spricka (to crack, burst) | Swedish Grammar

spricka is the Swedish verb "to crack, burst, split," a strong verb of the i–a–u type. Its principal parts run spricka – sprack – spruckit, the very same shape as dricka – drack – druckit ("drink") and spricka's near-twin klicka is not in this family — only the genuinely strong i–a–u verbs are. The two things to lock down are the vowels (i in the present, a in the past, u in the supine and participle) and the fact that spricka is intransitive: a thing cracks on its own. When you crack something with your own hand, Swedish reaches for a different verb, spräcka.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
spricka	spricker	sprack	spruckit	sprick	Group 4 (strong), i–a–u

Track the vowel ladder: present spricker (i), past sprack (a), supine spruckit (u). The agreeing past participle is sprucken / sprucket / spruckna ("cracked"). This is the same three-step i–a–u you already know from dricka – drack – druckit and finna – fann – funnit — once you hear the rhyme, spricka needs no separate memorisation.

Glaset spricker om du häller hett vatten i det.

The glass cracks if you pour hot water into it. spricker — present, vowel i.

Glaset sprack mitt itu.

The glass cracked clean in two. sprack — past, vowel a.

Skålen har spruckit i diskmaskinen.

The bowl has cracked in the dishwasher. har spruckit — perfect, supine vowel u.

Use 1: present, past and perfect

The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present spricker describes a habitual or general cracking; the past sprack is the bare vowel-changed stem with a; the perfect is har spruckit, the pluperfect hade spruckit.

Läpparna spricker alltid i den torra vinterluften.

My lips always crack in the dry winter air. Present spricker.

Isen sprack under fötterna på oss och vi sprang i land.

The ice cracked under our feet and we ran ashore. sprack — simple past with a.

Röret hade redan spruckit innan rörmokaren kom.

The pipe had already burst before the plumber arrived. hade spruckit — pluperfect, supine spruckit.

Use 2: spricka means burst, not just hairline crack

spricka covers the whole range from a fine crack to a full burst. A balloon, a tyre, a dam, a swollen bud in spring — all of them spricker. The common thread is internal pressure or strain breaking a surface.

Ballongen sprack med en hög smäll.

The balloon burst with a loud bang. sprack — past.

På våren spricker björkarnas knoppar ut nästan över en natt.

In spring the birch buds burst open almost overnight. spricker ut — the particle ut adds 'open'.

Jag skrattade så att jag trodde att jag skulle spricka.

I laughed so hard I thought I'd burst. spricka — infinitive after skulle.

Use 3: the participle sprucken ('cracked')

The past participle sprucken works as an adjective and agrees with its noun. Keep the three forms straight: sprucken (en-word), sprucket (ett-word), spruckna (plural and definite). It describes the lasting state of having cracked, as opposed to the supine spruckit, which builds the perfect tense after har/hade. Same vowel u, different jobs.

Du kan inte dricka ur en sprucken kopp.

You can't drink from a cracked cup. sprucken — en-word participle.

Ett sprucket fönster släpper in kylan.

A cracked window lets the cold in. sprucket — ett-word participle.

De spruckna plattorna måste bytas ut.

The cracked tiles have to be replaced. spruckna — plural participle.

Use 4: spricka (intransitive) vs spräcka (transitive)

This is the trap. spricka is intransitive — the subject cracks by itself. When a person or force cracks something deliberately, you need the transitive weak verb spräcka (spräcka – spräckte – spräckt): Han spräckte isen med en yxa ("He cracked the ice with an axe"). The pair mirrors English burst (intransitive) vs break open (transitive), but here it's two distinct Swedish lemmas, not one verb used both ways.

Han spräckte ägget mot kanten av skålen.

He cracked the egg against the edge of the bowl. spräckte — transitive, an agent acts on the egg.

Ägget sprack när han tappade det.

The egg cracked when he dropped it. sprack — intransitive, the egg cracks of itself.

Common Mistakes

❌ Glaset sprickade.

Incorrect — spricka is strong and takes no -ade ending. The past is the vowel-changed sprack.

✅ Glaset sprack.

The glass cracked.

❌ Skålen har sprack.

Incorrect — after har you need the supine spruckit, not the past sprack.

✅ Skålen har spruckit.

The bowl has cracked.

❌ Han sprack ägget mot skålen.

Incorrect — when a person cracks something, use the transitive spräcka. spricka is intransitive.

✅ Han spräckte ägget mot skålen.

He cracked the egg against the bowl.

❌ Jag drack ur en sprack kopp.

Incorrect — the participle (adjective) is sprucken, not the past form sprack.

✅ Jag drack ur en sprucken kopp.

I drank from a cracked cup.

💡

Hook into dricka: spricka – sprack – spruckit rhymes exactly with dricka – drack – druckit (i–a–u). Two further reminders: spricka is intransitive (a thing cracks by itself), while cracking something on purpose is the separate verb spräcka; and the participle sprucken means "cracked."

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