tycka is one of three Swedish verbs English lumps together as "think." It is the opinion verb: Jag tycker att… means "I think that…" in the sense of "my view is that…" — never "I believe (it's a fact)" and never "I'm pondering." Get this one straight and you'll stop saying tror when you mean tycker. It is also, with a stressed particle, the everyday word for "like": tycka om.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tycka | tycker | tyckte | tyckt | tyck | Group 2 (-te) |
The stem is tyck-, ending in the voiceless k sound, so the past takes -te, never -de: tyckte. (The same /t/ you hear in English "looked" or "picked.") The present is tycker, the supine tyckt (har tyckt, "have thought"), and the imperative the bare stem tyck! ("think (about it)!"). Don't be thrown by the spelling: ck is just how Swedish writes a long /k/, and it stays voiceless.
Use 1: tycka att — to have the opinion that
The core construction is tycka att — "to think / be of the opinion that." Whatever follows is a personal judgement, not a fact you're reporting.
Jag tycker att filmen var lite tråkig.
I think the film was a bit boring. tycka att — a personal opinion, not a fact.
Vad tycker du om den nya chefen?
What do you think of the new boss? Asking for someone's opinion — tycka, not tro.
Hon tyckte att vi borde åka tidigare.
She thought we should leave earlier. tyckte — the regular -te past.
Vi har alltid tyckt att huset var för dyrt.
We've always thought the house was too expensive. har tyckt — perfect, supine after har.
Use 2: tycka om — to like
With the stressed particle om, tycka means "to like." This om is part of the verb, not the preposition "about"; it carries the main stress (tycka OM) and sits right after the finite verb, in front of the object: Jag tycker *om dig. A sentence adverb like *verkligen or inte slots in before the particle (tycker verkligen om…), but the particle itself never drifts past the object.
Jag tycker om dig.
I like you. tycka om — the stressed particle om makes it 'like'.
Tycker du om kaffe?
Do you like coffee? om is the stressed particle, not the preposition 'about'.
Barnen tyckte verkligen om presenten.
The children really liked the present. The adverb verkligen sits before the particle om.
Jag har aldrig tyckt om att flyga.
I've never liked flying. har tyckt om — perfect of 'like'.
tycka vs tro vs tänka — three "thinks"
English "think" splits three ways in Swedish, and choosing wrong is the single most common error here:
| Verb | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tycka | have an opinion, judge | Jag tycker att den är bra. (I think it's good.) |
| tro | believe, guess a fact you're unsure of | Jag tror att det regnar. (I think/believe it's raining.) |
| tänka | ponder; intend to | Jag tänker på dig. (I'm thinking of you.) |
The test: if you could replace English "think" with "in my opinion", use tycka. If you could replace it with "I'd guess / I believe", use tro. If it's the mental act of pondering or a plan, use tänka.
Jag tycker att det är fel — men jag tror att de ändå gör det.
I think (opinion) it's wrong — but I think (believe) they'll do it anyway. Same English word, two Swedish verbs.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag tror att filmen var bra.
Wrong if you mean an opinion — tror is for guessing facts. For a judgement, use tycker.
✅ Jag tycker att filmen var bra.
I think the film was good. (my opinion)
❌ Jag tyckde att det var kul. (bare -de)
Incorrect — the voiceless k stem takes -te: tyckte, never *tyckde.
✅ Jag tyckte att det var kul.
I thought it was fun.
❌ Jag tycker dig.
Incomplete — to mean 'I like you', you need the stressed particle om: tycker om.
✅ Jag tycker om dig.
I like you.
❌ Jag tänker att vi borde gå.
Off — for an opinion, Swedish uses tycker. tänka is 'ponder/intend', not 'be of the opinion'.
✅ Jag tycker att vi borde gå.
I think we should go.
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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.
- 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.
- Verb + Preposition GovernmentB2 — Many Swedish verbs demand a specific, unpredictable preposition: tänka på (think about), vänta på (wait for), tro på (believe in), be om (ask for), tycka om (like), längta efter (long for), bero på (depend on). The governed preposition rarely matches English's, and it's unstressed (unlike a particle), so these combinations are vocabulary items you learn as whole units.