Deponent Verbs in Swedish

Overview

Deponent verbs are one of Swedish grammar's more curious features: they look passive (ending in -s) but carry active meaning. When you see hoppas (to hope), lyckas (to succeed), or minnas (to remember), the -s ending might make you think these are passive constructions. They are not -- these verbs simply always end in -s and have no corresponding active form without it.

At the B1 level, recognizing deponent verbs is important because confusing them with the s-passive will lead to misunderstandings. Once you learn the most common ones, you will find them everywhere in daily Swedish conversation and writing.

The good news is that the number of common deponent verbs is manageable -- around 20-30 that you will encounter regularly. Learning them as vocabulary items, rather than trying to derive them from grammar rules, is the most practical approach.

How It Works

What makes a verb deponent?

A deponent verb has passive form (-s ending) but active meaning. Unlike the s-passive, where you can remove the -s to get the active form, deponent verbs either have no form without -s or mean something completely different without it.

Common deponent verbs

Deponent Verb	Meaning	Conjugation Pattern
hoppas	to hope	hoppas, hoppades, hoppats
lyckas	to succeed	lyckas, lyckades, lyckats
misslyckas	to fail	misslyckas, misslyckades, misslyckats
minnas	to remember	minns, mindes, mints
andas	to breathe	andas, andades, andats
fattas	to be missing/lacking	fattas, fattades, fattats
finnas	to exist, be found	finns, fanns, funnits
trivas	to thrive, feel at home	trivs, trivdes, trivts
synas	to be visible, appear	syns, syntes, synts
kännas	to feel (sensation)	känns, kändes, känts
låtsas	to pretend	låtsas, låtsades, låtsats
kräkas	to vomit	kräks, kräktes, kräkts
svettas	to sweat	svettas, svettades, svettats
umgås	to socialize	umgås, umgicks, umgåtts

Conjugation

Deponent verbs conjugate like regular verbs but always keep the -s:

Tense	hoppas	lyckas	minnas
Infinitive	hoppas	lyckas	minnas
Present	hoppas	lyckas	minns
Past	hoppades	lyckades	mindes
Supine	hoppats	lyckats	mints
Imperative	hoppas!	lyckas!	minns!

Deponent vs. s-passive: how to tell them apart

Feature	Deponent	S-Passive
Meaning	Active	Passive
Active form exists?	No (or different meaning)	Yes
Example	hoppas (hope)	byggas (be built)
Test	Remove -s: hoppa means "jump," not "hope"	Remove -s: bygga = active "build"

Some tricky pairs

With -s (Deponent)	Meaning	Without -s	Meaning
hoppas	to hope	hoppa	to jump
kännas	to feel (like)	känna	to know/feel
synas	to be visible	syna	to examine

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Jag hoppas det.	I hope so.	Most common deponent
Hon lyckades till slut.	She succeeded in the end.	Past tense
Jag minns det.	I remember it.	Present tense
Det fattas pengar.	Money is missing.	Impersonal use
Det finns många möjligheter.	There are many possibilities.	finnas = to exist
Han trivs i Sverige.	He thrives in Sweden.	Feeling at home
Det syns att du är glad.	It shows that you're happy.	Being visible
Det känns bra.	It feels good.	Sensation
Barnet låtsas sova.	The child pretends to sleep.	Pretending
Vi umgås ofta.	We socialize often.	Spending time together
Hon andas tungt.	She's breathing heavily.	Physical action
De misslyckades med projektet.	They failed with the project.	Opposite of lyckas
Jag svettas i värmen.	I'm sweating in the heat.	Physical reaction
Hoppas vi ses snart!	Hope we'll see each other soon!	Very common in speech

Common Mistakes

Wrong: Treating hoppas as passive: Jag hoppas av alla. (I am hoped by everyone.) Right: Jag hoppas. (I hope.) Why: Hoppas is deponent -- it has active meaning despite the -s ending. It cannot take an agent with av.

Wrong: Jag hoppar att det går bra. (removing -s to make it "active") Right: Jag hoppas att det går bra. Why: Hoppa means "to jump," not "to hope." The -s is an inseparable part of hoppas.

Wrong: Jag minnas det. (using infinitive as present) Right: Jag minns det. Why: Some deponent verbs have contracted present forms. Minnas is the infinitive; minns is the present tense.

Wrong: Det finner många möjligheter. Right: Det finns många möjligheter. Why: Finnas (to exist) is deponent. Finna exists but means "to find" -- a completely different meaning.

Usage Notes

Deponent verbs are used in all registers of Swedish, from casual conversation to formal writing. Some of them are among the most frequently used words in the language: finns, hoppas, känns, and minns appear constantly in everyday speech.

The expression Hoppas det! (Hope so!) or Hoppas vi ses! (Hope to see you!) is extremely common in informal Swedish, often used as a farewell or well-wish.

Finnas deserves special attention as it is the existential verb in Swedish (det finns = there is/there are) and is one of the first verbs learners encounter, even if they do not realize it is deponent.

There is no significant regional variation in deponent verb usage across Swedish dialects. These verbs are standard throughout Sweden and Finland-Swedish.

Practice Tips

1. Make a deponent verb flashcard set -- since deponent verbs need to be memorized as vocabulary, create cards with the verb on one side and its meaning plus tense forms on the other. Focus on the 10-15 most common ones first.

2. Use the "remove -s" test -- when you encounter a verb ending in -s, try removing the -s mentally. If the remaining verb has a completely different meaning (or does not exist), you are looking at a deponent verb.

3. Write about your day using deponents -- try to use as many deponent verbs as possible in a short paragraph about your day: Jag hoppas att det blir fint väder. Jag minns att jag ska handla. Det finns mycket att göra. Det känns bra att vara ledig.

Related Concepts

• S-Passive (parent) -- deponent verbs share the -s ending with s-passive forms but differ fundamentally in meaning