prata (to talk, chat) | Swedish Grammar

prata means "to talk" or "to chat," and it is the word you will hear most in everyday Swedish conversation. Where the more formal tala means "to speak," prata is its relaxed, friendly twin — the verb for ordinary chatting. It is a perfectly regular Group 1 verb, so once you have tala down, prata costs you nothing extra.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
prata	pratar	pratade	pratat	prata	Group 1

Same pattern as every Group 1 verb: present prata + r = pratar; past adds -de = pratade; supine in -at = pratat; imperative is the bare stem Prata! ("Talk!"). No stem change, no person agreement — jag pratar, han pratar, vi pratar are all identical.

Use 1: just talking / chatting

On its own, prata describes the act of talking — having a conversation, chatting, making small talk.

Vi satt och pratade i flera timmar.

We sat and chatted for several hours. pratade — the everyday past for a long, relaxed conversation.

Barnen pratar i klassrummet hela tiden.

The children talk in the classroom all the time. pratar — plain present, no -s on the verb.

Vi har inte pratat på länge!

We haven't talked in ages! har pratat — the perfect, a very common phone/greeting line.

Use 2: prata med — talk TO someone

To say whom you talk with, Swedish uses prata med — literally "talk with." This trips up English speakers, who say "talk to someone." In Swedish you talk med (with) a person, never till (to) them.

Jag måste prata med dig om något.

I need to talk to you about something. prata med — the person follows med.

Hon pratade med sin syster på telefon.

She talked to her sister on the phone. pratade med — past tense, person introduced by med.

Har du pratat med läraren om det?

Have you talked to the teacher about it? har pratat med — perfect, plus the topic with om.

Use 3: prata om — talk ABOUT something

To name the topic, use prata om — "talk about." The preposition is om, never av or på.

Vad pratar ni om?

What are you talking about? prata om — the topic follows om; here it's fronted as a question word.

Vi pratade om gamla tider.

We talked about old times. pratade om + topic.

Vi behöver prata om pengar.

We need to talk about money. prata om — om marks the subject of conversation.

prata vs tala

The two are near-synonyms, but prata is informal and dominant in speech, while tala is more formal and used for "speaking" in a deliberate or public sense, and for languages (tala svenska). If you're unsure which to use in conversation, prata is almost always the safer, more natural choice. Both are Group 1 and conjugate the same way.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag pratade till min chef.

Incorrect — Swedish talks WITH a person: prata med, not *prata till.

✅ Jag pratade med min chef.

I talked to my boss.

❌ Vi pratade på vädret.

Incorrect — the topic of conversation takes om, not på: prata om vädret.

✅ Vi pratade om vädret.

We talked about the weather.

❌ Jag prater med dig. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — prata is Group 1, so the present is pratar (-ar), not *prater.

✅ Jag pratar med dig.

I'm talking to you.

❌ Vi pratde länge. (bare -de)

Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade: the past is pratade.

✅ Vi pratade länge.

We talked for a long time.

💡

prata is the high-frequency spoken word for "talk/chat" — use it freely in conversation where English uses "talk." Lock in the two prepositions: you prata med a person (with, not to) and prata om a topic (about). Same Group 1 paradigm as tala.

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