resa has two everyday senses that look unrelated until you see the link. Its main meaning is "to travel" — resa till Spanien, "travel to Spain" — the verb you reach for when talking about trips and journeys. Used reflexively, resa sig means "to stand up, rise" — to raise yourself to your feet. The thread connecting them is the older sense "to raise / set upright": you raise yourself when you stand, and a journey sets you in motion. It is a regular Group 2 -te verb: resa – reser – reste – rest, and it has a very common noun partner, en resa ("a journey, a trip").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| resa | reser | reste | rest | res | Group 2 (-te) |
The present is the stem plus -er (res- → reser). The past is reste: the stem res- ends in s, voiceless, so the ending is -te, not -de. The supine is rest (har rest, "have travelled"), and the imperative is the bare stem res! It is the same -te template as läsa/läste — any voiceless-stem Group 2 verb.
Vi reser till Italien i juli.
We're travelling to Italy in July. reser — present.
Förra året reste jag ensam genom Asien.
Last year I travelled alone through Asia. reste — the model -te past.
Har du rest mycket i ditt liv?
Have you travelled a lot in your life? har rest — perfect, supine rest.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses come straight off the principal parts. The present reser covers both "travel" and "am travelling." The past is reste; the perfect har rest, and the pluperfect hade rest.
Hon reser i jobbet nästan varje vecka.
She travels for work almost every week. Present reser.
De reste runt i Europa hela sommaren.
They travelled around Europe the whole summer. reste — simple past.
Vi hade aldrig rest utomlands innan dess.
We had never travelled abroad before then. hade rest — pluperfect.
Use 2: resa till — travelling to a place
The standard pattern for naming the destination is resa till + place: resa till Spanien, resa till Tokyo, resa till havet. The preposition is till ("to"), the same one you use with most directional verbs.
Jag reser till Göteborg på torsdag för ett möte.
I'm travelling to Gothenburg on Thursday for a meeting. resa till — naming the destination.
Vart reste ni i somras?
Where did you travel this summer? reste with the question word vart ('to where').
Use 3: the noun en resa — a journey, a trip
resa is also a very common noun: en resa, "a journey, a trip" (plural resor). It turns up constantly in travel vocabulary — en flygresa ("a flight/air trip"), en tågresa ("a train journey"), en affärsresa ("a business trip"), Trevlig resa! ("Have a good trip!").
Det var en lång och tröttsam resa, men värd det.
It was a long and tiring journey, but worth it. en resa — the noun.
Trevlig resa! Hör av dig när du landar.
Have a good trip! Let me know when you land. The everyday send-off, using the noun resa.
Use 4: resa sig — stand up, rise (reflexive)
This is the sense English speakers least expect. With the reflexive pronoun, resa sig means "to stand up, get to one's feet, rise." You raise yourself — jag reser mig, du reser dig, hon reser sig. It is the natural verb for rising from a chair, and figuratively for a nation or a person "rising up."
Hon reste sig och gick fram till talarstolen.
She stood up and walked to the lectern. reste sig — past reflexive, 'rose'.
Res dig upp när domaren kommer in i salen.
Stand up when the judge enters the room. Res dig — reflexive imperative.
Publiken reste sig och applåderade.
The audience rose and applauded. reste sig — 'rose to their feet'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag resade till Norge förra veckan.
Incorrect — res- ends in voiceless s, so the past is reste (-te), not the Group 1 *resade.
✅ Jag reste till Norge förra veckan.
I travelled to Norway last week.
❌ Vi har resat mycket i år.
Incorrect — that's a Group 1 supine. resa's supine is rest: har rest.
✅ Vi har rest mycket i år.
We've travelled a lot this year.
❌ Hon reste och gick fram. (meaning 'she stood up')
Incorrect — without the reflexive sig, reste means 'travelled'. To say she stood up you need resa sig: reste sig.
✅ Hon reste sig och gick fram.
She stood up and walked forward.
❌ Jag reser i Spanien nästa månad. (meaning going there)
Off — 'resa i' means travelling around within a place. To go there, use resa till.
✅ Jag reser till Spanien nästa månad.
I'm travelling to Spain next month.
❌ Res dig taxi till flygplatsen. (mixing the senses)
Incorrect — for taking transport use åka, not resa: åk taxi. resa sig means 'stand up'.
✅ Åk taxi till flygplatsen.
Take a taxi to the airport.
Now practice Swedish
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