simma means "to swim." It is a clean, regular Group 1 verb — one of the first action verbs worth learning, because you will almost always meet it after the modal kan in the everyday sentence Jag kan simma ("I can swim"). Its spelling also teaches a small but important Swedish habit: doubling a consonant to mark a short vowel.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| simma | simmar | simmade | simmat | simma | Group 1 |
The conjugation is fully regular: present -r → simmar, past -ade → simmade, supine -at → simmat, imperative the bare stem (Simma! "Swim!"). The double -mm- is there for pronunciation, not grammar — it tells you the i is short. That double m stays in every form, which is why you write simmade, never simade.
Use 1: swimming — the basic verb
In its core sense simma describes the activity of swimming. Where you swim is added with a preposition (i sjön "in the lake", i havet "in the sea").
Vi simmade i sjön hela eftermiddagen.
We swam in the lake all afternoon. simmade — the regular Group 1 past, double m kept.
Hon simmar varje morgon innan jobbet.
She swims every morning before work. present simmar.
Jag har aldrig simmat i öppet hav.
I've never swum in the open sea. har simmat — perfect, supine simmat after har.
Use 2: Jag kan simma — the modal pattern
The most common frame for simma is the modal kan + the bare infinitive: Jag kan simma ("I can swim"). After a modal verb (kan, vill, ska, måste) the main verb stays in the plain infinitive — no att, no extra ending. This is exactly where beginners first use the word, so it's worth drilling.
Jag kan simma men inte särskilt långt.
I can swim but not very far. kan + the bare infinitive simma.
Kan du simma redan?
Can you swim already? kan + simma — the standard way to ask about the ability.
Han vill lära sig att simma i sommar.
He wants to learn to swim this summer. After lära sig you do get att, but the verb form is still the infinitive simma.
simma vs bada
Beginners often reach for simma when a Swede would say bada. simma is the specific act of swimming — moving through water with strokes. bada is broader: "to bathe", "to go for a swim/dip", "to go to the beach or pool" as an activity, even if you mostly stand in the water. When you invite someone to the lake or the sea for fun, the natural verb is bada; simma is what you do once you're actually swimming laps or crossing the bay.
Ska vi bada i helgen?
Shall we go for a swim this weekend? bada — the activity, going to the water, not necessarily doing laps.
Barnen badade men kunde inte simma än.
The kids splashed/bathed but couldn't swim yet. bada (being in the water) contrasted with simma (the skill).
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag kan simmer.
Incorrect — simma is Group 1, so the infinitive after kan is just simma; there is no *simmer form at all.
✅ Jag kan simma.
I can swim.
❌ Vi simade i sjön.
Incorrect — the double m marks the short vowel and stays in every form: simmade, not *simade.
✅ Vi simmade i sjön.
We swam in the lake.
❌ Jag kan att simma.
Incorrect — no att after a modal: kan simma, not *kan att simma.
✅ Jag kan simma.
I can swim.
❌ Vi ska simma till stranden i eftermiddag.
Off — for going to the beach to have a swim, Swedes say bada; simma is the act of swimming itself.
✅ Vi ska bada vid stranden i eftermiddag.
We're going for a swim at the beach this afternoon.
Now practice Swedish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
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.