välja means "to choose," "to select," or "to elect," and it is irregular in a clean, memorable way: the ä of the infinitive drops to a in the past and supine. The principal parts run välja – valde – valt — present väljer, past valde, supine valt. Around it cluster a handful of high-value pieces: välja mellan ("choose between"), välja bort ("opt out of / drop"), the bli-passive bli vald ("be elected"), and the noun ett val ("a choice" — and also "an election").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| välja | väljer | valde | valt | välj | irregular (ä → a) |
Watch the vowel. The infinitive and present keep ä (välja, väljer), but the past valde and supine valt drop to a plain a. The -de ending looks weak, but the vowel change makes the verb irregular. The perfect is har valt, the pluperfect hade valt. The agreeing past participle is vald / valt / valda (also a): en vald representant, ett valt alternativ, valda ord ("chosen words"). Note the neat echo with the noun ett val ("choice / election"), which shares the same a.
Vi väljer alltid samma bord på den där restaurangen.
We always choose the same table at that restaurant. väljer — present, vowel ä.
Hon valde den billigaste biljetten.
She chose the cheapest ticket. valde — past, vowel a. This is the form to lock in.
Jag har redan valt vad jag vill äta.
I've already chosen what I want to eat. har valt — perfect, supine a.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The three tenses follow the principal parts, with the ä→a switch as the only catch. The present väljer covers "choose / am choosing." The past is valde, the perfect har valt.
Du väljer själv om du vill komma eller inte.
You choose for yourself whether you want to come or not. Present väljer.
De valde att stanna hemma på grund av vädret.
They chose to stay home because of the weather. valde att + infinitive = 'chose to'.
Har du valt rätt storlek?
Have you chosen the right size? har valt — perfect, supine valt.
Use 2: välja mellan and välja bort
Two particle patterns do a lot of work. välja mellan means "choose between" (the options follow mellan). välja bort means "opt out of, drop, leave out" — literally "choose away," used for deselecting a course, an ingredient, or an option.
Jag måste välja mellan kursen i franska och kursen i spanska.
I have to choose between the French course and the Spanish course. välja mellan.
Hon valde bort köttet och tog en sallad istället.
She skipped the meat and had a salad instead. välja bort = opt out of / leave out.
Kan man välja bort matematik på det här programmet?
Can you drop maths on this programme? välja bort, present.
Use 3: bli vald — the passive 'be elected', and the noun ett val
When you choose a person for a role, Swedish moves to the passive, and the everyday form uses bli + the participle: bli vald ("be elected / be chosen"). The role takes till ("as / to"). And the noun ett val carries both senses English splits — "a choice" and "an election" — so valet can mean "the choice" or "the (general) election" depending on context.
Hon blev vald till ordförande med stor majoritet.
She was elected chairperson by a large majority. bli vald + till (role).
Han hoppas att bli vald till riksdagen i höst.
He hopes to be elected to parliament this autumn. bli vald — bli-passive in the infinitive.
Det var ett svårt val, men efter valet kändes det rätt.
It was a hard choice, but after the election it felt right. ett val = both 'a choice' and 'an election'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hon väljde den billigaste biljetten.
Incorrect — the irregular past drops the vowel to a: valde, not *väljde. Keeping the ä is the regularisation trap.
✅ Hon valde den billigaste biljetten.
She chose the cheapest ticket. Past with a: valde.
❌ Jag har väljt fel storlek.
Incorrect — the supine also takes a: valt, not *väljt.
✅ Jag har valt fel storlek.
I've chosen the wrong size. Supine: valt.
❌ Jag måste välja mellan A eller B.
Off — after välja mellan, list the options with eller only loosely; the natural frame is välja mellan A och B (choose between A and B).
✅ Jag måste välja mellan A och B.
I have to choose between A and B.
❌ Hon valde till ordförande.
Incorrect — choosing a person for a role is passive: she was the one chosen, so use bli vald till, not the active valde.
✅ Hon blev vald till ordförande.
She was elected chairperson.
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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 bli-PassiveB1 — The periphrastic bli-passive — bli + an agreeing past participle (Han blev vald; Bilen blev stulen) — marks a DYNAMIC event or change of state ('got/became X-ed'). It takes the agent with av (biten av en hund). Because it mirrors English 'be/get + participle' it gets overused: for habitual or general statements the -s passive is the idiomatic choice.