Swedish verb· top 1,000 most common

söka

search, look for, apply, seek/²søːka/

Meaning

search; look for; apply; seek; attempt; try

In Swedish: leta (efter)

Conjugation

Conjugation of söka (search)
Infinitive	att söka	to search
Present	söker	jag söker
Past	sökte	jag sökte
Supine	sökt	used after har / hade
Perfect	har sökt	jag har sökt
Past perfect	hade sökt	jag hade sökt
Future	ska söka	or: kommer att söka
Conditional	skulle söka	jag skulle söka
Imperative	sök!	a command
Present participle	sökande	-ing, used as an adjective
Past participle	sökt	used like an adjective, and agrees like one

Passive (-s form)

Passive of söka
Infinitive	sökas
Present	söks
Past	söktes
Supine	sökts

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 söker. See the four verb groups explained.

Practise söka

1 / 2

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

söka in a sentence

söka efter orsaker
look for reasons (causes)
söka hjälp
seek help
söka kontakt med någon
seek contact with sby
söka till en utbildning
apply for a course
söka läkare
see a doctor
tågföraren sökte förhindra en katastrof
the train driver tried to prevent a disaster

Questions

What does söka mean in English?

söka means “search, look for”.

What is the past tense of söka?

The past tense of söka is sökte (“jag sökte”). The supine is sökt, used in “jag har sökt”.

What is the present tense of söka?

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

Similar words

leta efterletaeftersträva

Origin

From Old Swedish sø̄kia, sökia, from Old Norse sǿkja, from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”).

Nearby common words

söka is number 578 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

574ursäkt excuse
575mest most
576flera several
577välja choose
579nytt newly
580undan away, out of the way
581allihop everybody, everybody, everyone, all people
582möta meet, meet, pass

Start today, free

Learn söka 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 söka 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. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary