This page is the mirror image of the -de subtype. Group 2 verbs whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant form their preteritum with -te rather than -de: köpa → köpte, läsa → läste, röka → rökte. The dividing rule is the same single phonological fact in both directions — voiced stem pulls a voiced ending, voiceless stem pulls a voiceless ending — and once again it lines up exactly with how English pronounces -ed as /t/ after a voiceless sound. The one thing to watch here that the -de group didn't have is a small set of verbs in -nk and -ck that tweak their stem slightly.
The rule: voiceless stem → add -te
A voiceless consonant is one made with no buzz in the vocal cords — in Swedish that's principally k, p, t, s, x. When a Group 2 stem ends in one of these, the preteritum ending is -te, and the supine ends in -t:
| Infinitive | Stem | Preteritum (stem + te) | Supine | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| köpa | köp- | köpte | köpt | buy / bought |
| läsa | läs- | läste | läst | read |
| röka | rök- | rökte | rökt | smoke(d) |
| möta | möt- | mötte | mött | meet / met |
| resa | res- | reste | rest | travel(led) |
| hjälpa | hjälp- | hjälpte | hjälpt | help(ed) |
Put a finger on your throat and say the end of the stem: köp-, läs-, rök- produce no buzz — they're voiceless — so the ending is -te. Contrast the -de group's ring- and hör-, which do buzz. Note möta: the stem already ends in -t, so the -t- and the -te fuse into a double -tt- (mötte) to keep the preceding vowel short — see Double Consonants.
Again: this is the English -ed /t/ rule
Just as the -de group mirrors the /d/ pronunciation of English -ed, the -te group mirrors the /t/ pronunciation. Say "walked," "kissed," "stopped," "looked" — the -ed there comes out as a crisp /t/, because k, s, p are voiceless. Swedish simply spells that /t/ out loud as -te. So röka → rökte is built on the same instinct as English "smoke → smoked" (pronounced /smoukt/). Trust your ear: if an English-style past tense would end in a /t/ sound, the Swedish ending is -te.
Jag köpte blommor på vägen hem för att glädja henne.
I bought flowers on the way home to cheer her up. köpte — voiceless köp- takes -te.
Vi läste samma bok samtidigt och pratade om den varje kväll.
We read the same book at the same time and talked about it every evening. läste — voiceless läs-.
Han rökte i smyg på balkongen, fast han hade lovat att sluta.
He secretly smoked on the balcony, even though he'd promised to quit. rökte — voiceless rök-.
De mötte varandra för första gången på ett kafé i Lund.
They met each other for the first time at a café in Lund. mötte — stem in -t, so double tt.
The -nk and -ck verbs: a small stem tweak
There is one cluster that needs flagging because the stem changes slightly. Verbs ending in -nka and -cka lose part of their consonant cluster in the past, leaving a clean -te on a shortened stem. The most common are:
| Infinitive | Preteritum | Supine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| tänka | tänkte | tänkt | think / thought |
| tycka | tyckte | tyckt | think / reckon |
| räcka | räckte | räckt | reach / suffice |
| väcka | väckte | väckt | wake (someone) |
| sträcka | sträckte | sträckt | stretch(ed) |
In tänka → tänkte the k is voiceless, so we'd expect -te — and that's exactly what happens; the only thing to notice is that the spelling stays clean (tänkte, not tänktte). For the -cka verbs, the doubled ck simplifies before the ending: tycka → tyckte (one ck, then -te), räcka → räckte. There's no deep rule to derive here beyond "voiceless → -te"; the tweak is just spelling housekeeping, and these are high-frequency verbs you'll meet constantly, so it pays to lock them in early.
Jag tänkte på dig hela dagen utan att veta varför.
I thought about you all day without knowing why. tänkte — the -nk verb, voiceless k → -te.
Hon tyckte att filmen var överskattad och somnade i mitten.
She thought the film was overrated and fell asleep halfway through. tyckte — the -ck verb.
Pengarna räckte precis till hyran, inte en krona mer.
The money was just enough for the rent, not a single krona more. räckte — räcka, voiceless.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag köpde en ny cykel.
Incorrect — köp- ends in voiceless p, so the ending is -te, not -de: köpte.
✅ Jag köpte en ny cykel.
I bought a new bike.
❌ Hon läsade hela boken på en dag.
Incorrect — that's the Group 1 ending. Läsa is Group 2 with a voiceless stem: läste.
✅ Hon läste hela boken på en dag.
She read the whole book in a day.
❌ Han tänkade på saken länge.
Incorrect — tänka is Group 2, not Group 1; the past is tänkte.
✅ Han tänkte på saken länge.
He thought about the matter for a long time.
❌ Vi mötde dem på stationen.
Incorrect — möta has a voiceless -t stem, so it takes -te and doubles to mötte.
✅ Vi mötte dem på stationen.
We met them at the station.
❌ Pengarna räckade inte till.
Incorrect — räcka → räckte, never the Group 1 form *räckade.
✅ Pengarna räckte inte till.
The money wasn't enough.
Key Takeaways
- Group 2 verbs whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant (k, p, t, s, x) form the preteritum with -te: köpa → köpte, läsa → läste, röka → rökte, möta → mötte.
- The supine ends in -t: köpt, läst, mött.
- This is the same phonological rule as the -de page, on the voiceless side — and it mirrors the English -ed /t/ sound after voiceless stems (walked, kissed).
- A small -nk / -ck cluster (tänka → tänkte, tycka → tyckte, räcka → räckte) keeps clean spelling; the doubled ck simplifies before the ending.
- The errors to kill: choosing -de after a voiceless stem (köpde) and adding the Group 1 -ade (läsade, tänkade).
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- Past Tense: Group 2 (-de)A2 — The -de subtype of Group 2 preteritum: verbs whose stem ends in a voiced sound add -de (ringa → ringde, stänga → stängde, böja → böjde, höra → hörde). The -de vs -te split is purely phonological — voiced stem takes -de, voiceless takes -te — which is exactly the English -ed pronunciation rule (/d/ vs /t/) that you already use without thinking.
- Present Tense: Group 2 (-er)A2 — Group 2 verbs are consonant-stem -a verbs that form the present by DROPPING the infinitive -a and adding -er (ringa → ringer, köpa → köper, läsa → läser). Stems already ending in -r add just -r or nothing (köra → kör, höra → hör). A built-in catch: the present alone can't tell you whether a Group 2 verb belongs to the -de or -te past subtype, so always record the past tense too.
- Supine: Groups 1-2 (-at, -t)A2 — The weak-verb supines: Group 1 adds -at (talat, arbetat, frågat) and Group 2 adds -t to the stem (köpt, läst, ringt). Both are invariable forms used after 'ha'. The main trap is Group 1's dangerous trio — past -ade, supine -at, participle -ad differ by one letter (talade / talat / talad) and are constantly confused. Laying all three side by side is the cure.
- The Past Tense (Preteritum): OverviewA2 — Preteritum is the simple past — the narrative tense for completed, time-anchored events (Igår åkte jag till Stockholm). It needs no auxiliary, unlike the perfect, and lines up neatly with the English simple past. This page maps its uses and previews the four-group formation, leaving the endings to the per-group pages.