To describe the state of an object after an action has happened—like a "closed" door, a "repaired" camera, or a "stolen" car—Swedish uses the past participle.
Unlike the present participle, past participles work exactly like standard adjectives. They change their endings to match en-words, ett-words, and plurals. In this lesson, you will see them used as predicative adjectives following the verb är (is/are).
Regular participles (-d, -t, -da)
For most verbs, the past participle ends in -d for en-words and -da for plurals.
For ett-words, the ending drops the d and takes a -t. Notice the contrast:
If the verb's stem ends in a hard consonant (like the s in låsa), both the en-word and ett-word forms take a -t to make pronunciation easier.
Just like with regular adjectives, when you combine multiple singular items with och (and), the subject becomes plural and takes the plural ending.
Strong verbs (-en, -et, -na)
Many irregular or "strong" verbs follow a completely different ending pattern for their past participles. Instead of using d or t, they use:
- -en for en-words
- -et for ett-words
- -na for plurals
This same pattern applies to words like stulen (stolen) and försvunnen (missing). Remember that plural subjects, like pengarna (the money), take the -na plural ending.