undra means "to wonder." It is a regular Group 1 verb, but it earns its own card for two reasons learners trip over: it triggers an embedded question that must keep subordinate word order (so the verb does not jump to second position the way it does in a direct question), and its past form undrade is a stock polite formula — Jag undrade om… ("I was wondering whether…").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| undra | undrar | undrade | undrat | undra | Group 1 |
Textbook Group 1: present undrar (+ -r), past undrade (the full -ade), supine undrat (+ -at), imperative the bare stem. No stem change, no agreement with the subject.
Use 1: undra om / undra över
To say what you wonder, you have two patterns. undra om means "wonder whether" and introduces a yes/no question. undra över means "wonder about" something and takes a noun.
Jag undrar om han kommer.
I wonder whether he's coming. undra om + a yes/no question.
Hon undrade om vi ville följa med.
She wondered whether we wanted to come along. undrade om — past tense, full -ade ending.
Vi undrar över hur det egentligen gick till.
We're wondering about how it actually happened. undra över + the matter being puzzled over.
Jag har ofta undrat över det där.
I've often wondered about that. har undrat — the perfect, supine after har.
Use 2: undra + an embedded question (subordinate word order)
This is the key grammar point. When undra is followed by a question word (var, vad, vem, när, hur…), the result is an embedded (indirect) question — and embedded questions in Swedish keep subordinate word order: the subject comes before the verb, exactly as in a statement. You do not invert the way a direct question does.
Compare the direct question Var bor hon? ("Where does she live?", verb-first) with the embedded version: Jag undrar var hon bor ("I wonder where she lives", subject before verb).
Jag undrar var hon bor.
I wonder where she lives. Embedded: subject (hon) before verb (bor) — NOT *var bor hon.
Han undrar vad du menar.
He wonders what you mean. vad du menar — subject before verb, statement order.
Vi undrade vem som hade ringt.
We wondered who had called. With a who-subject question, som fills the subject slot: vem som hade ringt.
Ingen vet, men alla undrar när tåget går.
Nobody knows, but everyone wonders when the train leaves. när tåget går — subordinate order again.
Use 3: Jag undrade om… — a polite request
A neat idiom: putting undra in the past softens a request into a polite formula. Jag undrade om… literally "I wondered whether…", but it functions like English "I was wondering if…" — a tentative, courteous way to ask a favour.
Jag undrade om du skulle kunna hjälpa mig.
I was wondering if you could help me. The past undrade makes the request polite and tentative.
Vi undrade om det fanns några lediga bord.
We were wondering whether there were any free tables. A softened, polite enquiry.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag undrer om han kommer.
Incorrect — undra is Group 1, so the present is undrar (-ar), not *undrer (-er).
✅ Jag undrar om han kommer.
I wonder whether he's coming.
❌ Jag undrar var bor hon.
Incorrect — embedded questions keep subordinate order: subject before verb. Say var hon bor.
✅ Jag undrar var hon bor.
I wonder where she lives.
❌ Han undrar vad menar du.
Incorrect — don't invert in an embedded question: vad du menar, not *vad menar du.
✅ Han undrar vad du menar.
He wonders what you mean.
❌ Jag undrade om du.
Incomplete — undra om needs a clause, not just a noun. Use undra över for a thing: undra över dig, or complete the clause.
✅ Jag undrade om du skulle kunna hjälpa mig.
I was wondering if you could help me.
Now practice Swedish
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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.