skratta is the Swedish verb "to laugh," and it is a fully regular Group 1 verb: skratta – skrattar – skrattade – skrattat. Conjugation is the easy part. The thing that actually trips up English speakers is the preposition: in Swedish you laugh at something with åt, not with a word that translates "at." Getting skratta åt right is the whole point of this card. Keep it apart, too, from le ("to smile"), a quieter, different verb.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skratta | skrattar | skrattade | skrattat | skratta | Group 1 (-ar verb) |
Every form is predictable: present skrattar, past skrattade, supine skrattat, imperative skratta. No vowel changes — this is the most regular Swedish class. The perfect is har skrattat, the pluperfect hade skrattat. The related noun is ett skratt ("a laugh / laughter"): ett gott skratt, a good laugh.
Vi skrattar så fort han börjar berätta historier.
We laugh as soon as he starts telling stories. skrattar — present.
Hela klassen skrattade åt mitt skämt.
The whole class laughed at my joke. skrattade — past, with åt.
Jag har inte skrattat så mycket på länge.
I haven't laughed so much in a long time. har skrattat — perfect.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present skrattar covers both "laugh" and "am laughing" — Swedish has no separate progressive form.
Varför skrattar du? Sa jag något konstigt?
Why are you laughing? Did I say something strange? Present skrattar covers 'laugh' and 'are laughing'.
Vi skrattade hela kvällen tills magen gjorde ont.
We laughed all evening until our stomachs hurt. skrattade — simple past.
Hade ni redan skrattat färdigt när jag kom in?
Had you already finished laughing when I came in? hade skrattat — pluperfect.
Use 2: the governed preposition — skratta ÅT
This is the heart of the card. To "laugh at" someone or something, Swedish uses skratta åt — and åt is a governed preposition: it is simply the word this verb demands, not a translation of English "at." The instinct to reach for a literal equivalent (or for på, på being the all-purpose "on/at" that English speakers overuse) produces wrong Swedish. Learn the verb and its preposition as one unit: skratta åt.
Skratta inte åt henne, hon menar allvar.
Don't laugh at her, she's serious. skratta åt — the fixed verb + preposition.
Alla skrattade åt min konstiga hatt.
Everyone laughed at my funny hat. åt governs the thing laughed at.
Vi skrattade åt oss själva när vi insåg misstaget.
We laughed at ourselves when we realised the mistake. åt + reflexive object.
There is also skratta ut, "to laugh at / mock," which is harsher — it means to ridicule someone openly, to make them a laughing-stock. Note the different shade: skratta åt can be affectionate, skratta ut is humiliating.
Han blev utskrattad inför hela laget.
He was laughed at / mocked in front of the whole team. skratta ut → the passive participle utskrattad.
Use 3: skratta vs le
Keep skratta apart from le ("to smile," an irregular short verb: ler – log – lett). Skratta is the audible burst — laughter with sound; le is the silent curve of the mouth. English uses two clearly different words too ("laugh" vs "smile"), but learners sometimes overstretch skratta to cover a gentle smile.
Hon log mot mig men skrattade inte högt.
She smiled at me but didn't laugh out loud. le (silent) vs skratta (audible).
Bebisen log först och började sedan skratta.
The baby smiled first and then started to laugh. le → skratta.
Common Mistakes
❌ Sluta skratta på mig!
Wrong preposition — skratta governs åt, not på. To laugh at someone, it's skratta åt.
✅ Sluta skratta åt mig!
Stop laughing at me!
❌ Alla skrattade till mitt skämt.
Wrong preposition — not till either; the verb takes åt.
✅ Alla skrattade åt mitt skämt.
Everyone laughed at my joke.
❌ Jag har skrattit hela dagen.
Wrong supine — skratta is Group 1, so the supine is skrattat, not a strong -it form.
✅ Jag har skrattat hela dagen.
I've laughed all day.
❌ Hon skrattade vänligt mot mig. (meaning a gentle smile)
Mismatch — a silent, friendly smile is le, not skratta. skratta is audible laughter.
✅ Hon log vänligt mot mig.
She smiled at me kindly.
❌ Det var ett roligt skratt-stund. (noun form)
The noun is ett skratt; for 'a moment of laughter' say en skrattstund or just att skratta.
✅ Vi hade ett gott skratt tillsammans.
We had a good laugh together.
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.
- 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.
- 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.