lämna means "to leave (behind), to hand over, to hand in" — and the key thing for an English speaker is that lämna is transitive: you always leave something or someone. You lämna a house, lämna the kids at school, lämna in a form. To say you yourself depart — leave by car, train, or plane — Swedish uses åka instead. lämna is a regular Group 1 verb, and the natural opposite of hämta ("pick up").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lämna | lämnar | lämnade | lämnat | lämna | Group 1 |
Fully regular: present lämnar, past lämnade with the full -ade, supine lämnat after har, imperative the bare stem (Lämna! "Leave it!"). The ä stays throughout; no vowel change.
Use 1: leaving something or someone behind
The core meaning is leaving a place, person, or thing — you depart from it, or leave it where it is. Crucially, there must be an object.
Vi lämnade huset klockan sju på morgonen.
We left the house at seven in the morning. lämna + object (huset) — you leave the house.
Hon lämnade honom efter tjugo år.
She left him after twenty years. lämna someone = leave a partner / relationship.
Glöm inte att lämna barnen på förskolan.
Don't forget to drop the kids off at preschool. lämna = drop off (leave them there).
Use 2: handing in / handing over
With the particle in, lämna in means "to hand in, submit, drop off for processing" — an application, a form, a car for service, clothes at the cleaner's.
Jag måste lämna in ansökan innan fredag.
I have to submit the application before Friday. lämna in = hand in / submit.
Vi lämnade in bilen på verkstaden i morse.
We dropped the car off at the garage this morning. lämna in = leave for service.
Two more useful particle verbs: lämna tillbaka ("to give back, return") and lämna kvar ("to leave behind, leave remaining").
Kan du lämna tillbaka boken till biblioteket?
Can you return the book to the library? lämna tillbaka = give back.
Han lämnade kvar paraplyet på tåget.
He left the umbrella behind on the train. lämna kvar = leave behind / leave remaining.
Use 3: handing over and giving
Plain lämna also means "hand over, give" something directly to someone — often with the recipient introduced by till.
Hon har lämnat nycklarna till grannen.
She has handed the keys over to the neighbour. har lämnat — the perfect, supine lämnat; recipient with till.
This "give/provide" sense extends to abstract things — leaving a message, giving information, providing details, even leaving room. In all of these you are handing something over rather than physically departing.
Lämna ett meddelande efter pipet.
Leave a message after the beep. lämna ett meddelande — the standard voicemail phrase.
Rapporten lämnar inget utrymme för tvivel. (formal)
The report leaves no room for doubt. (formal) lämna utrymme — leave/provide room, here figurative.
lämna vs åka vs hämta
Three verbs an English speaker tends to blur into "leave/go":
- lämna — transitive: leave something/someone behind, hand over. Needs an object.
- åka — intransitive: depart, go (by vehicle). Jag åker nu = "I'm leaving / heading off now."
- hämta — the opposite of lämna: go and pick up / fetch.
So "I'm leaving now" (departing) is Jag åker nu or Jag går nu, not Jag lämnar nu — lämna on its own with no object sounds incomplete and wrong. You can only lämna a thing.
Jag åker nu, vi ses imorgon!
I'm leaving now, see you tomorrow! Departing = åka (or gå), not lämna.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag lämnar nu. (for 'I'm leaving/heading off')
Incorrect — lämna needs an object. To say you're departing, use Jag åker nu or Jag går nu.
✅ Jag åker nu.
I'm leaving now.
❌ Jag lämner ansökan imorgon. (Group 2 ending)
Incorrect — lämna is Group 1, so the present is lämnar (-ar), not *lämner (-er).
✅ Jag lämnar in ansökan imorgon.
I'll submit the application tomorrow.
❌ Kan du lämna boken till biblioteket? (for 'return it')
Off — to give something back, use lämna tillbaka, not bare lämna, which just means 'leave it there'.
✅ Kan du lämna tillbaka boken till biblioteket?
Can you return the book to the library?
❌ Vi lämnde huset klockan sju. (bare -de)
Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is lämnade, not *lämnde.
✅ Vi lämnade huset klockan sju.
We left the house at seven.
❌ Jag ska lämna paketet på posten. (for 'collect the parcel')
Wrong direction — lämna means leave/hand in. To pick something up, use hämta.
✅ Jag ska hämta paketet på posten.
I'm going to pick up the parcel at the post office.
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