mena is "to mean" in the sense of a person's intention — what someone is trying to say or intends. Vad menar du? is "What do you mean?"; Jag menade inte så is "I didn't mean it that way." Mechanically it is the easiest of the three "mean" verbs: a perfectly regular Group 1 verb, mena – menade – menat, all built on the unchanged stem men- plus the standard -ar / -ade / -at endings. The whole challenge is semantic — keeping it apart from betyda (a word's meaning) and innebära (a situation's consequence).
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mena | menar | menade | menat | mena | Group 1 (-ar / -ade / -at) |
This is the model Group 1 conjugation: present menar, past menade, supine menat, imperative mena (identical to the infinitive without att). No vowel changes, no irregularities — if you can conjugate tala or prata, you can conjugate mena.
Vad menar du med det?
What do you mean by that? menar — present.
Jag menade inte att vara otrevlig.
I didn't mean to be rude. menade — past.
Jag har alltid menat väl.
I've always meant well. har menat — perfect.
Use 1: a person's intention — Vad menar du?
The core sense is what a speaker intends or is trying to convey. The question Vad menar du? asks someone to clarify their intention or point — not what a word signifies, but what they are getting at. The negative Jag menade inte så / inte det ("I didn't mean it that way / I didn't mean that") is one of the most useful phrases for smoothing over a misunderstanding.
Jag menar att vi borde vänta lite till.
I mean (I think / I'd say) we should wait a bit longer. mena introducing an opinion.
Förlåt, jag menade inte så — det lät hårdare än jag tänkte.
Sorry, I didn't mean it that way — it sounded harsher than I intended. menade inte så.
Menar du honom eller henne?
Do you mean him or her? mena to ask which referent someone intends.
Use 2: mena allvar — to be serious
A fixed, high-frequency expression: mena allvar literally "mean seriousness," i.e. "to be serious, to really mean it." Its opposite is skämta ("to joke"). You'll also hear Menar du allvar? — "Are you serious? / You can't be serious!"
Jag menar allvar — vi måste prata om det här.
I'm serious — we have to talk about this. mena allvar = be serious.
Menar du allvar? Har du verkligen sagt upp dig?
Are you serious? Have you really quit your job? Menar du allvar? as an exclamation.
Han sa det med ett leende, men han menade allvar.
He said it with a smile, but he meant it seriously. menade allvar in the past.
Use 3: mena vs betyda vs innebära — the three-way split
The decisive question is who or what is doing the meaning. A person intends → mena (Vad menar du?). A word or sign signifies → betyda (Vad betyder ordet?). A situation entails a consequence → innebära (Vad innebär det?). Mixing them up is the single most common error English speakers make here, because English uses one verb for all three.
Jag menar inte att ordet betyder det.
I'm not saying (intending) that the word means that. mena (intent) and betyda (signification) in one sentence.
Vad betyder det här ordet?
What does this word mean? A word → betyda, never mena.
Vad innebär det för dig rent praktiskt?
What does that mean / involve for you in practical terms? A situation → innebära.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vad betyder du? (intending 'what do you mean?')
This asks 'what do you signify?' — to ask a person's intention use mena: Vad menar du?
✅ Vad menar du?
What do you mean?
❌ Jag mende inte så.
Incorrect past — mena is regular Group 1, so the past is menade, not mende.
✅ Jag menade inte så.
I didn't mean it that way.
❌ Jag har menad det länge.
Wrong form after har — use the supine menat, not the participle menad.
✅ Jag har menat det länge.
I've meant that for a long time.
❌ Menar du seriös?
Set phrase error — 'be serious' is mena allvar, with the noun allvar, not the adjective seriös.
✅ Menar du allvar?
Are you serious?
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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.
- betyda (to mean, signify)A2 — betyda means 'to mean, signify' (a word's meaning: Vad betyder ordet?) and also 'to matter, be important' (Du betyder mycket för mig). It is irregular — betyda – betydde – betytt — and is one corner of the three-way 'mean' split with mena (intend) and innebära (entail).
- innebära (to mean, entail)B2 — innebära means 'to mean, entail, imply (as a consequence)' and is inne- + bära, so it keeps bära's strong ablaut: innebära – innebar – inneburit. It answers Vad innebär det? ('what does that involve?') and is distinct from betyda (signify) and mena (intend).
- The Four Conjugation GroupsA2 — Swedish verbs sort into four conjugation classes, identified not by the present tense but by the PAST (preteritum) and supine: Group 1 (talar/talade/talat), Group 2 (ringer/ringde/ringt, köper/köpte/köpt), Group 3 (bor/bodde/bott), and Group 4, the strong verbs (skriver/skrev/skrivit) that change their vowel. Group 1 is so dominant and regular that every new and borrowed verb joins it — so treat it as the default and memorise only the closed list of strong verbs.