Why Swedish verb conjugation is simple

So, we said tala means to speak. Something very interesting about Swedish, which actually makes it easier than English in this particular respect, and that is in English, when you want to change the verb, you have to change it differently depending on who is speaking. It's the same in many other European languages, however, in Swedish, it's actually easier: you always keep the same form. So, for example, in English, to say "I speak", it ends with a k, right, "I speak".

The same with "you speak". However, if you want to say "he", we have to say "speaks". "He speaks", and suddenly, we add on an s, right? And for "she", it's also an s. And then for "you" people, as in a group of people, you can't say "you speaks", you have to say "you speak".

However, in Swedish, it's the same word, and that's why it's easier than English in this particular situation. So, "I speak", jag talar. Du talar is of course "you speak". Do you remember how to say "he speaks"?

Han talar. What about "she speaks"?

Hon talar.

And "it speaks"? There are two variants, so den or det talar.

What about "you people speak"?

Ni talar.

And to say "they", de, so de talar. And finally, the easiest one: how do you say "we speak"?

Vi talar.

And for all of the other types of -ar verbs, they will also take on these endings. So, for instance, "to love", älska, or "to hate", hata. you would say hatar and älskar. Kunna is to be able to.

Att kunna, to be able to. And it's unfortunately an irregular verb, and what that means is that it doesn't fit into the -ar or -er categories. Instead, to change the verb, you would say kan.

So jag kan is I can. So given that knowledge, you know what to say for all of the other situations. So how would you say you can? Du kan. He can?

Han kan. And now give me the remaining ones.

Hon kan, she can.

Den or det kan is of course it can. What about you people, as in a lot of people, can?

Ni kan. And then, they can? De kan. What about we can?

Vi kan.

Okay, so now we're ready to construct some sentences, and we're also ready to learn how to negate a sentence, how to say not.

But first let's repeat. How did you say I speak in Swedish?

So the word to say speak is tala. Att tala means to speak. So I speak would be jag talar.

And to say you speak, what would you say then?

Du talar. Very good. So now you want to say I can speak Swedish. I can speak Swedish.

And you have the same order as in English. And Swedish is, of course, svenska, svenska. So how would you say this?

Jag kan tala svenska. Jag kan tala svenska. And notice here, in case you happen to say "talar", that's actually incorrect because in this situation we have the dictionary form, just like in English. In English you would say, "I can speak Swedish." You wouldn't say, "I can speaks Swedish." No, you would keep it to the to-form.

So the same thing applies in Swedish because you already have changed the first verb. The first verb is "kan", and you changed that, because the dictionary form of "kan" is "att kunna". So you said "jag kan" - "I can", and then "speak Swedish" - "tala svenska".

So how do you say "I speak Swedish"? This time we don't say "I can", but we simply say "I speak Swedish".

Jag talar svenska. Jag talar svenska.

So to say "not", as in "I do not speak Swedish", you would say "inte", "inte".

And you would put this after the changed verb. So how do you think you would say "I do not speak Swedish" if "I do speak Swedish" is "jag talar svenska"? "I speak Swedish" - "jag talar svenska". And remember you don't need the "do". This is a type of word that's used in English, but you don't need this in Swedish.

So just say "I not speak Swedish". Put the "inte" after the changed verb. So what would that be?

Jag talar inte svenska. So, you can't say, unfortunately, jag inte talar svenska. That would be incorrect and it would sound very off. You say the verb, and then you say not. So, jag talar, I speak, not Swedish, I speak not Swedish.

That's how you would say it in Swedish. So, what about, I cannot speak Swedish? I cannot speak Swedish.

Jag kan inte tala svenska. And here, we don't have the changed verb for talar, because we already have kan, which has been changed. So, jag kan inte tala svenska.

Okay, so let's do a very quick recap, because we learn through repetition as we said previously. So, to say I speak, you would say jag talar. To say you speak, as in one person, do you remember how to say that?

Du talar. What about he or she or it speaks? So, to say he, you would say han. To say she, hon.

And to say it, you would say den or det.

So, to say you people speak, you would say ni, ni talar.

What about they speak?

De talar. And of course it's pronounced de, but it's spelled with d-e.

So, how would you say we speak? And that's, of course, one of the easier ones.

Vi talar.