se (to see) | Swedish Grammar

se means "to see," and like its English counterpart it covers both physical sight and "understanding." But two constructions built on se are pure Swedish and worth singling out. First, the reciprocal ses ("see each other / meet"), whose present is the universal goodbye Vi ses! ("See you!"). Second, the particle verb se ut ("look / appear"), which famously splits around whatever describes the appearance: Hon ser ung ut ("She looks young"). Master those two and you've unlocked some of the most common everyday Swedish. The forms are strong: se – ser – såg – sett.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
se	ser	såg	sett	se	strong

The present is ser, the strong past såg (with å, pronounced "sawg" — don't confuse it with the noun såg, "saw"), and the supine sett. The imperative se ("look!") is common, often as Se här! ("Look here!"). One present serves every subject.

Ser du fågeln där borta i trädet?

Do you see the bird over there in the tree? ser — present.

Jag såg henne på stan igår.

I saw her in town yesterday. såg — strong past with å.

Har du sett den nya filmen?

Have you seen the new film? sett — the supine, after har.

Use 1: plain sight and understanding

The core sense is perceiving with the eyes — and, as in English, "seeing" extends to grasping or understanding a point.

Jag ser dig! Du gömmer dig bakom soffan.

I see you! You're hiding behind the sofa. Literal sight.

Jaha, nu ser jag vad du menar.

Oh, now I see what you mean. 'See' = understand, just like English.

Use 2: the reciprocal ses — see each other / meet

Adding -s turns se into a reciprocal: ses means "see each other," i.e. meet. Its present is the everyday farewell Vi ses! ("See you!" / "We'll see each other"), and you'll hear it constantly. The past sågs ("saw each other") and supine setts exist but the present dominates.

Vi ses imorgon klockan tre.

See you tomorrow at three. ses — reciprocal s-verb, 'see each other'.

Tack för idag — vi ses!

Thanks for today — see you! The standard goodbye.

Vi sågs senast i somras.

We last saw each other this past summer. sågs — reciprocal past.

Use 3: se ut — look / appear (and how it splits)

se ut means "to look / appear," and its hallmark is that the describing word goes between ser and ut. The predicate — an adjective or a som-phrase — splits the particle verb apart: Hon ser *ung ut ("She looks young"), Det ser **bra ut ("It looks good"). For comparisons, use *se ut som ("look like").

Du ser trött ut — har du sovit dåligt?

You look tired — did you sleep badly? se ut splits: ser + trött + ut.

Det ser ut att bli regn.

It looks like it'll rain. se ut att + infinitive — 'look like it'll'.

Han ser ut som sin pappa.

He looks like his dad. se ut som — 'look like'.

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Word order is the whole trick with se ut: the adjective lands inside the verb, between ser and ut — Hon ser glad ut, never Hon ser ut glad. Think of se … ut as a frame you slot the description into.

Note that ses is a true reciprocal, not a passive: Vi ses means "we see each other," not "we are seen." This is the same -s that gives träffas ("meet"), kramas ("hug each other") and höras ("be in touch" — Vi hörs!, the spoken-word counterpart of Vi ses!). Once you recognise the reciprocal -s, a whole set of "each other" verbs opens up at once.

Ring mig sen, så hörs vi imorgon.

Call me later, then we'll be in touch tomorrow. hörs — the same reciprocal -s as ses.

Use 4: other particle verbs

Two more worth knowing: se på ("watch / look at" — se på TV) and se till ("make sure / see to it that"). Se till att + clause is the everyday way to say "make sure that." Don't confuse se på (watch attentively) with plain se (perceive) — you ser the screen by accident, but you ser på a film on purpose.

Vi ser på en film ikväll.

We're watching a film tonight. se på — watch (deliberately).

Se till att dörren är låst innan du går.

Make sure the door is locked before you leave. se till att — make sure that.

Vi får se hur det går.

We'll see how it goes. Vi får se — 'we'll see', a very common wait-and-see phrase.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vi ser imorgon. (intending 'see you tomorrow')

Incorrect — 'see you' is the reciprocal ses, not plain ser.

✅ Vi ses imorgon.

See you tomorrow.

❌ Du ser ut trött.

Incorrect word order — the adjective splits the verb: ser trött ut.

✅ Du ser trött ut.

You look tired.

❌ Jag seade honom igår. (regularised past)

Incorrect — se is strong; the past is såg, not *seade.

✅ Jag såg honom igår.

I saw him yesterday.

❌ Har du sedd filmen? (wrong supine)

Incorrect — the supine is sett; sedd is the past participle (used as an adjective).

✅ Har du sett filmen?

Have you seen the film?

❌ Han ser som sin pappa. (missing ut)

Incorrect — 'look like' is se ut som; you can't drop the ut.

✅ Han ser ut som sin pappa.

He looks like his dad.

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Two everyday constructions ride on se: the reciprocal Vi ses! ("see you" — see each other) and the particle verb se ut ("look/appear"), which always splits around its description — Hon ser ung ut. Keep the strong forms straight: past såg (with å), supine sett (the participle sedd is a different word).

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