lysa means "to shine," "to give light," or "to be lit / be on." It is the verb you use when a light source is doing its job — a lamp glowing, a screen lit up, stars shining in the night sky. It belongs to Group 2 and takes the -te past, because its stem ends in a voiceless consonant (s). Getting it right means choosing it correctly against two close neighbours, skina and glänsa.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lysa | lyser | lyste | lyst | lys | Group 2 (-te) |
lysa is Group 2, so the present is stem + -er (lyser), not the Group 1 -ar. The past is -te, not -de: because the stem lys- ends in the voiceless s, Swedish picks the voiceless past ending -te, giving lyste (compare köpa → köpte, läsa → läste). The supine is -t (lyst), and the imperative is the bare stem lys ("Shine!" / colloquially "turn the light on"). Note the y — lysa, not lisa.
Use: a light source gives off light
The core meaning is intransitive: something shines or is lit. A lamp, a candle, the moon, a phone screen — anything that emits or reflects steady light can be the subject.
Lampan lyser fortfarande i köket.
The lamp is still on in the kitchen. lysa = 'be lit / be on' for a lamp.
Stjärnorna lyser klart i natt.
The stars are shining brightly tonight. The everyday present lyser.
Skärmen lyste i mörkret.
The screen glowed in the dark. lyste — the regular Group 2 -te past.
Du har glömt att släcka — det har lyst hela natten.
You forgot to turn it off — it's been on all night. har lyst, the supine after har.
A useful idiomatic note: lysa can mean a light is simply switched on, so Lyser det i hallen? asks "Is the light on in the hall?" The imperative lys can even mean "give us some light."
Lys med ficklampan här borta.
Shine the flashlight over here. Imperative lys — directing a light source.
Hennes ögon lyste av glädje.
Her eyes shone with joy. A common figurative use: lysa av + emotion.
lysa vs skina vs glänsa
These three all touch on "shine," but they divide the territory:
| Verb | Group | Core sense | Typical subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| lysa | 2 (lyste, lyst) | give off / be lit, glow steadily | lamp, screen, stars, eyes |
| skina | strong (sken, skinit) | shine brightly, beam down | the sun above all |
| glänsa | 2 (glänste, glänst) | gleam, reflect light, be shiny | polished/wet surfaces, metal |
The cleanest rule of thumb: the sun skiner; a lamp lyser; a wet road glänser. skina is a strong (irregular) verb — past sken, supine skinit — and is reserved above all for the sun and very bright, beaming light. glänsa is about reflected shine on a surface.
Solen skiner — äntligen en fin dag!
The sun is shining — finally a nice day! The sun takes skina, not lysa.
Den våta gatan glänste under gatlyktorna.
The wet street gleamed under the streetlights. Reflected shine = glänsa.
Lampan lyser, men solen skiner.
The lamp is on, but the sun is shining. The minimal pair: lysa for the lamp, skina for the sun.
Particle verbs: lysa upp, lysa igenom
Two common particle verbs extend lysa. lysa upp means "to light up / illuminate" (and figuratively "to brighten" a mood or a face). lysa igenom means "to shine through" — light passing through, or, figuratively, something showing through.
En enda lampa lyste upp hela rummet.
A single lamp lit up the whole room. lysa upp = illuminate.
Solen lyste igenom de tunna gardinerna.
The sun shone through the thin curtains. lysa igenom = shine through.
Common Mistakes
❌ Lampan lysar.
Incorrect — lysa is Group 2, so the present is lyser (-er), not the Group 1 *lysar (-ar).
✅ Lampan lyser.
The lamp is on.
❌ Lampan lysde hela natten.
Incorrect — the stem ends in voiceless s, so the past takes -te: lyste, not *lysde.
✅ Lampan lyste hela natten.
The lamp was on all night.
❌ Solen lyser i dag.
Off — for the sun, Swedes say skina: solen skiner. lysa fits lamps and screens, not the sun.
✅ Solen skiner i dag.
The sun is shining today.
❌ Det har lyste länge.
Incorrect — after har you need the supine lyst, not the past lyste.
✅ Det har lyst länge.
It's been on for a long time.
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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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