stå (to stand) | Swedish Grammar

stå is the Swedish verb "to stand," but you will use it far more often than its English translation suggests. Swedish, like German and Dutch, cares about the posture of objects: things that are upright stå (stand), things that are lying ligger (lie), and things that are sitting sitter (sit) — where English lazily says "is" for all of them. So a glass on the table doesn't just "be" there; it står there. Its principal parts run stå – stod – stått, a contracted Group 4 strong verb.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
stå	står	stod	stått	stå	Group 4 (strong)

Read the row: present står, past stod (vowel drops to o), supine stått (note the double tt and the lost vowel — stå contracts hard in the supine). The imperative is the bare stå. There is no everyday agreeing participle — stå is an intransitive posture verb, so you will not say "a stood book." (The form stådd exists only in rare technical compounds.) That is exactly why stå has a transitive partner, ställa, for the "putting" side of the action.

Glaset står på bordet, inte i diskhon.

The glass is on the table, not in the sink. står — where English says 'is', Swedish uses 'stands' for an upright object.

Bilen stod i garaget hela vintern.

The car was in the garage all winter. stod — past; an upright vehicle 'stands'.

Vi har stått i kö i en timme.

We've stood in line for an hour. har stått — perfect, the contracted supine.

Use 1: present, past and perfect

The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present står covers both "stand" and "am standing," and — crucially — also "is (located, upright)." The past is stod, the perfect har stått, the pluperfect hade stått.

Jag står vid utgången, möt mig där.

I'm standing by the exit, meet me there. står — physical posture.

Det stod en gammal kyrka på torget förr.

There used to be an old church on the square. stod — location use, 'there stood'.

Hur länge har du stått här och väntat?

How long have you been standing here waiting? har stått — perfect.

Use 2: stå as the location verb for upright things

This is the use English speakers most often get wrong, because English collapses everything into "be." In Swedish, the verb you pick describes the object's posture. Bottles, glasses, vases, lamps, buildings, people, vehicles — anything taller than it is wide, or designed to be upright — står. A book standing on a shelf står i hyllan; the same book lying flat ligger.

Boken står i hyllan bredvid ordböckerna.

The book is on the shelf next to the dictionaries. står — the book is upright, spine out.

Mjölken står i kylen, längst in.

The milk is in the fridge, at the very back. står — the carton stands upright.

Det står i tidningen att det blir regn imorgon.

It says in the paper that it'll rain tomorrow. det står — 'it is written / it says', a fixed idiomatic use.

Use 3: the stå / ställa pair

Because stå cannot take an object, Swedish uses a separate transitive verb, ställa (ställer – ställde – ställt), for the act of putting something into an upright position. The pairing is tidy: you ställer the glass on the table (the action), and afterwards it står there (the resulting state). This mirrors ligga/lägga (lie/lay) and sitta/sätta (sit/set).

Ställ glaset på bordet, så står det stadigt.

Put the glass on the table and it'll stand steady. ställ (transitive, action) → står (intransitive, state).

Jag ställde cykeln mot väggen och nu står den där.

I put the bike against the wall and now it's standing there. ställde = put upright; står = is standing.

Use 4: particle and figurative uses

stå ut med means "to put up with, stand" (something annoying). stå upp is "to stand up" (rise), and stå för means "to stand for / be responsible for / vouch for."

Jag kan inte stå ut med det här oväsendet längre.

I can't put up with this noise any longer. stå ut med = put up with.

Alla fick stå upp när domaren kom in.

Everyone had to stand up when the judge came in. stå upp = stand up / rise.

Common Mistakes

❌ Glaset är på bordet. (neutral 'is')

Understandable but unidiomatic — Swedish marks posture; an upright glass står på bordet.

✅ Glaset står på bordet.

The glass is (stands) on the table.

❌ Bilen stog i garaget.

Wrong past form — the preteritum of stå is stod, not 'stog'.

✅ Bilen stod i garaget.

The car was in the garage.

❌ Vi har ståt i kö länge.

Wrong supine — it's the contracted stått with double t, not 'ståt'.

✅ Vi har stått i kö länge.

We've stood in line a long time.

❌ Jag står flaskan på bordet.

Wrong verb — stå can't take an object. To put something upright you need the transitive partner ställa.

✅ Jag ställer flaskan på bordet.

I'm putting the bottle on the table.

❌ Jag kan inte stå med honom. (intending 'put up with')

Incomplete — the phrasal verb is stå UT med, not just 'stå med'.

✅ Jag kan inte stå ut med honom.

I can't stand him.

💡

Two things to lock in. First, the forms: stå – stod – stått (past stod, supine the contracted double-t stått). Second, the concept English speakers miss: stå is the everyday verb for where upright things are located — Glaset står på bordet — and its transitive partner for putting them there is ställa (ställer – ställde – ställt).

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