lära (to teach; to learn) | Swedish Grammar

lära is the verb of teaching and learning — and it packs both English meanings into one Swedish root, separating them by a particle or a reflexive pronoun. It is a Group 2 verb with an -r stem, so the present is simply lär, never *lärer. Beyond teaching and learning, the bare form lär has a surprising third life as an evidential word meaning "reportedly."

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
lära	lär	lärde	lärt	lär	Group 2 (-de)

The stem lär- ends in -r, so it takes no extra present ending: jag lär ("I teach"). The voiced -r gives a -de past (lärde), the supine ends in -t (lärt), and the imperative is the bare stem lär! The trick with lära is never the conjugation — it's choosing the right particle or pronoun to land on the meaning you want.

Use 1: lära sig — to learn (reflexive)

To say "learn," Swedish makes lära reflexive: lära sig literally "teach oneself," idiomatically "learn." The reflexive pronoun must agree with the subject — lär mig, lär dig, lär sig, lär oss.

Jag lär mig svenska på en app varje morgon.

I'm learning Swedish on an app every morning. lära sig = 'learn'; mig agrees with jag.

Hon lärde sig cykla när hon var fyra.

She learned to ride a bike when she was four. Preteritum lärde sig.

Vi har lärt oss massor under den här kursen.

We've learned a lot during this course. Perfect har lärt oss, oss agrees with vi.

💡

The reflexive is doing the heavy lifting: lära sig = 'learn' (teach oneself), but drop the sig and you flip to 'teach (someone else)'. Forget the reflexive and Jag lär svenska sounds like you teach Swedish — not that you're learning it.

Use 2: lära ut — to teach

To say "teach (a subject, to others)," the everyday verb is lära ut. The particle ut ("out") pictures knowledge being passed outward to learners. You can also teach a person directly with plain lära + person, but lära ut is the natural choice for "teach a subject."

Hon lär ut matematik på högstadiet.

She teaches maths at secondary school. lära ut = 'teach (a subject)'.

Min farfar lärde ut hur man fiskar gädda.

My grandfather taught how to catch pike. Preteritum lärde ut.

Kan du lära mig att spela gitarr?

Can you teach me to play guitar? Plain lära + person = 'teach someone'.

Use 3: lär = reportedly (evidential)

A genuinely Swedish quirk: the bare present lär + an infinitive works as a modal-like evidential, meaning "is said to / reportedly / apparently." It reports hearsay without vouching for it — the speaker passes on what others say.

Han lär vara stenrik, men ingen vet säkert.

He's reportedly extremely rich, but nobody knows for sure. lär + infinitive = 'is said to'.

Det lär bli regn i morgon, enligt prognosen.

It's apparently going to rain tomorrow, according to the forecast. Evidential lär, reporting a source.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag lärer mig svenska.

Incorrect — lära has an -r stem and takes no extra -er. The present is lär.

✅ Jag lär mig svenska.

I'm learning Swedish.

❌ Jag lär svenska på en app.

Off — without the reflexive this says you teach Swedish. To say 'learn', add sig: jag lär mig svenska.

✅ Jag lär mig svenska på en app.

I'm learning Swedish on an app.

❌ Hon lärte sig cykla.

Incorrect — the stem lär- is voiced, so the past takes -de: lärde, not *lärte.

✅ Hon lärde sig cykla.

She learned to ride a bike.

❌ Hon lär mig matematik i skolan. (meaning 'teaches a class')

Off for teaching a subject — use the particle: hon lär ut matematik.

✅ Hon lär ut matematik i skolan.

She teaches maths at school.

💡

lära — lär – lärde – lärt. Keep the three senses apart: lära sig (reflexive) = 'learn', lära ut = 'teach a subject', and bare lär

infinitive = 'reportedly'. The reflexive sig is what makes it 'learn' rather than 'teach'.

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