skriva is the Swedish verb "to write," and it is the verb every learner should memorise first among the strong verbs. Its principal parts run skriva – skrev – skrivit, the i–e–i ablaut pattern, which lines up cleanly with English write – wrote – written. It is also the cleanest illustration of a distinction that trips up nearly everyone: the supine skrivit (used after har) versus the agreeing participle skriven / skrivet / skrivna (used as an adjective or in the passive).
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skriva | skriver | skrev | skrivit | skriv | Group 4 (strong), i–e–i |
Read the vowels across the row: the infinitive and present keep i (skriva, skriver), the past drops to e (skrev), and the supine returns to i (skrivit). That is the whole i–e–i pattern, and it is the same vowel skeleton as English write → wrote → written. The agreeing past participle is skriven (en-word), skrivet (ett-word), skrivna (plural/definite).
Jag skriver ett mejl till chefen just nu.
I'm writing an email to the boss right now. skriver — present, vowel i.
Hon skrev under kontraktet utan att läsa det.
She signed the contract without reading it. skrev — past, vowel e.
Jag har skrivit klart rapporten äntligen.
I've finally finished writing the report. har skrivit — perfect, supine vowel i.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present skriver covers both English "write" and "am writing" — Swedish has no separate progressive. The past skrev is a bare, vowel-changed stem with no ending. The perfect is har skrivit, and the pluperfect is hade skrivit.
Min son skriver redan hela meningar.
My son already writes whole sentences. Present skriver covers 'writes' and 'is writing'.
Vi skrev vykort från varje stad vi besökte.
We wrote postcards from every town we visited. skrev — simple past.
Hade du skrivit klart innan mötet började?
Had you finished writing before the meeting started? hade skrivit — pluperfect, still the supine skrivit.
Use 2: the supine vs the agreeing participle — the signature contrast
This is the heart of the card. After har / hade you always use the supine skrivit, and it never changes form — it does not agree with anything. But when the same verb describes a noun (as an adjective) or forms a passive with vara/bli, you use the participle, which does agree in gender and number: skriven, skrivet, skrivna.
Jag har skrivit boken, och nu ligger en skriven bok på bordet.
I've written the book, and now a written book lies on the table. har skrivit (supine, fixed) vs en skriven bok (participle, agreeing).
Brevet är redan skrivet — jag postar det imorgon.
The letter is already written — I'll post it tomorrow. ett-word brevet → skrivet.
Alla inbjudningar var handskrivna.
All the invitations were handwritten. Plural inbjudningar → skrivna.
The rule of thumb: if the word right before is har or hade, write skrivit and never touch it. If the word describes a noun or follows är / var / blir / blev, switch to the agreeing skriven / skrivet / skrivna.
Use 3: the particle verbs skriva ut and skriva under
skriva takes several high-frequency particles. skriva ut means "print (out)," and skriva under means "sign." The particle is stressed and normally follows the verb.
Kan du skriva ut biljetterna innan vi åker?
Can you print the tickets before we leave? skriva ut = print.
Båda parter måste skriva under avtalet.
Both parties have to sign the agreement. skriva under = sign.
Jag skrev ut hela uppsatsen men glömde sista sidan.
I printed the whole essay but forgot the last page. skriva ut in the past: skrev ut.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag skrivade ett brev igår.
Incorrect — skriva is strong and takes no -ade ending. The past is the vowel-changed skrev.
✅ Jag skrev ett brev igår.
I wrote a letter yesterday.
❌ Jag har skrev klart.
Incorrect — after har you need the supine skrivit, not the past skrev.
✅ Jag har skrivit klart.
I've finished writing.
❌ Jag har skriven boken.
Wrong form after har — that's the agreeing participle. After har the form is the unchanging supine skrivit.
✅ Jag har skrivit boken.
I've written the book.
❌ Ett skriven brev.
Wrong agreement — brev is an ett-word, so the participle must be skrivet, not skriven.
✅ Ett skrivet brev.
A written letter.
❌ Du måste skriva på här. (intending 'sign')
Off — 'sign' is skriva under or skriva på, but skriva på most naturally means 'sign here' on a line; for signing a document say skriva under.
✅ Du måste skriva under här.
You have to sign here.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Index of Strong Verbs by PatternB1 — A navigable index of the common Swedish strong verbs, grouped by ablaut pattern rather than alphabetically — i–e–i (skriva/skrev/skrivit), i–a–u (dricka/drack/druckit), a–o–a (ta/tog/tagit), and the irregular/contracted set (gå/gick/gått). Each group is a four-part table of principal parts with English cognate hints, because organising strong verbs by shared vowel pattern turns a scary list into a few learnable families.
- Strong Verbs: Overview and Principal PartsB1 — Strong verbs (Group 4) don't add a past-tense ending — they change their stem vowel across three principal parts: skriva–skrev–skrivit. The vowel moves in recurring patterns (ablaut) that Swedish shares with English: i–a–u is the same machinery as sing–sang–sung. This page teaches you to read principal parts, recognise the classes, and leverage the English cognate vowels so memorisation becomes pattern-recognition.
- Supine vs Past ParticipleB1 — The single Swedish verb-form distinction English has no equivalent for: the supine (har skrivit — fixed, invariable, only after ha) versus the past participle (en skriven bok, ett skrivet brev, skrivna böcker — fully agreeing, used as adjective and in the passive). English collapses both into one '-en' word; Swedish splits them, and confusing the two (*har skriven, *en skrivit bok) is a hallmark learner error.