Change of state (bli)

To describe a change of state—like "becoming" trendy or "getting" a new look at the salon—Swedish uses the verb bli. It works just like the English verbs "become," "get," or "turn" when describing a transformation.

Do you think I will become trendy?
Tror du att jag blir trendig?
How bald he is getting!
Vad skallig han blir!

Adjective agreement

Just like with the verb är (to be), any adjective that follows bli must agree with the subject of the sentence.

  • For en-words and people (frisyren, jag, han), use the base form of the adjective.
  • For ett-words (håret, utseendet), add a -t to the adjective (e.g., blont, trendigt).
Your hair is getting blond and curly.
Håret blir blont och lockigt.
The appearance becomes very trendy.
Utseendet blir väldigt trendigt.

Expressing future results

Because bli focuses on the transition into a new state, it is very commonly used in the present tense to talk about how a result will be or how something will turn out in the near future.

The hairstyle will probably turn out absolutely perfect.
Frisyren blir nog helt perfekt.
The transformation is turning out absolutely incredible!
Förvandlingen blir helt otrolig!