tvätta (to wash) | Swedish Grammar

tvätta means "to wash" — clothes, bodies, hands, hair, a car. It is a fully regular Group 1 verb. Note the double t and the ä: tvätta, not tvatta. Its most important wrinkle for English speakers is the reflexive tvätta sig ("wash oneself").

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
tvätta	tvättar	tvättade	tvättat	tvätta	Group 1

Regular throughout. Present is the infinitive plus -r (tvätta → tvättar); the past adds -de (tvättade); the supine after har ends in -at (tvättat); the imperative is the bare stem (Tvätta! "Wash!"). No stem change, no subject agreement.

Use 1: washing things

The plain verb takes whatever you wash as a direct object. tvätta kläder ("wash clothes") is the everyday way to say "do the laundry."

Jag tvättar kläder på söndagar.

I do the laundry on Sundays. tvätta kläder = 'wash clothes / do laundry'.

Han tvättade bilen i helgen.

He washed the car at the weekend. tvättade — the regular Group 1 past.

Vi har precis tvättat alla handdukarna.

We've just washed all the towels. har tvättat — the perfect, supine tvättat after har.

Use 2: tvätta sig — wash oneself

When the washing is reflexive — you wash yourself — Swedish needs the reflexive pronoun sig (and its forms mig, dig, oss, er). English just says "wash up" or "have a wash," but Swedish makes the reflexive explicit.

Jag tvättar mig innan jag lägger mig.

I wash up before I go to bed. tvätta sig — here mig because the subject is jag.

Barnen måste tvätta sig före maten.

The children have to wash up before the meal. sig because the subject is barnen.

Tvätta händerna ordentligt!

Wash your hands properly! note händerna (definite, 'the hands'), not a possessive — Swedish doesn't say 'your hands' here.

💡

For body parts, Swedish uses the definite form, not a possessive: tvätta händerna ("wash your hands," literally "wash the hands"), borsta tänderna ("brush your teeth"). Saying tvätta dina händer sounds oddly emphatic, as if singling out your hands against someone else's.

Use 3: the -s passive on care labels

Garment care labels and instructions use the -s passive, where -s means "is to be done" without a doer. Tvättas i 40 grader = "Wash at 40 degrees" (literally "is washed at 40 degrees").

Tvättas i 40 grader.

Wash at 40 degrees. tvättas — the -s passive, standard care-label wording.

Plagget tvättas avigt och stryks på låg värme.

The garment is washed inside out and ironed on low heat. tvättas — typical instruction register.

tvätta vs diska

Keep these two apart. tvätta is for clothes, bodies, hands, cars. diska is the separate verb for dishes — plates, glasses, cutlery. English uses "wash" for both, but Swedish never does.

Först diskar jag, sedan tvättar jag kläder.

First I do the dishes, then I do the laundry. diska for dishes, tvätta for clothes.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag tvätter. (Group 2 ending)

Incorrect — tvätta is Group 1, so the present is tvättar (-ar), not *tvätter (-er).

✅ Jag tvättar.

I wash / do the laundry.

❌ Han tvättde bilen. (bare -de)

Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is tvättade, not *tvättde.

✅ Han tvättade bilen.

He washed the car.

❌ Jag tvättar innan jag lägger mig. (missing reflexive)

Incomplete — for 'wash myself' you need the reflexive: Jag tvättar mig. Without mig it sounds like you're washing laundry.

✅ Jag tvättar mig innan jag lägger mig.

I wash up before I go to bed.

❌ Tvätta dina händer.

Off — Swedish uses the definite form for body parts: Tvätta händerna, not a possessive.

✅ Tvätta händerna.

Wash your hands.

❌ Jag tvättar tallrikarna.

Off — dishes take diska, not tvätta: Jag diskar tallrikarna.

✅ Jag diskar tallrikarna.

I wash the plates.

💡

tvätta is regular Group 1 (tvätta – tvättar – tvättade – tvättat): wash clothes, body, hands, car. Use the reflexive tvätta sig for "wash oneself," the definite form for body parts (tvätta händerna), and recognize the care-label passive Tvättas i 40 grader. Dishes belong to the separate verb diska.

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