Swedish verb · noun

fika

drink coffee/²fiːka/

How fika is used

Fika is a coffee break with something sweet, usually a bun or a biscuit, and above all a moment to sit down and talk. It is both a noun (en fika or ett fika, both are used) and a verb (vi fikar). Most Swedish workplaces have fika at fixed times, often mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and asking someone to fika is a low-key way to get to know them.

fika as a verb

Meaning

drink coffee

In Swedish: dricka kaffe

Conjugation

Conjugation of fika (drink coffee)
Infinitive	att fika	to drink coffee
Present	fikar	jag fikar
Past	fikade	jag fikade
Supine	fikat	used after har / hade
Perfect	har fikat	jag har fikat
Past perfect	hade fikat	jag hade fikat
Future	ska fika	or: kommer att fika
Conditional	skulle fika	jag skulle fika
Imperative	fika!	a command
Present participle	fikande	-ing, used as an adjective
Past participle	fikad	used like an adjective, and agrees like one

Passive (-s form)

Passive of fika
Infinitive	fikas
Present	fikas
Past	fikades
Supine	fikats

Group 1: -ar verbs. Present -ar, past -ade, supine -at. The largest and most regular group. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use fikar. See the four verb groups explained.

fika as a noun(en or ett fika)

Meaning

coffee

In Swedish: kaffe

Forms

Forms of fika
Singular, indefinite	en/ett fika
Singular, definite	fikan
Plural, indefinite	fikor
Plural, definite	fikorna

Practise fika

1 / 2

Yesterday I … (fika). Which is the past tense?

fika in a sentence

Ska vi ta en fika?
Shall we grab a coffee?
Vi fikar klockan tre.
We have our coffee break at three.
Vill du fika någon dag?
Would you like to meet up for a coffee some day?
De är det fikande folket.
They are the people that enjoy fika.

Words built with fika

fikapaus coffee break

Questions

What does fika mean in English?

fika means “drink coffee”.

Is it en fika or ett fika?

You will see both en fika and ett fika. For some words either gender is correct; for others the two genders go with different meanings, so check the meanings above.

What is the plural of fika?

The plural of fika is fikor, and the definite plural is fikorna.

What is the past tense of fika?

The past tense of fika is fikade (“jag fikade”). The supine is fikat, used in “jag har fikat”.

What is the present tense of fika?

fikar, the same for every person: jag fikar, du fikar, vi fikar.

Where the course teaches it

Swedish bakery vocabulary and fika
Complete Swedish – Season 2

Origin

This sense is attested in writing from 1910.

Nearby common words

fika is number 6,009 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

6,005utifall in case of, in case
6,006tutta to set on fire, to torch, to ignite (a fire), to set on fire, to torch
6,007lotta draw lots
6,008omge surround
6,010kaj quay, dock
6,011protein protein
6,012ryktas is rumoured
6,013juvel jewel

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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary