The -s passive is Swedish's go-to passive, and it is built in a way English has no model for: you simply glue -s onto the verb. No helper verb, no participle — läser (reads) becomes läses (is read), målade (painted) becomes målades (was painted). Because it is a single suffixed word, it is light, neutral, and everywhere — on signs, in recipes, in rules, in the news. If you take one thing from this page: the -s passive is the default, and you should reach for it far more often than your English instinct suggests.
Forming it across the tenses
The -s attaches in every tense. The only fiddly part is the present, where the active ending changes before -s goes on. Here is läsa (read) and öppna (open) through the full set:
| Tense | Active | -s passive (läsa) | -s passive (öppna) |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | att läsa / öppna | att läsas | att öppnas |
| present | läser / öppnar | läses | öppnas |
| past (preteritum) | läste / öppnade | lästes | öppnades |
| supine (perfect) | har läst / öppnat | har lästs | har öppnats |
| future | ska läsa / öppna | ska läsas | ska öppnas |
Boken läses i skolan, lästes redan på 80-talet och har lästs av generationer.
The book is read in school, was already read in the 80s and has been read by generations. läses / lästes / har lästs — the same verb, three tenses, just the -s passive.
The present tense: where the stem changes
The present is the one form to learn carefully, because what -s attaches to depends on the conjugation group.
- Group 1 (-ar verbs): drop nothing — the -ar becomes -as. öppnar → öppnas, målar → målas, kallar → kallas.
- Other groups (-er verbs and short verbs): drop the -er and add -s (giving -es on the bare stem). läser → läses, stänger → stängs (or stänges in formal/older style), köper → köps.
| Group | Active present | -s passive present |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (-ar) | öppnar | öppnas |
| 1 (-ar) | kallar | kallas |
| 2/4 (-er) | läser | läses |
| 2/4 (-er) | köper | köps |
| 2/4 (-er) | säljer | säljs (säljes) |
Lägenheten säljs med fritt fram i juni.
The flat is being sold with possession free from June. säljs — -er verb, stripped to stem + -s.
Lägenheten kallas felaktigt för tvåa i annonsen.
The flat is wrongly called a two-room in the ad. kallas — Group 1, full -as.
Its home turf: rules, instructions, signs, recipes
This is what English speakers underestimate. Whole registers in Swedish run on the -s passive where English would use be + participle, an imperative, or "you." Notices, manuals, recipes, and regulations are saturated with it.
Dörren öppnas automatiskt.
The door opens automatically. (lit. 'is opened') — a classic sign; English drops the passive entirely.
Tvättas i 40 grader. Torktumlas ej.
Wash at 40 degrees. Do not tumble dry. A care label: tvättas / torktumlas where English uses imperatives.
Serveras kallt med en klick gräddfil.
Serve cold with a dollop of sour cream. A recipe instruction — Swedish uses the -s passive, English the imperative.
Biljetter köps i automaten eller via appen.
Tickets are bought from the machine or via the app. A notice — the agentless -s passive is the natural register.
Cyklar parkeras vid grinden, inte på trottoaren.
Bicycles are to be parked by the gate, not on the pavement. parkeras — a rule, the -s passive's natural home.
Notice that all of these are agentless: nobody is named, because the whole point of the form here is the neutral, impersonal instruction. That agentless, general flavour is exactly what makes -s the default and bli (which spotlights an event) the marked alternative.
General and habitual statements
Beyond signs, the -s passive carries any neutral, general, or repeated statement — the kind of sentence where the doer is irrelevant or generic.
Här talas svenska och finska.
Swedish and Finnish are spoken here. talas — a general truth, no specific speaker.
Beslutet fattas av styrelsen i nästa vecka.
The decision is made by the board next week. fattas + an av-agent — still the -s passive.
A warning: -s verbs that are NOT passives (deponents)
Some verbs end in -s in every form but are not passive at all — they are deponent verbs (s-verbs) with an active meaning: hoppas (hope), trivas (thrive/feel at home), minnas (remember), finnas (exist), lyckas (succeed). Jag hoppas does not mean "I am hoped"; it just means "I hope." Don't mistake these built-in -s forms for passives, and don't try to add a passive -s on top of them.
Jag hoppas att vi ses snart — jag trivs verkligen i den här staden.
I hope we'll see each other soon — I really feel at home in this city. hoppas, ses, trivs are deponents, not passives.
These are a topic in themselves — see Deponent (s-) Verbs.
Common Mistakes
❌ Boken läss i skolan.
Incorrect present — for an -er verb you strip the -er and add -s: läses (or in speech 'läs's'), not 'läss'.
✅ Boken läses i skolan.
The book is read at school.
❌ Dörren öppns automatiskt.
Incorrect — a Group 1 verb keeps its syllable: öppnas, not 'öppns'.
✅ Dörren öppnas automatiskt.
The door opens automatically.
❌ Huset blir sålt nästa vecka. (for a neutral 'the house is sold next week')
Less idiomatic — for a neutral statement the -s passive is the default.
✅ Huset säljs nästa vecka.
The house is (being) sold next week.
❌ Har boken lästs av många? — no: har boken läsits
Incorrect supine — the -s attaches to the supine 'läst': har lästs, not 'läsits'.
✅ Har boken lästs av många?
Has the book been read by many?
❌ Jag hoppass på bättre väder.
Incorrect — 'hoppas' is a deponent already ending in -s; you don't double it.
✅ Jag hoppas på bättre väder.
I hope for better weather.
Key Takeaways
- The -s passive adds -s to the verb in every tense: present läses/öppnas, past lästes/öppnades, supine har lästs/öppnats, infinitive ska läsas.
- Present formation: Group 1 -ar → -as (öppnas); other groups drop -er → stem + -s (läses, köps).
- It is the default passive and the standard register for signs, instructions, recipes, rules, and general statements — far more frequent than English speakers expect.
- It is usually agentless; add av
- agent only when you need to name the doer.
- Don't confuse it with deponent verbs (hoppas, trivs, finns), which carry -s with an active meaning.
Now practice Swedish
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- The Passive Voice: OverviewB1 — Swedish has three ways to form the passive: the synthetic -s passive (Boken läses) — by far the most common; the bli-passive (Boken blev läst) for a dynamic event; and the vara-passive (Dörren är stängd) for a resultant state. The agent goes in an 'av' phrase. This page maps all three and routes you to the detail pages.
- 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.
- 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.
- -s Passive vs bli-Passive vs varaB2 — Swedish has three ways to say 'be + -ed', and the choice is aspectual: the -s passive (dörren öppnas) for general rules, habits and instructions; the bli-passive (han blev vald) for a single dynamic event with a result; and vara + participle (dörren är stängd) for the resulting state. The same English passive splits three ways, so this page gives you a flowchart and the same verb run through all three.