Word
Han har bott i Sverige tidigare.
Meaning
He has lived in Sweden before.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Han har bott i Sverige tidigare.
Why does the verb bo change to bott with a double T?
Bott is the supine form of the verb bo (to live). Bo belongs to Group 3, which consists of short verbs ending in a stressed vowel. To make the supine form for these verbs (which you use after har or hade), you add -tt to the infinitive.
Are there other common verbs that follow this same -tt pattern?
Yes! Group 3 has many short, everyday verbs. For example, tro (to believe) becomes trott, sy (to sew) becomes sytt, and må (to feel) becomes mått.
Could I use bodde instead of har bott here?
Just like in English, har bott (has lived) describes a general past experience. If you use the simple past tense bodde (lived), it usually focuses on a specific time period. You would say Han bodde i Sverige 2018 (He lived in Sweden in 2018), but since this sentence just says he lived there at some unspecified time before, har bott is the best choice.
Can I use förut or innan to mean 'before' instead of tidigare?
You can absolutely use förut here, as it means 'before' or 'previously' just like tidigare (which literally means 'earlier'). However, you cannot use innan at the end of this sentence. Innan is a conjunction, meaning it needs to connect to another action, like 'before he moved'.