ringa means "to call" — to phone someone — and originally "to ring" (a bell). It is one of the most useful everyday verbs in Swedish and a clean example of a Group 2 -de verb, the subtype whose stem ends in a voiced sound. Its present is ringer, its past ringde, its supine ringt.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ringa | ringer | ringde | ringt | ring | Group 2 (-de) |
Group 2 verbs build their present with -er (ring- → ringer) and their imperative is the bare stem (Ring! "Call!"). The key fact is the past: the stem ring- ends in the voiced sound -ng, and voiced stems take -de, giving ringde — never ringte. The supine drops to a single -t: ringt. If you put a finger on your throat and say the end of ring-, you feel the vocal cords buzz; that buzz is exactly what pulls the voiced -de ending, the same way English "ring" → "rang" stays voiced.
Use 1: calling someone — ringa till någon
The standard way to say you call a person is ringa till någon ("call to someone"). The preposition till introduces the person.
Jag ringer till dig så fort jag landar.
I'll call you as soon as I land. ringer till — present, person introduced by till.
Hon ringde till sjukhuset men ingen svarade.
She called the hospital but nobody answered. ringde — the voiced-stem -de past.
Har du ringt till tandläkaren än?
Have you called the dentist yet? har ringt — the perfect, supine ringt after har.
Use 2: ringa with a direct object
Very commonly, especially with people you know, Swedes drop the till and use a plain direct object: ringa mamma, ringa Erik. Both ringa till mamma and ringa mamma are correct and natural; the bare-object version feels a touch more casual.
Jag måste ringa mamma ikväll, det var länge sen.
I have to call Mum tonight, it's been a while. ringa mamma — bare direct object, no till.
Ring mig när du är framme!
Call me when you get there! Ring — the bare-stem imperative, with a direct object (mig).
Vi ringde varandra varje kväll det året.
We called each other every evening that year. ringde varandra — past with a reciprocal object.
Use 3: ringa upp — call up / call back
The particle verb ringa upp means "to call up" or "to call (someone) back" — to place a call to someone, often returning one. The particle upp is stressed and stays with the verb.
Jag är upptagen nu — kan jag ringa upp dig om en timme?
I'm busy now — can I call you back in an hour? ringa upp — particle verb, 'call back'.
Han ringde upp så fort han såg det missade samtalet.
He called back as soon as he saw the missed call. ringde upp — past of the particle verb.
A note on "the phone rings"
ringa keeps its older "ring (a bell)" sense too — and this is how Swedish says a phone is ringing. Here ringa is intransitive, with the phone (not a person) as the subject: Telefonen ringer ("The phone is ringing"). So the same verb covers both you calling someone and the device that rings as a result.
Telefonen ringer — kan du svara?
The phone's ringing — can you answer it? ringer — intransitive, the phone is the subject.
Det ringde mitt i natten och alla vaknade.
It rang in the middle of the night and everyone woke up. ringde — past, intransitive 'the phone rang'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag ringade dig igår.
Incorrect — that's the Group 1 -ade ending. ringa is Group 2, so the past is ringde.
✅ Jag ringde dig igår.
I called you yesterday.
❌ Jag ringte dig igår.
Incorrect — the stem ring- ends in a voiced sound, so it takes -de, not -te: ringde.
✅ Jag ringde dig igår.
I called you yesterday.
❌ Jag ringer dig på telefon.
Redundant — ringa already means 'to phone', so på telefon is unnecessary. Just ringa dig.
✅ Jag ringer dig.
I'll call you.
❌ Jag har ringat till honom.
Incorrect supine — the supine of ringa is ringt, not *ringat (that would be Group 1).
✅ Jag har ringt till honom.
I have called him.
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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.
- 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.
- Verb + Preposition GovernmentB2 — Many Swedish verbs demand a specific, unpredictable preposition: tänka på (think about), vänta på (wait for), tro på (believe in), be om (ask for), tycka om (like), längta efter (long for), bero på (depend on). The governed preposition rarely matches English's, and it's unstressed (unlike a particle), so these combinations are vocabulary items you learn as whole units.