regna (to rain) | Swedish Grammar

regna means "to rain" — and it is two easy lessons in one. First, it is a perfectly regular Group 1 verb (regnar, regnade, regnat), so it drills the most common conjugation pattern in Swedish. Second, it is impersonal: like English "it rains," it only ever takes the dummy subject det. You will never have a person regna — there is no jag regnar. Once you have Det regnar, you can talk about the weather from day one.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
regna	regnar	regnade	regnat	—	Group 1

regna is a Group 1 verb, the most regular and most common class. Every form is derived by rule: present = infinitive + -r (regnar), past = infinitive + -de (regnade), supine = stem + -at (regnat). There is no imperative — you can't command the sky to rain — and no personal forms, because the verb describes a state of the weather, not an action anyone performs. The g is always pronounced (regn-), and the spelling keeps it in every form.

Use 1: Det regnar — it's raining

This is the whole verb in one phrase. The dummy subject det fills the grammatically required subject slot; it doesn't refer to anything. Swedish word order still applies — the verb stays in second position.

Det regnar — glöm inte paraplyet.

It's raining — don't forget the umbrella. Det regnar — impersonal det, the present.

Ute regnar det fortfarande.

Outside it's still raining. Note: when something else comes first (Ute), det follows the verb — V2 word order.

Det verkar regna snart.

It looks like it'll rain soon. The bare infinitive regna after verkar.

Use 2: the past — Det regnade

The past regnade is the regular Group 1 form — the full -ade, not a bare -de.

Det regnade hela dagen igår.

It rained all day yesterday. regnade — the regular Group 1 past.

När vi kom fram regnade det inte längre.

When we arrived it wasn't raining any more. regnade det — inverted after the time clause.

Use 3: the perfect — har regnat

The supine regnat follows har for "has rained."

Det har regnat varje dag den här veckan.

It has rained every day this week. har regnat — the perfect, supine regnat.

Marken är blöt — det måste ha regnat i natt.

The ground is wet — it must have rained last night. ha regnat — perfect infinitive after måste.

The family: regn and regnig

Two related words round out the topic. The noun is regn ("rain") — ett regn, neuter — and the adjective is regnig ("rainy"), as in en regnig dag ("a rainy day"). The particle verb regna ner describes rain (or things) coming down: Det regnade ner genom taket ("It rained in through the roof").

How this differs from English

The good news for English speakers: this verb maps almost exactly onto English "it rains / it's raining," because English also uses a dummy "it" with no real referent. The trap is elsewhere. English has the progressive — "it is raining" versus "it rains" — and learners often look for a Swedish equivalent. There isn't one: Swedish has a single present, regnar, that covers both "it rains" (in general) and "it's raining" (right now). Don't try to build det är regnande — that is not Swedish. Det regnar alone carries the progressive meaning, and context or an adverb (nu, "now") makes it explicit when needed.

Det regnar ofta här, och det regnar just nu.

It often rains here, and it's raining right now. One form, regnar, covers both the habitual and the in-progress sense.

💡

Two things to remember: regna is a textbook Group 1 verb (regnar / regnade / regnat, all by rule), and it is strictly impersonal — always Det regnar, never *Jag regnar. The same goes for the other weather verbs: Det snöar ("it's snowing"), Det blåser ("it's windy").

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag regnar. / Vädret regnar.

Wrong — regna takes no personal or 'weather' subject. Always the dummy det: Det regnar.

✅ Det regnar.

It's raining.

❌ Regnar idag. (missing det)

Incomplete — the impersonal verb still needs det: Det regnar idag, or Idag regnar det.

✅ Det regnar idag.

It's raining today.

❌ Det regnde hela natten. (bare -de)

Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is regnade, not *regnde.

✅ Det regnade hela natten.

It rained all night.

❌ Det har regnit. (Group 4 supine)

Incorrect — regna is Group 1, so the supine is regnat (-at), not *regnit. Say har regnat.

✅ Det har regnat.

It has rained.

Now practice Swedish

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Swedish→