperative kika. The related noun is en kikare ("binoculars" / "a pair of binoculars") — the thing you look through.
Use 1: kika på — have a look at
kika på is the workhorse: "have a look at, check out" something. på ("on/at") marks the thing you turn your eyes toward. It is softer and more casual than titta på.
Kika på det här — är det inte snyggt?
Take a look at this — isn't it nice? kika på + thing = have a look at, very casual.
Jag kikade på din rapport igår.
I had a look at your report yesterday. kikade på — the regular Group 1 past, a light, non-committal 'looked at'.
Vi har redan kikat på flera lägenheter.
We've already had a look at several flats. har kikat på — perfect, supine kikat after har.
Use 2: kika in — peek in / drop by
kika in means literally "peek in" through a door or window, and figuratively "drop by, pop in" somewhere. The particle in gives the sense of looking or going briefly into a space.
Kan du kika in på kontoret på vägen hem?
Can you drop by the office on your way home? kika in = pop in, a casual visit.
Hon kikade in genom fönstret för att se om någon var hemma.
She peeked in through the window to see if anyone was home. The literal 'peek in' sense.
Use 3: kika fram — peek out
kika fram means "peek out, emerge into view" — used vividly of the sun, of someone half-hidden, of something appearing.
Solen kikade fram mellan molnen.
The sun peeked out between the clouds. kika fram — a common, slightly poetic image in everyday weather-talk.
Barnet kikade fram bakom soffan.
The child peeked out from behind the sofa. fram = into view, emerging.
kika vs titta
titta is the neutral, all-purpose verb for "look, watch" — you titta på TV, titta at a painting in a museum, the doctor tittar in your throat. kika is its breezier sibling: a quick, casual peek. In a formal report you would write titta; with a friend you might say kika. They are both Group 1 and overlap heavily, but kika always carries that lighter, "just a quick look" flavour.
Ska vi kika lite i affären innan vi går? (informal)
Shall we have a little browse in the shop before we leave? (informal) kika suits the casual, no-pressure browsing.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag kikade min telefon.
Incomplete — kika needs på to take a thing: kika på telefonen. Bare kika + object doesn't work.
✅ Jag kikade på min telefon.
I had a look at my phone.
❌ Jag kiker på det. (Group 2 ending)
Incorrect — kika is Group 1, present kikar (-ar), not *kiker (-er).
✅ Jag kikar på det.
I'll take a look at it.
❌ Vi har kikt på flera lägenheter. (bare supine)
Incorrect — the Group 1 supine is kikat, not *kikt.
✅ Vi har kikat på flera lägenheter.
We've had a look at several flats.
❌ Han använde en kika för att se fåglarna.
Wrong noun — binoculars is en kikare, not *en kika (which isn't a noun).
✅ Han använde en kikare för att se fåglarna.
He used binoculars to see the birds.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Using the Verb ReferenceA2 — How to read the single-verb reference cards and the principal-parts citation system that underpins them. Every Swedish verb is cited as a short chain — infinitive – present – preteritum – supine – (past participle) — because every other form is derivable from those parts. This page decodes one weak verb (tala – talar – talade – talat) and one strong verb (skriva – skriver – skrev – skrivit – skriven), explains the conjugation-group labels (1/2/3/4), and gives a key to everything on a card.
- The Four Conjugation GroupsA2 — Swedish verbs sort into four conjugation classes, identified not by the present tense but by the PAST (preteritum) and supine: Group 1 (talar/talade/talat), Group 2 (ringer/ringde/ringt, köper/köpte/köpt), Group 3 (bor/bodde/bott), and Group 4, the strong verbs (skriver/skrev/skrivit) that change their vowel. Group 1 is so dominant and regular that every new and borrowed verb joins it — so treat it as the default and memorise only the closed list of strong verbs.
- Verb + Preposition GovernmentB2 — Many Swedish verbs demand a specific, unpredictable preposition: tänka på (think about), vänta på (wait for), tro på (believe in), be om (ask for), tycka om (like), längta efter (long for), bero på (depend on). The governed preposition rarely matches English's, and it's unstressed (unlike a particle), so these combinations are vocabulary items you learn as whole units.