svälja is the Swedish verb "to swallow," and it is irregular in the same way as its rhyme-partner välja ("choose"). The present looks like an ordinary weak verb — sväljer — but the past and supine drop the j and change the vowel: svalde, svalt. So the principal parts run svälja – sväljer – svalde – svalt, with ä in the present softening to a in the past and supine. Lock it to välja: väljer – valde – valt follows the identical ä → a twist, and once you hear the pair together the change stops feeling random. Beyond the literal sense — swallowing food, drink or medicine — svälja is the natural verb for swallowing your pride, your anger or your tears.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| svälja | sväljer | svalde | svalt | svälj | Irregular, like välja (ä→a) |
Watch the two changes that hit at once in the past: the vowel shifts ä → a and the j disappears. Present sväljer (with ä and j) → past svalde (with a, no j) → supine svalt (with a, no j). This is exactly the välja → valde → valt template; treat the two as a matched pair. The participle svald / svalt / svalda exists but is uncommon — you'll mostly use the supine svalt in the perfect.
Barnet sväljer tabletten utan problem.
The child swallows the tablet without any trouble. sväljer — present, ä + j.
Jag svalde en klunk kaffe och nickade.
I swallowed a sip of coffee and nodded. svalde — past, vowel a, no j.
Hon har svalt sin besvikelse och gått vidare.
She has swallowed her disappointment and moved on. har svalt — perfect, supine svalt.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The tenses follow the principal parts. The present sväljer keeps the ä and j; the past svalde and supine svalt both switch to a and lose the j. The perfect is har svalt, the pluperfect hade svalt.
Man sväljer automatiskt flera gånger i minuten.
You swallow automatically several times a minute. Present sväljer.
Hunden svalde köttbiten i ett enda nafs.
The dog swallowed the piece of meat in a single gulp. svalde — simple past with a.
Patienten hade svalt fel och började hosta.
The patient had swallowed the wrong way and started coughing. hade svalt — pluperfect, supine svalt.
Use 2: svälja sin stolthet — swallow your pride
svälja extends naturally to emotions and words you hold back: svälja sin stolthet ("swallow one's pride"), svälja en kommentar ("swallow a remark you were about to make"), svälja gråten ("swallow your tears"). The image is the same as in English — forcing something down rather than letting it out.
Han fick svälja sin stolthet och be om hjälp.
He had to swallow his pride and ask for help. svälja sin stolthet — set phrase.
Jag svalde kommentaren och log artigt.
I swallowed the remark and smiled politely. svalde — past.
Hon har svalt många oförrätter genom åren.
She has swallowed many wrongs over the years. har svalt — perfect, figurative.
Use 3: svälja fel — swallow the wrong way
The fixed phrase svälja fel means to swallow the wrong way — when food or drink "goes down the wrong pipe" and you cough or choke. fel here is adverbial ("wrongly"), not an object.
Drick inte så fort, då sväljer du fel.
Don't drink so fast, or you'll swallow the wrong way. sväljer fel — present.
Hon svalde fel och hostade upp lite vatten.
She swallowed the wrong way and coughed up a little water. svalde fel — past.
Use 4: the välja connection
Hold svälja and välja side by side and the irregularity becomes a single shared rule rather than two things to learn. Both keep ä + j in the infinitive and present, and both go to a with the j gone in the past and supine.
| Verb | Present | Past | Supine |
|---|---|---|---|
| svälja (swallow) | sväljer | svalde | svalt |
| välja (choose) | väljer | valde | valt |
Jag valde en bok och svalde den i ett enda sträck.
I chose a book and devoured it in one sitting. valde and svalde — the same ä→a past pattern, here even figuratively.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag sväljde tabletten.
Incorrect — the past is not the regular sväljde. The j drops and the vowel changes: svalde.
✅ Jag svalde tabletten.
I swallowed the tablet.
❌ Hon har sväljt sin stolthet.
Incorrect — the supine is svalt (a, no j), not sväljt. Compare valt, not väljt.
✅ Hon har svalt sin stolthet.
She has swallowed her pride.
❌ Hunden svalade köttet.
Incorrect — svälja is irregular and takes no -ade ending. The past is svalde.
✅ Hunden svalde köttet.
The dog swallowed the meat.
❌ Drick långsamt så du inte sväljer felt.
Incorrect — in the phrase svälja fel, fel is an adverb and stays uninflected; there is no felt.
✅ Drick långsamt så du inte sväljer fel.
Drink slowly so you don't swallow the wrong way.
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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.
- Irregular High-Frequency Verbs (vara, ha, göra, veta)A1 — A handful of everyday verbs are fully irregular and must be learned one by one: vara (är/var/varit), ha (har/hade/haft), göra (gör/gjorde/gjort), veta (vet/visste/vetat), säga (säger/sade~sa/sagt), lägga (lägger/lade~la/lagt), bli (blir/blev/blivit). These seven carry a huge share of all speech, so learn them first — including the present (är, not *varar; vet, not *vetar) and the colloquial sa/la pasts that dominate spoken Swedish.
- 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.