somna means "to fall asleep" — and the key word is fall. It names the single moment when you drop off, not the hours you then spend asleep (that is sova). It is a fully regular Group 1 verb, somna – somnar – somnade – somnat, so it is easy to conjugate; the real challenge is using it for the right thing. Its -na ending is no accident: it is the Swedish marker of a change of state, the same suffix you see in vakna (wake up) and mogna (ripen).
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| somna | somnar | somnade | somnat | somna | Group 1 (-ar verb) |
Because it is Group 1, every form is predictable: present somnar (stem + -r), past somnade (stem + -de), supine somnat (stem + -t), imperative somna (the bare stem). No vowel changes, no surprises — this is the most regular class in Swedish. The perfect is har somnat and the pluperfect hade somnat.
Jag somnar alltid framför teven.
I always fall asleep in front of the TV. somnar — present.
Han somnade direkt när huvudet träffade kudden.
He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. somnade — past.
Barnet har äntligen somnat.
The child has finally fallen asleep. har somnat — perfect.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. Note that somna describes a punctual event — a single instant — so the present somnar often carries a habitual or general sense ("I tend to fall asleep"), while a specific occasion usually takes the past somnade.
Hon somnar lätt, men jag ligger vaken i timmar.
She falls asleep easily, but I lie awake for hours. Present somnar — habitual.
Vi somnade båda två under filmen.
We both fell asleep during the film. somnade — a specific occasion.
Hade du redan somnat när jag ringde?
Had you already fallen asleep when I called? hade somnat — pluperfect.
Use 2: the change-of-state pair — somna vs sova
This is the heart of the card. somna is the moment of change (you go from awake to asleep); sova is the lasting state (you are asleep). English blurs this with one root, "sleep / fall asleep," but Swedish keeps two distinct verbs, and choosing wrongly produces sentences that sound odd to natives. A useful test: if you can put a clock time on it ("at eleven I..."), you usually want somnade; if you mean a stretch of hours, you want sov.
Jag somnade vid midnatt och sov till gryningen.
I fell asleep at midnight and slept until dawn. somnade = the onset, sov = the hours.
Han sover fortfarande — han somnade jättesent inatt.
He's still asleep — he fell asleep really late last night. sover (state) vs somnade (change).
Det tar en evighet för mig att somna, men sen sover jag som en stock.
It takes me ages to fall asleep, but then I sleep like a log. somna for the struggle to drop off, sova for the deep sleep.
Use 3: somna om and the -na change-of-state family
The particle somna om means "to fall back asleep" after waking in the night — om here carries the sense of "again, anew." More broadly, somna belongs to a productive family of -na verbs that all mark a change of state from an adjective: vaken → vakna (become awake), mogen → mogna (become ripe), kall → kallna (go cold), vit → vitna (turn white). Recognising the -na suffix lets you guess the meaning of new verbs.
Jag vaknade vid tretiden men somnade om nästan direkt.
I woke up around three but fell back asleep almost immediately. somna om = fall back asleep.
Kaffet hann somna... nej, kallna medan vi pratade.
The coffee had time to go cold while we talked. kallna — the same -na change-of-state pattern.
Bananerna behöver mogna ett par dagar till.
The bananas need to ripen a couple more days. mogna — another -na verb of change.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag somnade i åtta timmar.
Wrong verb — somna is a single moment, so you can't do it 'for eight hours.' For the duration, use sova.
✅ Jag sov i åtta timmar.
I slept for eight hours.
❌ Klockan elva sover jag varje kväll. (meaning 'I fall asleep at eleven')
Off — sova is the lasting state. For the moment of dropping off at a set time, use somna.
✅ Klockan elva somnar jag varje kväll.
I fall asleep at eleven every evening.
❌ Barnet har somnit.
Wrong supine — somna is Group 1, so the supine is somnat, not a strong-style -it form.
✅ Barnet har somnat.
The child has fallen asleep.
❌ Jag vaknade och somnade tillbaka. (intending 'fell back asleep')
Wrong particle — 'fall back asleep' is somna om, not somna tillbaka.
✅ Jag vaknade och somnade om.
I woke up and fell back asleep.
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.
- sova (to sleep)A1 — sova means 'to be asleep' and is a strong verb with a zero-ending past: sova – sover – sov – sovit. It is the 'state' half of a state/change pair — sova is BE asleep, while its Group 1 partner somna is FALL asleep.
- 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.