vrida is the Swedish verb "to twist, turn, rotate," a strong verb of the i–e–i type. Its principal parts run vrida – vred – vridit: the present and supine keep i, and only the past swaps in e (vred). The verb describes rotating something about an axis — a key, a knob, a dial, a wet cloth you wring out, or your own body when you writhe. The classic trap is confusing it with vända, which also translates as "turn" but means turning something around or over rather than rotating it; vända is a separate weak verb.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vrida | vrider | vred | vridit | vrid | Group 4 (strong), i–e–i |
The pattern is the same i–e–i you meet in skriva – skrev – skrivit ("write") and bita – bet – bitit ("bite"): present in i, past in e, supine back to i. The agreeing past participle is vriden / vridet / vridna ("twisted, wrung"). Note that the past vred has a single e and no -d of its own beyond the stem — it is just vr- + -ed.
Hon vrider på radion för att höra bättre.
She turns up the radio to hear better. vrider — present, vowel i.
Jag vred om nyckeln men dörren gick ändå inte upp.
I turned the key but the door still wouldn't open. vred — past, vowel e.
Har du vridit av vattnet?
Have you turned off the water? har vridit — perfect, supine vowel i.
Use 1: present, past and perfect
The tenses follow the principal parts. The present vrider is "turn / am turning"; the past vred carries the e; the perfect is har vridit, the pluperfect hade vridit.
Man vrider ratten åt höger för att svänga.
You turn the wheel to the right to make a turn. Present vrider.
Han vred sönder kranen av bara farten.
He twisted the tap clean off just by forcing it. vred — past with e.
Vinden hade vridit på sig under natten.
The wind had shifted during the night. hade vridit — pluperfect, supine vridit.
Use 2: vrida om — turn a key or knob
The particle om gives vrida om, the standard phrase for turning a key in a lock or a knob through its travel. It carries the sense of a full rotation that completes an action — locking, unlocking, switching.
Vrid om nyckeln två varv så är det låst.
Turn the key twice and it's locked. vrid om — imperative.
Hon vred om handtaget och klev in.
She turned the handle and stepped in. vred om — past.
Jag har vridit om termostaten till max.
I've turned the thermostat all the way up. har vridit om — perfect.
Use 3: vrida på and vrida sig
vrida på means to turn something on or to turn/adjust it — a tap, a dial, your head. vrida sig (reflexive) means to twist, writhe or toss — in pain, in bed, or out of an awkward grip.
Vrid på kranen lite till — det kommer för lite vatten.
Turn the tap a bit more — too little water is coming. vrid på — imperative.
Patienten vred sig av smärta.
The patient writhed in pain. vred sig — past reflexive.
Jag har vridit och vänt på problemet hela kvällen.
I've turned the problem over every which way all evening. har vridit — note the set phrase vrida och vända på.
Use 4: vrida vs vända — don't mix them
Both come out as "turn" in English, but they cover different motions. vrida (i–e–i, strong) is to rotate about an axis — a key, a knob, a body twisting. vända (vända – vände – vänt, weak, Group 2) is to turn around or over — turning a pancake, turning back, turning to face someone, a car turning. If the thing spins on a spot or shaft, use vrida; if it flips, reverses, or changes direction, use vända.
Vänd på pannkakan innan den bränns.
Flip the pancake before it burns. vänd — vända, turn it over, not vrida.
Vrid på volymen, men vänd dig inte om.
Turn up the volume, but don't turn around. vrid (rotate the dial) vs vänd dig om (turn your body around) — the two verbs side by side.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag vridade om nyckeln.
Incorrect — vrida is strong and takes no -ade ending. The past is vred.
✅ Jag vred om nyckeln.
I turned the key.
❌ Har du vred av gasen?
Incorrect — after har you need the supine vridit, not the past vred.
✅ Har du vridit av gasen?
Have you turned off the gas?
❌ Vrid på pannkakan.
Incorrect — flipping a pancake is vända, not vrida. vrida is for rotating, not flipping.
✅ Vänd på pannkakan.
Flip the pancake over.
❌ Hon vrod om handtaget. (wrong past vowel)
Incorrect — the past is vred with e, not vrod. Don't borrow the o from English 'wrote' or the like.
✅ Hon vred om handtaget.
She turned the handle.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Index of Strong Verbs by PatternB1 — A navigable index of the common Swedish strong verbs, grouped by ablaut pattern rather than alphabetically — i–e–i (skriva/skrev/skrivit), i–a–u (dricka/drack/druckit), a–o–a (ta/tog/tagit), and the irregular/contracted set (gå/gick/gått). Each group is a four-part table of principal parts with English cognate hints, because organising strong verbs by shared vowel pattern turns a scary list into a few learnable families.
- Strong Pattern: i – e – i (skriva, bita)B1 — The cleanest strong class: infinitive i, past e, supine back to i — skriva/skrev/skrivit, bita/bet/bitit, gripa/grep/gripit, stiga/steg/stigit, rida/red/ridit, skina/sken/skinit. This is the same family as English write/wrote/written and bite/bit/bitten, so the cognate intuition transfers with only a vowel adjustment. The trap is regularising (*skrivade) or using the wrong supine vowel.
- Supine vs Past ParticipleB1 — The single Swedish verb-form distinction English has no equivalent for: the supine (har skrivit — fixed, invariable, only after ha) versus the past participle (en skriven bok, ett skrivet brev, skrivna böcker — fully agreeing, used as adjective and in the passive). English collapses both into one '-en' word; Swedish splits them, and confusing the two (*har skriven, *en skrivit bok) is a hallmark learner error.