slå is the Swedish verb "to hit, strike," and like dra it is a heavily idiomatic verb whose particle combinations you will meet constantly: you slå på (turn on) the lights, slå av (turn off) the radio, slå upp (look up) a word, and you slå a record or a number into a phone. Its principal parts run slå – slog – slagit, the a–o–a strong pattern — the very same vowel skeleton as dra – drog – dragit. It also has a special reciprocal form, slåss ("to fight"), that every learner should recognise.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| slå | slår | slog | slagit | slå | Group 4 (strong), a–o–a |
Read the vowels across the row: the infinitive and present carry a (slå, slår), the past drops to o (slog), and the supine returns to a (slagit). Like dra, slå is a contracted strong verb — the present is slår, not slagar, and the imperative is the bare slå. The agreeing past participle is slagen (en-word), slaget (ett-word), slagna (plural/definite); you meet it in phrases like en slagen man (a beaten man) and nedslagen (downcast, literally "struck down").
Slå inte i dörren när du går!
Don't slam the door when you leave! slå — imperative, vowel a.
Han slog huvudet i skåpsdörren.
He hit his head on the cupboard door. slog — past, vowel o.
Vårt lag har slagit rekordet två år i rad.
Our team has broken the record two years running. har slagit — perfect, supine vowel a.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present slår covers both "hit" and "am hitting." The past slog is a bare vowel-changed stem. The perfect is har slagit, the pluperfect hade slagit. Note the common idiom slå sig — to hurt oneself by hitting something.
Klockan slår tolv om en minut.
The clock strikes twelve in a minute. Present slår — 'strikes'.
Barnet ramlade och slog sig på knäet.
The child fell and hurt its knee. slog sig — reflexive, 'hurt oneself', in the past.
Jag har slagit mig i armbågen — det gör fortfarande ont.
I've banged my elbow — it still hurts. har slagit mig — perfect of the reflexive.
Use 2: slå på and slå av — turn on / turn off
For electronic devices and switches, Swedish uses slå på (turn on) and slå av (turn off). The particle is stressed and follows the verb. These compete with the synonyms sätta på / stänga av, but slå på/av is fully idiomatic and very common.
Kan du slå på lampan? Det är becksvart här inne.
Can you turn on the light? It's pitch-black in here. slå på = turn on.
Glöm inte att slå av spisen innan du går.
Don't forget to turn off the stove before you leave. slå av = turn off.
Hon slog på TV:n och somnade i soffan.
She turned on the TV and fell asleep on the sofa. slå på in the past: slog på.
Use 3: slå upp and other particles
slå upp has two everyday senses: "to look up" (a word, a fact) and "to open up / put up" (a book, a tent). Other high-frequency particles include slå ihop (combine, fold together), slå sönder (smash), and slå ut (knock out; also "bloom").
Slå upp ordet i ordboken om du är osäker.
Look the word up in the dictionary if you're unsure. slå upp = look up.
Vi slog upp tältet precis innan regnet kom.
We put up the tent just before the rain came. slå upp = put up (a tent).
Use 4: the reciprocal slåss — "to fight"
Adding the reciprocal -s gives slåss, "to fight (each other)." It is its own little paradigm: present slåss, past slogs, supine slagits. Because the -s already carries the "each other" meaning, you do not add a separate object — you fight with someone using med.
Pojkarna slogs på skolgården igen.
The boys were fighting in the schoolyard again. slogs — past of slåss.
Sluta slåss! Ni är ju bröder.
Stop fighting! You're brothers, after all. slåss — the reciprocal infinitive.
De har slagits om den där platsen i åratal.
They've fought over that spot for years. har slagits — perfect of slåss.
Common Mistakes
❌ Han slogade huvudet.
Incorrect — slå is strong and takes no -ade ending. The past is the vowel-changed slog.
✅ Han slog huvudet.
He hit his head.
❌ Jag har slog rekordet.
Wrong — after har you need the supine slagit, not the past slog.
✅ Jag har slagit rekordet.
I've broken the record.
❌ Pojkarna slåss igår på rasten.
Wrong tense — for 'yesterday' you need the past of slåss, which is slogs.
✅ Pojkarna slogs igår på rasten.
The boys were fighting yesterday at break.
❌ Slå på radion av nu.
Garbled — på and av are the opposite particles. To turn it off, say slå av.
✅ Slå av radion nu.
Turn the radio off now.
❌ De slåss varandra.
Redundant — the reciprocal -s in slåss already means 'each other'; you don't add varandra, and 'fight with' takes med.
✅ De slåss med varandra.
They fight with each other.
Now practice Swedish
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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.
- Strong Pattern: a – o – a and Other Classes (ta, fara, dra)B2 — The remaining strong patterns plus the contracted high-frequency verbs. a–o–a: fara/for/farit, ta/tog/tagit, dra/drog/dragit, slå/slog/slagit. The å/ö classes: få/fick/fått, gå/gick/gått, stå/stod/stått. Small mixed sets: komma/kom/kommit, sova/sov/sovit, falla/föll/fallit, hålla/höll/hållit, låta/lät/låtit. The everyday verbs look irregular because they're contracted, but they cluster into tiny patterns — and you must not regularise gick or tog.