säga (to say) | Swedish Grammar

säga means "to say." It is irregular, and its standout feature is a register split in the past tense: the written form is sade, but in speech and casual writing almost everyone says sa. Both are fully standard — picking the right one is about matching the register, not about correctness. säga also has a soft g you should hear correctly, and it anchors several fixed expressions worth knowing as units.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum — written	Preteritum — spoken	Supine	Imperative	Group
säga	säger	sade	sa	sagt	säg	irregular

The present säger is pronounced with a soft g, roughly "säjer" — the g sounds like a y/j, not a hard English g. The past has two shapes: sade (formal/written) and sa (informal/spoken). The supine is sagt (after ha: har sagt), and the imperative is säg ("say!").

Vad säger du om vi tar en paus?

What do you say to taking a break? säger — present, soft g ('säjer').

Han sa att han skulle ringa.

He said he'd call. sa — the everyday spoken past.

Jag har redan sagt det tre gånger.

I've already said it three times. sagt — supine after har.

Use 1: reporting what someone says

The everyday job of säga is to report speech — to introduce what someone said, usually with an att-clause. In conversation this is overwhelmingly sa.

Hon sa att hon var trött.

She said she was tired. sa + att-clause — the standard reporting frame.

Vad sa du? Jag hörde inte.

What did you say? I didn't hear. sa in a quick spoken question.

Läraren säger alltid samma sak.

The teacher always says the same thing. säger — habitual present.

Use 2: the register split — sade vs sa

This is the heart of the card. sade belongs to formal and literary writing — novels, news copy, official prose. sa is the spoken norm and is now standard in most informal writing too (texts, chat, casual emails). They mean exactly the same thing; only the register differs. Reading sade aloud, by the way, most speakers still pronounce it "sa."

”Det är över”, sade hon lågt och reste sig.

'It's over,' she said quietly, and stood up. sade — the literary past, at home in narrative prose.

Hon sa typ att hon inte orkade.

She like said she couldn't be bothered. sa — informal speech (with the casual filler typ).

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säga has two correct pasts: written sade (formal/literary) and spoken sa (informal — and the everyday norm). Use sa when you talk and text; reach for sade only in formal or literary writing. Watch out for the wrong form *sägde — that one is simply an error in any register.

Use 3: fixed phrases

säga lives inside a number of set expressions that you should memorise whole rather than translate word by word.

Vi ses på fredag, det vill säga om två dagar.

We'll meet on Friday, that is, in two days. det vill säga (abbreviated dvs) = 'that is / i.e.'.

Det var, så att säga, ingen överraskning.

It was, so to speak, no surprise. så att säga = 'so to speak'.

Säg till om du behöver hjälp.

Let me know if you need help. säg till = 'let (someone) know / give a shout'.

Det säger sig självt att vi måste boka i förväg.

It goes without saying that we have to book in advance. det säger sig självt = 'it goes without saying'.

Use 4: reported speech

In longer reported speech, säga introduces an embedded clause whose word order shifts to subordinate order — the att-clause keeps the subject before any inte or other clause adverb.

Han sa att han inte hade tid idag.

He said he didn't have time today. Note the subordinate order: han inte hade (subject before inte).

De sa att de skulle komma senare.

They said they would come later. Reported future with skulle inside the att-clause.

A handy extra: the present säger is what you use to quote what someone keeps saying, or to soften a request as "they say / people say." Swedish leans on this present a lot in casual reporting.

Man säger att det blir en kall vinter.

They say it's going to be a cold winter. man säger att = 'people say / it's said that'.

Hon säger jämt att hon ska sluta röka.

She's always saying she's going to quit smoking. säger for a repeated, habitual claim.

Common Mistakes

❌ Han sägde att han kom.

Incorrect in every register — the past is sade (written) or sa (spoken), never *sägde.

✅ Han sa att han kom.

He said he was coming.

❌ Hej! Min mormor sade att hon längtar efter dig. (in a casual text)

✅ Hej! Min mormor sa att hon längtar efter dig.

Hi! My grandma said she misses you.

❌ Jag har sa det redan.

Incorrect — the supine is sagt, not sa. sa is only the past tense.

✅ Jag har sagt det redan.

I've already said it.

❌ Vad sägde du?

Incorrect — present is säger, past is sa/sade. *sägde does not exist.

✅ Vad sa du? / Vad säger du?

What did you say? / What are you saying?

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Match the register: sa when you speak or text, sade in formal or literary writing — both standard, same meaning. Don't confuse the past sa with the supine sagt (har sagt), and never write the non-existent *sägde.

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