Swedish verb· top 5,000 most common

skämma

embarrass

Meaning

embarrass

Conjugation

Conjugation of skämma (embarrass)
Infinitive	att skämma	to embarrass
Present	skämmer	jag skämmer
Past	skämde	jag skämde
Supine	skämt	used after har / hade
Perfect	har skämt	jag har skämt
Past perfect	hade skämt	jag hade skämt
Future	ska skämma	or: kommer att skämma
Conditional	skulle skämma	jag skulle skämma
Imperative	skäm!	a command
Present participle	skämmande	-ing, used as an adjective
Past participle	skämd	used like an adjective, and agrees like one

Passive (-s form)

Passive of skämma
Infinitive	skämmas
Present	skämms
Past	skämdes
Supine	skämts

Group 2: -er verbs. Present -er, past -de or -te (after a voiceless consonant), supine -t. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use skämmer. See the four verb groups explained.

Practise skämma

1 / 2

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

skämma in a sentence

Arbete skämmer ingen
Work makes a shame of nobody
För mycket eller för lite skämmer allt
Too much or too little ruins everything
skämma bort barnen
to spoil the kids
skämma ut sig
embarrass oneself
Vattenfall skämmer ut Sverige
Vattenfall is an embarrassment to Sweden

Questions

What does skämma mean in English?

skämma means “embarrass”.

What is the past tense of skämma?

The past tense of skämma is skämde (“jag skämde”). The supine is skämt, used in “jag har skämt”.

What is the present tense of skämma?

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

Nearby common words

skämma is number 2,682 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

2,678dubbelt double, doubly
2,679ler clay; contraction of lera, in the expression ler och långhalm
2,680manus manuscript, ms
2,681seren serene
2,683nä no, no, nah
2,684september September
2,685vettig sensible
2,686spy spew, throw up

Start today, free

Learn skämma in real Swedish, free

Words stick when you hear them used. Complete Swedish Season 1 is 49 short video lessons with a synced transcript, free on the site with no account. A free account saves words like skämma to your library and quizzes you on them, plus 7 days of the AI tutor and speaking practice when you confirm your email.

Season 1 free in full: 49 lessons
Synced transcript with English translations
7-day free trial of the AI tutor and speaking practice
Members get the latest season and every new course

Watch lesson 1 free Create a free account

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