åka

See also: Appendix:Variations of "aka"

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish aka, from Old Norse aka, from Proto-Germanic *akaną. Cognate with Danish age. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-. Doublet of agera, which was borrowed from Latin agō, from the same ultimate Proto-Indo-European source.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈoːka/
Audio: (file)

Verb

åka (present åker, preterite åkte, supine åkt, imperative åk)

to go by using something more or other than the human or animal body, for example a vehicle, skis, or skates; to go, to ride, etc.
att åka skateboard ― to ride a skateboard

att åka skidor ― to ski

att åka skridskor ― to ice skate

att åka buss
to ride a/the bus, to go by bus
"Take the bus/car/elevator/stairs/etc." can be expressed as "ta bussen/bilen/hissen/trapporna/etc.", like in English.

att åka hiss
to ride an/the elevator, to go by elevator

att åka på semester till Spanien
to go on vacation to Spain

Vi tänkte åka in till stan. Ska du med?
We thought we'd go [with a vehicle (or possibly skis, skates, etc.)] into town. Are you coming with us?

– Hur kom ni hit? – Vi åkte bil.
– How did you get here? – We went by car.

Han älskar att åka tåg
He loves riding trains
(literally, “He loves to ride train”)

Dags att åka hem. ― Time to go home [with a vehicle, skis, skates, etc.].

Dags att gå hem. ― Time to go home [on foot].
1. to ride (an amusement ride or the like)
  att åka bergochdalbana ― to ride a roller coaster
2. (intransitive) to leave, to depart
  Vi åker nu. ― We are leaving now [with a vehicle, skis, skates, etc.].
  
  Vi går nu. ― We are leaving now [on foot].
to go (by sliding), to slide
Synonym: (places more emphasis on the sliding as opposed to the going) glida

Jag åkte nedför backen på ändan. ― I went down the hill on my butt.

Hjälmen åkte ner framför ögonen. ― My helmet slipped down over [in front of] my eyes.
to go (by being driven in some sense, focusing on the "riding" (movement, etc.) rather than the "driving" (action of moving, etc.))
Rullgardinen åkte upp. ― The roller blind went up.

Varje gång vi är hos Nisse åker dragspelet fram.
Every time we're at Nisse's, the accordion comes [goes] out.

Jag hoppade in i bilen och körde/åkte mot Säffle.
I jumped in the car and drove/went towards Säffle.
Focus on either the driving or the riding – somewhat interchangeable.
2. (usually with ut (“out”) or the like) to be driven, to be run ((usually) out, away, or the like – be made to leave, by commanding to leave, through physical means, or the like – compare köra (“drive”))
  – Körde vakterna ut honom? – Ja, han åkte ut med ändan före. [idiomatic]
  – Did the bouncers kick [drive] him out? – Yeah, he went out butt first.

Usage notes

See also ska, which is often the idiomatic translation of "be going" in the sense of intending to go somewhere.
To ride a bike is to cykla.
To ride a horse or other mount is to rida. Saying "åka häst" makes a horse sound like a vehicle, or like something you strap to your feet or the like.
Sometimes somewhat interchangeable with köra (“drive”), like in English.

Conjugation

Conjugation of *åka* (weak)
	active		passive
infinitive	åka		—
supine	åkt		—
imperative	åk		—
imper. plural¹	åken		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	åker	åkte	—	—
ind. plural¹	åka	åkte	—	—
subjunctive²	åke	åkte	—	—

present participle		åkande
past participle		—

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Related terms

References

“åka”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
“åka”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
“åka”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)