veta (to know a fact) | Swedish Grammar

veta means "to know" — but only in one of the several senses English packs into that word. Swedish carves "know" into three separate verbs, and veta is the one for knowing facts: knowing that something is the case, knowing where, who or whether. Use it for skills or for people and you will be wrong. Learning where veta stops — and where kunna and känna take over — is the whole job of this card.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
veta	vet	visste	vetat	vet	irregular

The present is vet — not the regularised vetar, a very common beginner slip. The past is visste, with a double s (a single-s viste is a spelling error), and the supine is vetat (after ha: har vetat).

Jag vet inte var hon bor.

I don't know where she lives. vet — present, never *vetar.

Jag visste inte att du var sjuk.

I didn't know you were ill. visste — past with the double s.

Det har jag alltid vetat.

I've always known that. vetat — supine after har.

Use 1: knowing facts — the att-clause and det

veta takes a fact as its object. That fact usually arrives as an att-clause ("know that...") or as a question word ("know where / who / whether..."), and it can be pointed at with det ("know it / that").

Jag vet att tåget går klockan sju.

I know the train leaves at seven. veta + att-clause — the core construction.

Vet du vem som ringde?

Do you know who called? veta + an embedded question (vem som).

Jag vet inte om hon kommer.

I don't know whether she's coming. veta + om ('whether').

Visste du det redan?

Did you already know that? veta + det, pointing at a known fact.

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Whatever follows veta is a proposition — something that can be true or false. If you can rephrase it as "know that..." or "know whether / where / who...", veta is right. If the object is a person or a skill, it is not.

Use 2: not for people — that is känna

To "know a person" — to be acquainted with someone — Swedish uses känna (literally "feel / sense"), never veta. You can know facts about a person with veta, but being acquainted with them is känna.

Jag känner honom sedan barndomen.

I've known him since childhood. känna for acquaintance — NOT vet honom.

Känner du Maria? — Nej, men jag vet vem hon är.

Do you know Maria? — No, but I know who she is. känna = be acquainted; vet vem hon är = know the fact of her identity.

That second example shows the line perfectly: känner du Maria (acquaintance) versus jag vet vem hon är (a fact about her). The same split runs through related expressions: you känner till a place or topic (are familiar with it) but vet a specific fact about it.

Jag känner till restaurangen, men jag vet inte om den är öppen idag.

I know of the restaurant, but I don't know whether it's open today. känna till = be familiar with; veta = know the specific fact.

Use 3: not for skills or languages — that is kunna

To "know how to do something," or to "know a language," Swedish uses kunna ("can / be able to / have mastered"), not veta.

Hon kan svenska och lite finska.

She knows Swedish and a little Finnish. kunna for a language — never *vet svenska.

Kan du simma?

Do you know how to swim? / Can you swim? kunna for a skill.

Jag kan dikten utantill.

I know the poem by heart. Mastery of content = kunna.

A few idioms with veta

veta turns up in some everyday set phrases that are worth recognising on sight.

Inte vet jag, fråga någon annan.

Search me / how should I know — ask someone else. inte vet jag is a fixed, slightly resigned 'I've no idea'.

Det vete tusan om det stämmer.

Goodness knows whether that's true. det vete tusan = 'who knows / heaven knows' — a frozen idiom.

Så vitt jag vet är mötet inställt.

As far as I know, the meeting is cancelled. så vitt jag vet = 'as far as I know'.

The three-way split at a glance

English "know"	Swedish verb	Object	Example
know a fact	veta	att-clause / question / det	Jag vet att...
know a person	känna	a person	Jag känner Anna.
know a skill / language	kunna	a skill / language	Jag kan svenska.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag vetar inte.

Incorrect — the present of veta is vet, never the regularised *vetar.

✅ Jag vet inte.

I don't know.

❌ Jag vet honom.

Incorrect — knowing a person is känna, not veta.

✅ Jag känner honom.

I know him.

❌ Jag vet svenska.

Incorrect — knowing a language is kunna.

✅ Jag kan svenska.

I know Swedish.

❌ Jag viste inte det.

Spelling — the past of veta is visste, with a double s.

✅ Jag visste inte det.

I didn't know that.

❌ Vet du köra bil? (intending 'can you drive')

A skill takes kunna, not veta.

✅ Kan du köra bil?

Do you know how to / can you drive?

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veta is only ever for facts — typically an att-clause or det (Jag vet att..., Jag vet det). For people use känna, for skills and languages use kunna. And mind the forms: present vet (not vetar), past visste (double s).

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