Jag vill inte ge upp.

I do not want to give up.

Breakdown of Jag vill inte ge upp.

• jag: I
• vilja: to want
• inte: not
• ge upp: to give up

Questions & Answers about Jag vill inte ge upp.

What does each word in Jag vill inte ge upp literally mean?

Word by word:

• Jag = I
• vill = want
• inte = not
• ge = give
• upp = up

So the structure is very close to English: I want not give up, which in natural English is I don’t want to give up.

Why is it ge upp instead of just ge for “give up”?

Ge upp is a particle verb in Swedish.

• ge = to give (in general)
• upp = up
• ge upp together = to give up / to quit / to surrender

Just like in English “give” and “give up” are different, Swedish ge and ge upp are different verbs in meaning.

Important points:

• The particle upp carries part of the meaning.
• In dictionaries, you’ll often see the verb listed as ge upp meaning “to give up”.
• In other tenses, the particle usually stays close to the verb:
  
  • Jag gav upp. = I gave up.
  • Jag har gett upp. = I have given up.

Can ge and upp be split, like English “give it up” → ge upp det?

Yes, they can be split, and this happens a lot:

• Jag vill inte ge upp det. = I don’t want to give it up.
• Jag gav aldrig upp hoppet. = I never gave up (the) hope.

Typical pattern:
verb + (object) + particle

But in your sentence, without an object, they just sit together: ge upp.

Why is there no att before ge? Shouldn’t it be Jag vill inte att ge upp?

In Swedish, after many modal verbs (like vill, kan, måste, ska), you usually do not use att before the infinitive.

So you say:

• Jag vill äta. (I want to eat.) – not vill att äta
• Jag kan simma. (I can swim.) – not kan att simma
• Jag måste gå. (I must go.) – not måste att gå

Therefore:

• Jag vill inte ge upp. (correct)
• Jag vill inte att ge upp. (wrong in standard Swedish)

How is vill conjugated? Does it change with the subject?

In modern Swedish, verbs don’t change with the subject (no I want / he wants kind of change).

For vilja (the infinitive “to want”):

• Jag vill – I want
• Du vill – You want
• Han/hon/den/det vill – He/she/it wants
• Vi vill – We want
• Ni vill – You (plural/formal) want
• De vill – They want

Same form vill for everyone.

Other main forms:

• vilja – to want (infinitive)
• vill – want (present)
• ville – wanted (past)
• velat – wanted (supine, used with har: har velat)

Why is inte placed after vill and before ge upp?

Swedish has fairly strict word order. In a simple main clause, the finite verb (here: vill) comes in second position, and inte usually comes right after that verb.

Pattern:

1. Subject (or some other element)
2. Finite verb
3. inte / other adverbs
4. Rest of the verb phrase / objects etc.

Your sentence:

1. Jag (subject)
2. vill (finite verb)
3. inte (negation)
4. ge upp (infinitive verb phrase)

So Jag vill inte ge upp follows the standard word order rule.

Could I say Jag ger inte upp instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, Jag ger inte upp is also correct, but the meaning is slightly different:

• Jag vill inte ge upp.

  • Focus on desire/will: I don’t want to give up.
  • You might be close to giving up, but you don’t want to.

• Jag ger inte upp.

  • Focus on action/character: I don’t give up / I won’t give up.
  • Sounds more like a statement about determination or habit.

Both are natural, but vill talks about what you want, ger talks about what you actually do / will do.

How would I say “Don’t give up!” as a command in Swedish?

Use the imperative form of ge and still keep the particle upp, with the negation:

• Ge inte upp! = Don’t give up!

Pattern for negative imperative with particle verbs:

• Ge inte upp! – Don’t give up!
• Kom inte tillbaka! – Don’t come back!
• Ge inte bort boken! – Don’t give the book away!

Can I drop Jag and just say Vill inte ge upp in Swedish?

In standard Swedish, you normally keep the subject pronoun, so Jag vill inte ge upp is the normal form.

However:

• In very informal speech, people might drop jag in rapid conversation:
  
  • Vill inte ge upp.
• In writing or clear speech, you should include Jag.

So: acceptable in casual talk, but not something to copy in careful Swedish.

How do I pronounce Jag vill inte ge upp?

Approximate pronunciation (Stockholm-ish accent):

• Jag ≈ yahg or ya (the g is often weak or almost silent in everyday speech)
• vill ≈ vill (like English “will” but with a slightly clearer l)
• inte ≈ IN-teh (stress on IN, short e at the end)
• ge ≈ yeh (before e, g is pronounced like English y)
• upp ≈ oop but with a short u sound; very short, clipped syllable

Said together, it might sound like: “Ya vill IN-te yeh oop.” (with short, sharp upp).

Is upp always written separately, or can it be joined like geupp?

It is always written separately in modern standard Swedish:

• ge upp – give up
• stänga av – turn off
• slå på – turn on

Even though these behave like single verbs in meaning, the particle (upp, av, på, etc.) stays separate in writing. You never write geupp as one word.