klä means "to dress" — to put clothes on someone or something. It is one of the handful of Group 3 verbs, the small class whose infinitive is a single stressed syllable ending in a stressed vowel (klä, bo, tro, sy). These verbs don't follow the regular -ar / -ade pattern, so their four principal parts are worth learning as a set. klä also carries a second, very Swedish meaning: when its object is a person, it means "to suit, to flatter."
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| klä | klär | klädde | klätt | klä | Group 3 |
The Group 3 signature is visible here. The present adds just -r to the vowel stem (klä → klär), exactly like bo → bor and tro → tror. But the past and supine are where these verbs surprise you: the past doubles the consonant and adds -de (klä → klädde), and the supine ends in -tt (klätt), not the -t or -at you'd expect from the regular groups. Note the hidden -d- that surfaces in klädde and klätt — the stem is historically kläd-, and that d reappears in the longer forms. The imperative is the bare infinitive: Klä på dig! ("Get dressed!").
Use 1: dressing someone (transitive)
In its plain transitive use, klä takes a direct object — the person or thing you put clothes on.
Hon klär barnen varje morgon innan dagis.
She dresses the children every morning before daycare. klär — Group 3 present, just stem + r.
Vi klädde granen tillsammans på julafton.
We decorated the tree together on Christmas Eve. klä is also used for 'dressing' a Christmas tree; klädde — the doubled-consonant past.
Use 2: klä på sig — get dressed (reflexive)
To say you get dressed, Swedish makes the verb reflexive with the particle på: klä på sig literally "dress on oneself." Its opposite is klä av sig ("undress," literally "dress off oneself"). The sig changes for the subject — jag klär på mig, du klär på dig, han klär på sig.
Jag klär på mig och så går vi.
I'll get dressed and then we'll go. klär på mig — reflexive present, sig becomes mig in the first person.
Han klädde på sig i mörkret för att inte väcka de andra.
He got dressed in the dark so as not to wake the others. klädde på sig — reflexive past.
Barnet har klätt på sig helt själv idag.
The child has got dressed all by itself today. har klätt på sig — the perfect, supine klätt after har.
Klä av dig den blöta jackan, du fryser ju.
Take off that wet jacket, you're freezing. klä av dig — the 'undress / take off' opposite of klä på.
Use 3: klä — to suit, to flatter
When the object of klä is a person, the verb means "to suit" or "to flatter" — to look good on someone. The thing that suits you is the subject; you are the object. English uses "suit," but the Swedish frame is the same: X klär dig = "X suits you."
Den där färgen klär dig verkligen.
That colour really suits you. klär dig — the 'suit' sense, with the person as object.
Det korta håret klädde henne förvånansvärt bra.
The short hair suited her surprisingly well. klädde — past tense of the 'suit' sense.
Ärlighet klär dig — säg som det är.
Honesty suits you — say it like it is. klä works figuratively too: an abstract quality can 'suit' a person.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag klädade barnen.
Incorrect — klä is Group 3, not Group 1. The past is klädde (doubled consonant + -de), never *klädade.
✅ Jag klädde barnen.
I dressed the children.
❌ Jag har klätat på mig.
Incorrect — the supine of klä is klätt (ending in -tt), not the Group 1 *klätat.
✅ Jag har klätt på mig.
I have got dressed.
❌ Jag klär mig snabbt och går.
Incomplete — to 'get dressed' you need the particle på: klä på sig. Bare klä sig is rare and odd here.
✅ Jag klär på mig snabbt och går.
I get dressed quickly and go.
❌ Du klär den klänningen.
Reversed — in the 'suit' sense the garment is the subject: Den klänningen klär dig, not the other way around.
✅ Den klänningen klär dig.
That dress suits you.
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.