Jag vill spara pengar.

I want to save money.

Breakdown of Jag vill spara pengar.

• jag: I
• vilja: to want
• pengarna: the money
• spara: to save

Questions & Answers about Jag vill spara pengar.

Why is it spara and not sparar?

Because vill behaves like a modal verb and is followed by the bare infinitive. So you say Jag vill spara pengar. Use sparar (present tense) only when spara is the main verb by itself: Jag sparar pengar.

Common verbs that take a bare infinitive (no att) after them: vill, ska, kan, måste, bör, får, brukar, tänker (when it means intend to).

Should there be att between vill and spara? When do I use vill att?

No att here. You say Jag vill spara pengar.

Use vill att only when it’s followed by a full clause with its own subject:

• Jag vill att du sparar pengar. (I want you to save money.) Saying Jag vill att spara pengar is ungrammatical.

Where does negation go to say “I don’t want to save money”?

Place inte after the finite verb vill:

• Jag vill inte spara pengar.

If you want the sense of “any money,” use a negative-indefinite:

• Jag vill inte spara några pengar.

Can I say Jag vill pengar to mean “I want money”?

No. When you want a thing, use vill ha:

• Jag vill ha pengar.

When you want to do something, use vill + infinitive:

• Jag vill spara pengar.

What does pengar look like grammatically? Is there a singular?

• pengar is plural-only in normal modern usage (plural tantum).
• Definite form: pengarna = the money.
• “Some money”: often lite pengar or en del pengar. (några pengar is mainly used with negation or in questions.)
• “A lot of money”: mycket pengar (not många pengar).
• Singular forms like en penning are archaic; en peng occurs in set phrases/dialect but is not standard everyday singular. For an actual countable unit, use en krona, ett mynt, etc.

How do I say “save up for something”?

Use:

• spara till + noun: Jag vill spara till en resa.
• spara ihop (till …): Jag vill spara ihop till en cykel. / Jag vill spara ihop pengar.

What’s the difference between spara, spara på, and spara in (på)?

• spara (pengar) = set aside money: Jag vill spara pengar.
• spara på X = economize on/use less of X: Vi måste spara på el(‑en)/vattnet.
• spara in (på) X = cut costs, often with the idea of reductions: Företaget vill spara in på personalen.

How would I pronounce the sentence naturally?

Approximate, Sweden-standard:

• Jag ≈ “yah” (the final g is often dropped in casual speech).
• vill ≈ “vil”.
• spara ≈ “SPAH‑ra” (long a in the first syllable).
• pengar ≈ “PEN‑gar” with the ng like in “sing”.

Altogether: “yah vil SPAH‑ra PEN‑gar” (main stress on the first syllable of spara and pengar).

Where do other adverbs go (really, often, always, etc.)?

Place them after the finite verb vill:

• Jag vill verkligen spara pengar.
• Jag vill ofta spara pengar.
• Jag vill alltid spara pengar.

How do I change the tense or make it more polite?

• Past desire: Jag ville spara pengar.
• Polite/softened: Jag skulle vilja spara pengar.
• Future/intention: Jag ska spara pengar. / Jag tänker spara pengar.
• Predictive future: Jag kommer att spara pengar.

When should I use ska, tänker, or kommer att instead of vill?

• vill = want to (desire): Jag vill spara pengar.
• ska = going to/plan to (commitment or scheduled): Jag ska spara pengar i år.
• tänker = intend to (personal intention): Jag tänker spara pengar.
• kommer att = will (neutral prediction): Jag kommer att spara mer framöver.

Is vill irregular? What are its forms?

Yes, it’s irregular.

• Infinitive: vilja
• Present: vill
• Preterite: ville
• Supine: velat (with har/hade): Jag har velat spara pengar länge. There’s no imperative of vilja.

What happens to word order if I start with a time or place?

Swedish main clauses are V2: the finite verb stays in second position.

• Idag vill jag spara pengar.
• I år vill jag spara pengar.
• Av flera skäl vill jag spara pengar.

Are there useful synonyms or set phrases?

• lägga undan (pengar) = put money aside.
• spara ihop (pengar) = save up (accumulate).
• sätta in pengar (på ett konto) = deposit money (into an account).
• ha ett sparande = have savings/a savings plan.
• vara sparsam = be thrifty. (snåla = be stingy, pejorative.)

How do I say “to save money by …” and “in order to save money …”?

• Means (by doing X): … genom att …
  Jag sparar pengar genom att cykla.
• Purpose (in order to): … för att …
  Jag jobbar extra för att spara pengar.