Swedish verb· top 1,000 most common

må

may, might (just), must, may, may, let/moː/

Meaning

may; might (just); must, may; may, let; feel

In Swedish: känna sig

Conjugation

Conjugation of må (may)
Infinitive	att må	to may
Present	mår	jag mår
Past	mådde	jag mådde
Supine	mått	used after har / hade
Perfect	har mått	jag har mått
Past perfect	hade mått	jag hade mått
Future	ska må	or: kommer att må
Conditional	skulle må	jag skulle må

Group 3: short verbs. The infinitive does not end in -a; present -r, past -dde, supine -tt. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use mår. See the four verb groups explained.

Practise må

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

må in a sentence

Måtte han komma!
Let him come!
Ja, må han leva!
Long may he live!
affärerna måtte ha gått bra
things must have gone well
jag gillar inte metoden hur effektiv den än må vara
I don't like that method, however effective it may be
talan må ej föras mot styrelsens beslut
no appeal may be lodged against the decision of the board
han mådde som en prins
he felt content
Hur mår du?
How do you feel?
Ja, må hon leva uti hundrade år!
Yes, may she live a hundred years! (birthday congratulation song)

Expressions

du må tro att jag blev förvånad!
I was surprised, believe me!
hon mådde illa
she felt sick

Questions

What does må mean in English?

må means “may, might (just)”.

What is the past tense of må?

The past tense of må is mådde (“jag mådde”). The supine is mått, used in “jag har mått”.

What is the present tense of må?

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

Where the course teaches it

Origin

Apocopic form of måga, from Old Swedish magha, from Old Norse mega, from Proto-Germanic *maganą, from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe, from root *megʰ-.

Nearby common words

må is number 657 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

653misstag mistake
654gömma conceal, hide
655synd pity, shame
656enligt according to
658lycka happiness, luck
659absolut certainly, absolutely
660läge position, situation
661snabbt speedy, quickly; in a fast manner

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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