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Gå or åka? Saying “go” in Swedish

English go is three verbs in Swedish: gå on foot, åka by vehicle, köra when you drive.

SwedishLevel A1

go splits into gå, åka and köraThe English word go, circled, with three arrows. Left: a walking stick figure, gå, on foot. Middle: a bus, åka, by vehicle. Right: a steering wheel, köra, you drive. At the bottom: Stockholm by train takes åka, not gå.gogååkaköraon footby bus, train, planeyou driveTo Stockholm by train? åka, not gå

English go becomes gå when you walk (on foot), åka when you travel by any vehicle (bus, train, plane, car as a passenger) and köra when you drive yourself. Going to Stockholm by train is åka, not gå.

Examples

  • Jag går till jobbet.

    I walk to work.

  • Jag åker buss till jobbet.

    I take the bus to work.

  • Jag kör bil till jobbet.

    I drive to work.

  • Vi åker till Spanien i juli.

    We're going to Spain in July.

  • Ska vi gå eller åka?

    Shall we walk or take the bus?

  • Jag måste gå nu.

    I have to go now. (gå also means “leave”)

Common mistake

Mistake: Jag går till StockholmCrossed out: Jag går till Stockholm på fredag, which means you will walk there. Correct: Jag åker till Stockholm på fredag.Jag går till Stockholm på fredag.= you'll WALK there!Jag åker till Stockholm på fredag.

Wrong: Jag går till Stockholm på fredag — that says you will walk there. Right: Jag åker till Stockholm på fredag (I'm going to Stockholm on Friday).

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