Han vill tänka själv.

He wants to think by himself.

Breakdown of Han vill tänka själv.

• vilja: to want
• han: he
• tänka: to think
• själv: by himself

Questions & Answers about Han vill tänka själv.

Why is there no att before tänka? Shouldn’t it be Han vill att tänka?

In Swedish, some verbs work like modal verbs in English and are followed directly by an infinitive without att. Vill (wants to) is one of these.

So you say:

• Han vill tänka själv. – He wants to think for himself.

But not:

• ✗ Han vill att tänka.

You do use att with many other verbs:

• Han gillar att tänka. – He likes to think.
• Han försöker att tänka. – He tries to think. (often just försöker tänka)

Rule of thumb: with vill, kan, måste, ska, får, etc., use the bare infinitive (no att).

What exactly does själv add here? Could I just say Han vill tänka?

Själv means “himself / by himself / on his own (mentally)” in this context.

• Han vill tänka. – He wants to think. (neutral)
• Han vill tänka själv. – He wants to think for himself / make up his own mind.

So själv emphasizes independence of thought: he doesn’t want others to think or decide for him. The sentence is grammatically fine without själv, but the meaning loses that nuance of “for himself.”

What’s the difference between själv and ensam?

They’re quite different:

• själv = himself / herself / themselves / on one’s own (in terms of responsibility, doing something without help or without others deciding for you)

  • Han vill tänka själv. – He wants to think for himself.
  • Jag gjorde det själv. – I did it myself.

• ensam = alone, lonely (physically or emotionally)

  • Han vill vara ensam. – He wants to be alone.
  • Hon känner sig ensam. – She feels lonely.

So Han vill tänka själv is about mental independence, not about being physically alone.

Why is it själv and not sig själv after han?

Själv on its own is often used as an adverb meaning “by oneself / for oneself” and doesn’t need sig in this position.

• Han vill tänka själv. – He wants to think for himself.

Sig själv is used when it’s a true reflexive object (often after a preposition or a verb that takes an object):

• Han litar på sig själv. – He trusts himself.
• Han såg sig själv i spegeln. – He saw himself in the mirror.

Here, tänka doesn’t take a reflexive object; själv is just modifying tänka (“think himself / on his own”), so sig is not used.

Can I change the word order, like Han vill själv tänka or Själv vill han tänka? Do these mean the same thing?

All three are grammatical but the emphasis shifts:

1. Han vill tänka själv.
   Neutral, most common. Emphasis on how he wants to think: “He wants to think for himself.”

2. Han vill själv tänka.
   Now själv leans more toward the subject han: “He himself wants to think.”
   This can contrast him with others: maybe others don’t want to think, but he does.

3. Själv vill han tänka.
   Fronted for strong emphasis on själv: “He himself wants to think” / “As for him, he wants to think for himself.”
   This feels more stylistic or rhetorical.

For a learner, Han vill tänka själv is the default choice.

How is each word pronounced?

Approximate pronunciations (Standard Swedish):

• Han – [han]
  
  • a like in English father, short.
• vill – [vɪl]
  
  • i like in English sit.
• tänka – [ˈtɛŋka]
  
  • ä like e in bed.
  • nk sounds like ngk: teng-ka.
• själv – [ɧɛlv] (varies by dialect)
  
  • sj- is a special Swedish sound [ɧ], often described as a “sh + h” friction sound further back in the mouth.
  • ä again like bed.
  • Final v is pronounced.

Very rough English-like rendering: han vil TENK-a shelv (but the sj sound is unique to Swedish).

What is the base form of vill, and how does it conjugate?

The verb is vilja (to want).

Main forms you’ll see:

• infinitive: vilja
• present: vill – wants, want
  
  • Han vill tänka själv.
• past: ville – wanted
  
  • Han ville tänka själv.
• supine (used with har/hade): velat
  
  • Han har velat tänka själv. – He has wanted to think for himself.

Vill is very often followed by a bare infinitive (without att): vill göra, vill läsa, vill tänka.

Is Han always “he”? How does it differ from other Swedish pronouns?

Han is the standard third-person singular male pronoun: he.

Useful contrasts:

• han – he
• hon – she
• hen – gender-neutral singular (used when gender is unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary)
• den / det – it (also used for common/neuter-gender nouns)
• de (spoken often as dom) – they

So:

• Han vill tänka själv. – He wants to think for himself.
• Hon vill tänka själv. – She wants to think for herself.
• Hen vill tänka själv. – They (singular, gender-neutral) want to think for themself.

What tense is vill here, and can it refer to the future?

Vill is in the present tense, but Swedish often uses the present to talk about current wishes or decisions that affect the future.

• Han vill tänka själv.
  Literally: He wants to think himself.
  Naturally understood as: He wants (now) to think for himself (going forward / in this situation).

You don’t need a special future form like English will or is going to. The context makes it clear that this is about what he intends or prefers in the present and future.

Where would the negation inte go if I want to say “He doesn’t want to think for himself”?

Negation inte normally comes after the finite verb vill and before the infinitive:

• Han vill inte tänka själv. – He does not want to think for himself.

Pattern:
[Subject] + [finite verb] + inte + [infinitive / rest of the verb phrase]

More examples:

• Han kan inte tänka själv. – He cannot think for himself.
• Han ska inte tänka själv. – He is not going to think for himself.