koka (to boil) | Swedish Grammar

koka means "to boil." It is a textbook Group 1 verb — koka – kokar – kokade – kokat, all forms by rule — and it covers the kitchen sense of boiling food in water as well as the everyday Swedish way to say "make coffee." A useful feature for English speakers is that koka works both transitively (you boil the potatoes) and intransitively (the water is boiling) with no change in form.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
koka	kokar	kokade	kokat	koka	Group 1

Everything is regular. Present is the infinitive plus -r (kokar). Past adds -de to the stem (kokade). The supine after har ends in -at (kokat). The imperative is the bare stem: Koka! ("Boil!").

Use 1: transitive — boiling something

With a direct object, koka means "to boil" or "to cook by boiling." The food follows directly, no preposition.

Jag kokar potatis till middagen.

I'm boiling potatoes for dinner. kokar + the food boiled.

Hon kokade ägg åt barnen.

She boiled eggs for the kids. kokade — the regular Group 1 past.

Vi har redan kokat ris.

We've already boiled rice. har kokat — the perfect, supine kokat after har.

Use 2: intransitive — the water is boiling

With no object, koka describes the water (or other liquid) reaching and staying at a boil. Same verb, same forms — the subject is simply the liquid.

Vänta tills vattnet kokar.

Wait until the water boils. Intransitive — vattnet is the subject, no object.

Soppan kokade över på spisen.

The soup boiled over on the stove. koka över = boil over, intransitive.

The particle phrase koka upp means "bring to the boil" (and then usually turn down) — a step you'll meet constantly in recipes.

Koka upp vattnet och tillsätt pastan.

Bring the water to the boil and add the pasta. koka upp = bring to a boil.

Use 3: koka kaffe — making coffee

In Swedish you don't "make" coffee or tea with göra — you koka it. koka kaffe and koka te are the standard everyday phrases.

Ska jag koka lite kaffe?

Shall I make some coffee? koka kaffe — 'make coffee', the natural phrase.

Han kokade te åt oss medan vi pratade.

He made us tea while we talked. koka te = make tea.

koka vs steka

Keep koka (boil in water) apart from steka (pan-fry in fat). The same food can take either, with quite different results: kokt potatis is boiled potato, stekt potatis is fried potato.

Vi kokar pastan men steker grönsakerna.

We boil the pasta but fry the vegetables. koka = boil; steka = pan-fry.

A figurative use: koka av ilska

koka also works figuratively for boiling emotions, exactly like English "boiling with anger." The phrase is koka av ("boil with") plus the feeling.

Han kokade av ilska efter mötet.

He was boiling with anger after the meeting. koka av + the emotion.

Det kokade i magen på mig av nervositet.

My stomach was churning with nerves. koka used figuratively for an inner state.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag koker potatis. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — koka is Group 1, so the present is kokar (-ar), not *koker (-er).

✅ Jag kokar potatis.

I'm boiling potatoes.

❌ Vattnet kokade upp självt — det är boiling.

Off — Swedish uses koka itself for the intransitive 'be boiling': Vattnet kokar.

✅ Vattnet kokar.

The water is boiling.

❌ Jag gör kaffe.

Unidiomatic — to prepare coffee Swedish says koka kaffe, not göra kaffe.

✅ Jag kokar kaffe.

I'm making coffee.

❌ Vi har kokit ägg. (wrong supine)

Incorrect — the supine of a Group 1 verb ends in -at: kokat, not *kokit.

✅ Vi har kokat ägg.

We've boiled eggs.

💡

koka is a regular Group 1 verb: koka – kokar – kokade – kokat. One form covers both "boil something" (koka potatis) and "be boiling" (Vattnet kokar). Remember the two idioms: koka upp = bring to the boil, and koka kaffe = make coffee. For frying in fat, switch to steka.

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