kunna
How kunna is used
Kunna means can or be able to, and it also means to know a skill or a language: jag kan svenska, “I speak Swedish”. Its forms are irregular: kan (present), kunde (past), kunnat (supine).
Meaning
can; know
In Swedish: ha kunskap i
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att kunna | to can |
|---|---|---|
| Present | kan | jag kan |
| Past | kunde | jag kunde |
| Supine | kunnat | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har kunnat | jag har kunnat |
| Past perfect | hade kunnat | jag hade kunnat |
| Future | ska kunna | or: kommer att kunna |
| Conditional | skulle kunna | jag skulle kunna |
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 kan. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise kunna
1 / 2Yesterday I … (kunna). Which is the past tense?
kunna in a sentence
- Kan du hjälpa mig?Can you help me?
- Jag kan lite svenska.I speak a little Swedish.
- Hon kunde inte komma.She couldn't come.
- jag kunde inte läxanI hadn't done my homework
- Kan du simma?Can you swim?
- Kan jag få tala med Kerstin?May I speak to Kerstin?
- Kan du komma i morgon?Can you come tomorrow?
- det kan vara santthat could be true
- arbetet kan ta lång tidthe work can take a long time
- att kunna göra någotto be able to do something
Questions
What does kunna mean in English?
kunna means “can, know”.
What is the past tense of kunna?
The past tense of kunna is kunde (“jag kunde”). The supine is kunnat, used in “jag har kunnat”.
What is the present tense of kunna?
kan, the same for every person: jag kan, du kan, vi kan.
Similar words
Where the course teaches it
- Why Swedish verb conjugation is simpleComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish verbs for eat, want and canComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish words ending in -itetComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish words for now, today, tomorrowComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Polite requests in Swedish with skulleComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish demonstratives: denna and dettaComplete Swedish – Season 1
Origin
From Old Swedish kunna, from Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.
Nearby common words
kunna is number 206 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
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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