skapa means "to create" — to bring something into existence that was not there before. It is the verb behind creating a file, a job, an opportunity, a problem, or a work of art, and it is one of the most productive Group 1 verbs in modern Swedish, especially in tech, business, and design. Best of all, it is completely regular: skapa – skapade – skapat, every form derived by rule. Master this card and you also have a clean window onto the -s passive (skapas, "is created") and the reflexive skapa sig ("build oneself").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skapa | skapar | skapade | skapat | skapa | Group 1 |
A model Group 1 verb, conjugated exactly like tala: present infinitive + -r (skapar), past full -ade (skapade), supine -at (skapat), imperative the bare stem (Skapa!). No stem change, no vowel shift, no subject agreement. The agreeing past participle is skapad / skapat / skapade ("created"). Note that the sk- before a is pronounced as a hard "sk" (not the sj-*sound it takes before front vowels) — *skapa sounds like "SKAH-pa."
Klicka här för att skapa ett nytt konto.
Click here to create a new account. skapa — present-day tech use.
Reformen skapade tusentals nya jobb.
The reform created thousands of new jobs. skapade — Group 1 past with -ade.
Vi har skapat något helt unikt tillsammans.
We've created something completely unique together. har skapat — perfect, supine -at.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses fall straight out of the principal parts. Present skapar covers "creates" and "is creating." The past is the full skapade. The perfect is har skapat; the pluperfect is hade skapat. Because it is Group 1, there is never a bare -de (skapade, not skapde).
Musiken skapar en lugn stämning i rummet.
The music creates a calm atmosphere in the room. Present skapar.
Beslutet skapade mer förvirring än klarhet.
The decision created more confusion than clarity. skapade — simple past.
Konstnären hade skapat verket på bara några dagar.
The artist had created the work in just a few days. hade skapat — pluperfect.
Use 2: skapa möjligheter, problem — make / generate
Beyond literal "create," skapa is the everyday verb for "generate / give rise to" abstract things — opportunities, problems, jobs, debate, atmosphere. English often switches between "create," "make," and "cause," but Swedish reaches for skapa across the board.
Vi vill skapa möjligheter för unga att komma in på arbetsmarknaden.
We want to create opportunities for young people to enter the job market. skapa möjligheter.
Det skapade problem som ingen hade förutsett.
It created problems that no one had foreseen. skapade problem.
Förslaget skapade het debatt i riksdagen.
The proposal sparked heated debate in parliament. skapade — 'gave rise to.' (formal)
Use 3: the -s passive skapas — is created
Add -s and you get the passive skapas, "is created / is being created" — the focus moves to the thing made, and the maker drops out (or is named with av, "by"). This is the standard Swedish passive, and skapa forms it cleanly across all tenses: present skapas, past skapades, supine har skapats.
Nya jobb skapas varje gång ett företag växer.
New jobs are created every time a company grows. skapas — present passive.
Bilden skapades med hjälp av artificiell intelligens.
The image was created with the help of artificial intelligence. skapades — past passive.
Hela stadsdelen har skapats från grunden.
The whole district has been created from scratch. har skapats — perfect passive.
Use 4: skapa sig — build oneself something
Made reflexive, skapa sig means "to build / make oneself" something — a future, a reputation, a name. The set phrase skapa sig ett namn is exactly English "make a name for oneself." The reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject (jag skapar mig, hon skapar sig).
Hon har skapat sig ett namn som arkitekt.
She has made a name for herself as an architect. skapa sig ett namn.
De skapade sig ett nytt liv i en annan stad.
They built themselves a new life in another city. skapade sig — reflexive past.
The noun: en skapelse
The verb's noun is en skapelse — "a creation," used both for a made thing (a dish, an artwork) and, with the definite article, for "Creation" in the religious sense (skapelsen). It is common-gender (en skapelse, plural skapelser).
Tårtan var en sann skapelse — för fin att äta.
The cake was a true creation — too pretty to eat. en skapelse — the noun.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vi skapde ett nytt konto. (bare -de)
Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is skapade, not *skapde.
✅ Vi skapade ett nytt konto.
We created a new account.
❌ Många nya jobb skapar varje år. (active for passive)
Off — if no one is named as the maker, use the -s passive: jobb skapas, 'jobs are created.'
✅ Många nya jobb skapas varje år.
Many new jobs are created every year.
❌ Han har skapade sig ett namn. (past for supine)
Incorrect — after har use the supine skapat, not the past skapade.
✅ Han har skapat sig ett namn.
He has made a name for himself.
❌ Det var en vacker skapa. (verb as noun)
Incorrect — the noun is en skapelse; skapa is the verb.
✅ Det var en vacker skapelse.
It was a beautiful creation.
Now practice Swedish
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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.
- The -s PassiveB1 — The synthetic -s passive adds -s to the verb across all tenses (present läses/öppnas, past lästes/öppnades, supine har lästs/öppnats, infinitive ska läsas). It is the DEFAULT Swedish passive — the form on signs, rules, recipes and instructions (Dörren öppnas automatiskt; Serveras kallt) — far more frequent than English speakers expect.