låna means both "to borrow" and "to lend" — one single verb covers what English splits into two. This looks alarming to an English speaker, but Swedish resolves it cleanly with a particle: låna av points the transfer toward you ("borrow from"), and låna ut points it away from you ("lend out"). Master that one contrast and låna is straightforward — and it is a perfectly regular Group 1 verb.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| låna | lånar | lånade | lånat | låna | Group 1 |
Everything is derived by rule: present lånar (stem + -r), past lånade (stem + -ade), supine lånat (the form after har). No stem change, no irregularity. The related noun is ett lån ("a loan") — ta ett lån "take out a loan."
Use 1: låna = borrow (the default sense)
On its own, with a simple object, låna most often means "borrow." You are taking something temporarily.
Kan jag låna din penna en sekund?
Can I borrow your pen for a second? Plain låna + object = borrow.
Jag lånade tre böcker på biblioteket igår.
I borrowed three books from the library yesterday. lånade — the regular Group 1 past.
Har du lånat min laddare igen?
Have you borrowed my charger again? har lånat — the perfect, supine after har.
Use 2: låna av — borrow FROM someone
To name the person you borrow from, use låna av ("borrow off"). The preposition av marks the source — the thing comes from them to you.
Jag lånade en bok av honom.
I borrowed a book from him. låna av någon = borrow from someone — the particle av points the transfer toward me.
Kan jag låna lite pengar av dig till lunch?
Can I borrow some money off you for lunch? av dig = from you, the source of the loan.
Use 3: låna ut — lend (OUT) to someone
To flip the direction — you give the thing temporarily — use låna ut ("lend out"). Now the recipient is introduced by till ("to").
Jag lånade ut en bok till honom.
I lent a book to him. låna ut + till någon = lend out to someone — the same root verb, opposite direction.
Jag lånar gärna ut min cykel om du behöver den.
I'm happy to lend out my bike if you need it. Note the particle ut splits from the verb: lånar ... ut.
Banken har lånat ut för mycket pengar i år.
The bank has lent out too much money this year. har lånat ut — perfect of the 'lend' construction.
Lånar du ut dina verktyg till grannarna?
Do you lend your tools to the neighbours? In a yes/no question the verb fronts and ut trails after the subject.
The whole system in one pair
The cleanest way to fix this in memory is the mirror pair:
Jag lånar en bok av Anna. Anna lånar ut en bok till mig.
I borrow a book from Anna. Anna lends a book to me. Same event, same verb — av (from) vs ut...till (out...to) decides who gives and who takes.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag lånade en bok från honom.
Off — to borrow FROM a person, Swedish uses av, not från: låna av honom. från is for places/origins, not the lender.
✅ Jag lånade en bok av honom.
I borrowed a book from him.
❌ Jag lånade honom min bil. (English 'lend' word order)
Incorrect — you can't 'låna someone something' to mean lend. To lend, you need ut: låna ut.
✅ Jag lånade ut min bil till honom.
I lent my car to him.
❌ Jag vill låna ut en bok av dig.
Contradiction — låna ut is lend, but av dig is from you. Borrowing from someone is just låna av.
✅ Jag vill låna en bok av dig.
I want to borrow a book from you.
❌ Jag lånde det igår. (bare -de)
Incorrect — låna is Group 1 and takes the full -ade: lånade, not *lånde.
✅ Jag lånade det igår.
I borrowed it yesterday.
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.
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