ha
How ha is used
Ha means to have, and it is also the auxiliary for the perfect tenses: jag har ätit, “I have eaten”. It is irregular: har, hade, haft. Ha det bra! is the everyday way to say “take care” when parting.
ha as a verb
Meaning
have; have, possess; be provided with
In Swedish: äga; vara försedd med
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att ha | to have |
|---|---|---|
| Present | har | jag har |
| Past | hade | jag hade |
| Supine | haft | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har haft | jag har haft |
| Past perfect | hade haft | jag hade haft |
| Future | ska ha | or: kommer att ha |
| Conditional | skulle ha | jag skulle ha |
Group 4: strong and irregular verbs. Strong verbs change their vowel and have a supine in -it (skriva, skrev, skrivit); irregular ones such as göra and ha follow no pattern. Both have to be learned one by one. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use har. See the four verb groups explained.
ha as an interjection
Meaning
ha! (same as the English); what?, come again?, I'm sorry?, huh?
Practise ha
1 / 2Yesterday I … (ha). Which is the past tense?
ha in a sentence
- Jag har två syskon.I have two siblings.
- Har du ätit?Have you eaten?
- Ha det bra!Take care!
- hon har gjort detshe's done it
- jag hade sett henneI had seen her
- ha blå ögonhave blue eyes
- hon har inte tidshe hasn't got time
- Vill du ha en apelsin?Would you like an orange?
- jag har rättI'm right
- John har två katter.John has two cats.
Expressions
- jag har svårt att kommaI'd find it difficult to come
- ha att göra medhave to do with
- ha rådafford
Questions
What does ha mean in English?
ha means “have, have, possess; be provided with”.
What is the past tense of ha?
The past tense of ha is hade (“jag hade”). The supine is haft, used in “jag har haft”.
What is the present tense of ha?
har, the same for every person: jag har, du har, vi har.
Similar words
innehavahava
Where the course teaches it
- Swedish words ending in -itetComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Det versus den in SwedishComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Talking about the future with skaComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish question words: vad and hurComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish past tense verb conjugationComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish present, past and future reviewComplete Swedish – Season 1
Origin
Apocopic form of hava, from Old Swedish hava, from Old Norse hafa, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”).
Nearby common words
ha is number 7 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
Learn ha in real Swedish, free
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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

