Swedish verb · noun· top 500 most common

vilja

want/²vɪlːja/

vilja as a verb

Meaning

want

In Swedish: önska, sträva (efter)

Conjugation

Conjugation of vilja (want)
Infinitive	att vilja	to want
Present	vill	jag vill
Past	ville	jag ville
Supine	velat	used after har / hade
Perfect	har velat	jag har velat
Past perfect	hade velat	jag hade velat
Future	ska vilja	or: kommer att vilja
Conditional	skulle vilja	jag skulle vilja

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 vill. See the four verb groups explained.

vilja as a noun(en vilja)

Meaning

will

In Swedish: förmåga och avsikt att bestämma sina egna handlingar; önskan

Forms

Forms of vilja
Singular, indefinite	en vilja
Singular, definite	viljan
Plural, indefinite	viljor
Plural, definite	viljorna

vilja is an en-word, so adjectives agree with it: en stor vilja, den stora viljan. Check another noun

Practise vilja

1 / 2

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

vilja in a sentence

Vill du skicka mig saltet?
Would you pass me the salt, please?
jag ville att han skulle stanna
I wanted him to stay
jag vill inte gå och lägga mig
I don't want to go to bed
Vad vill du ha till middag?
What do you want for dinner?
De vill att vi hjälper dem att måla huset
They want us to help them paint the house
Jag vill klappa en gullig kanin
I want to pet a cute rabbit
Vill du ha kaffe eller te?
Do you want coffee or tea?
Jag vill till affären
I want to go to the store (see the usage notes for why there is no gå, åka, or the like)
viljan att lära sig något
The will to learn sth.
en stark vilja
a strong will

Expressions

det vill till (krafter för att lyfta stenen)
it will take (strength to lift the stone)
om det vill sig väl
if all goes well
det vill säga
that is to say
få sin vilja fram
have one's own way
mot sin vilja
against one's will

Words built with vilja

viljelös without a will of one's own
motvilja reluctance

Questions

What does vilja mean in English?

vilja means “want”.

Is it en vilja or ett vilja?

It is en vilja, and “the will” is viljan.

What is the plural of vilja?

The plural of vilja is viljor, and the definite plural is viljorna.

What is the past tense of vilja?

The past tense of vilja is ville (“jag ville”). The supine is velat, used in “jag har velat”.

What is the present tense of vilja?

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

Similar words

önskan

Where the course teaches it

Origin

From Old Swedish vili, vilie, from Old Norse vili, from Proto-Germanic *wiljô.

Nearby common words

vilja is number 285 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

281sedan since; from a given point in time
282snart soon; shortly, before long
283använda use, employ
284son son
286sitt his, her
287kör choir
288varje every
289fram forward, up

Start today, free

Learn vilja 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 vilja 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