tyckas means "to seem / appear" (deponent s-verb). It is a deponent: it always carries an -s yet is completely active in meaning — Det tycks regna means "It seems to be raining," not "It is thought to rain." Its job is evidential and hedging: you use tyckas to report how things appear to you without fully committing to them as fact. It typically takes a following infinitive (tycks regna, tycks vara trött), or a clause (det tycks som om…). Two confusions to clear up at once: tyckas is not the active verb tycka ("to have an opinion / think"), and it overlaps with — but is more bookish than — verka ("to seem").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tyckas | tycks | tycktes | tyckts | (none in use) | deponent (s-verb) |
Every form keeps the -s — the deponent trait. Note the present is tycks (a contracted form; the fuller tyckes exists but is bookish/older), the past is tycktes, and the supine — used after har/hade — is tyckts. There is no imperative: you cannot command something to "seem." Like all Swedish verbs the form does not change for person, but in practice tyckas is overwhelmingly used impersonally (det tycks…) or in the third person (han tycks…, de tycks…), because seeming is something an outside observer reports.
Det tycks bli regn imorgon.
It seems it'll rain tomorrow. tycks = present, the hedging 'it seems'.
Hon tycktes inte höra mig.
She didn't seem to hear me. tycktes = past — 'seemed', the deponent past.
Han har tyckts må bättre på sistone.
He has seemed to feel better lately. har tyckts = perfect, the supine after har.
Use 1: the impersonal "it seems" — det tycks
The classic frame is det tycks + clause or infinitive: a way of presenting a situation as apparent rather than confirmed. It is the verbal equivalent of an evidential "evidently / apparently."
Det tycks som om ingen vet vad som hänt.
It seems as if no one knows what happened. det tycks som om + clause — fully hedged.
Det tycktes råda enighet i frågan.
There seemed to be agreement on the matter. (formal) det tycktes + infinitive, in a report-like register.
Use 2: "X seems to…" — subject + tycks + infinitive
With a real subject, tyckas takes a following infinitive to say how that subject appears: han tycks vara…, de tycks ha…. This is the everyday "X seems to do/be something."
Han tycks vara trött.
He seems to be tired. subject + tycks + infinitive (vara).
Han tycks ha glömt vårt möte.
He seems to have forgotten our meeting. tycks ha + supine — 'seems to have forgotten'.
Planerna tycks ha ändrats i sista stund.
The plans seem to have changed at the last minute. A natural news/report-style hedge.
Use 3: hedging and softening claims
Because tyckas signals "this is how it appears, not a confirmed fact," it is a favourite hedging device in careful writing and speech — academic prose, journalism, diplomatic phrasing — letting you make a claim while flagging your uncertainty.
Resultaten tycks bekräfta hypotesen.
The results seem to confirm the hypothesis. (academic) A cautious research claim — tycks softens it.
Det tycks finnas ett missförstånd här.
There seems to be a misunderstanding here. A polite, non-accusatory framing.
tyckas vs. tycka vs. verka
This is the trio English speakers must keep straight:
- tyckas (deponent, -s) = seem / appear — evidential, takes an infinitive: Han tycks vara sjuk.
- tycka (active, no -s) = think / have an opinion — takes att
- clause or om for liking: Jag tycker att det är fel. / Jag tycker om kaffe.
- verka = seem too, but plainer and more common in speech: Han verkar trött. (no infinitive needed before an adjective).
So Han tycks vara trött and Han verkar trött both mean "He seems tired" — but verka is the everyday choice and tyckas the more bookish, evidential one. And neither has anything to do with Jag tycker att han är trött ("I think he's tired"), which is an opinion.
Jag tycker att han verkar trött, men han tycks inte vilja erkänna det.
I think he seems tired, but he doesn't seem to want to admit it. All three: tycka (opinion), verka (seem), tyckas (seem + infinitive).
Common Mistakes
❌ Det tyck regna.
Incorrect — tyckas is a deponent; the present is tycks and keeps the -s. There is no *tyck here.
✅ Det tycks regna.
It seems to be raining.
❌ Jag tycks att han är trött. (meaning 'I think…')
Wrong verb — for an opinion use active tycka: Jag tycker att han är trött. tyckas = 'seem', not 'think'.
✅ Jag tycker att han är trött.
I think he's tired.
❌ Han tycks trött.
Off — with a bare adjective use verka (Han verkar trött) or add an infinitive: Han tycks vara trött.
✅ Han tycks vara trött.
He seems to be tired.
❌ De har tyckt ha glömt mötet. (as 'seemed')
Incorrect — the supine of tyckas is tyckts (with -s); tyckt is the supine of active tycka.
✅ De har tyckts ha glömt mötet.
They seemed to have forgotten the meeting.
Now practice Swedish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Deponent Verbs (s-verbs That Aren't Passive)B1 — A small but extremely common set of Swedish verbs that always end in -s yet mean something fully active: hoppas ('hope'), trivas ('feel at home'), lyckas ('succeed'), minnas ('remember'), andas ('breathe'), and — most importantly — finnas, the everyday verb for 'there is'. You never strip the -s, and you use one of these constantly without realising it forms a category.
- 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.
- Reciprocal s-verbs (ses, träffas, slåss)B2 — A third job for the -s ending: 'each other'. With a plural subject, verbs like ses ('meet / see each other'), träffas ('meet'), kramas ('hug'), and slåss ('fight') express a mutual action — and the most common Swedish farewell of all, Vi ses!, is exactly this construction. Learn it once and you unlock a whole productive pattern.