sakna
/sɑːkna/
To miss someone or something in Swedish is sakna.
sakna is used to express that you feel the emotional absence of a person or the lack of a thing.
Meaning: to feel the absence of someone or something, to feel the want or need of (verb)
Which one should you use?
Use sakna specifically when you feel an emotional absence. Do not use this verb if you mean 'missing' a target or missing a bus.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The present tense of sakna is saknar. To talk about the past, use the past tense saknade or the supine form saknat when used with auxiliary verbs like har (have).
How do you pronounce it?
/sɑːkna/
Did you know?
- The word missa is used for missing a bus or a target and is a direct loanword from English.
- You can use sakna to describe a lack of a personality trait, such as sakna mod for 'lacking courage'.
- If someone has disappeared or is officially 'missing', Swedish uses the word försvunnen instead of sakna.
Examples in context
- Jag saknar min fru.I miss my wife.This sentence shows how to use sakna to express missing a person.Tatoeba #4353856 by richke, translation #2387239 by CK
- Jag saknar dig, Tom.I miss you, Tom.This sentence shows how to use sakna to express missing someone directly.Tatoeba #2005689 by herrsilen, translation #1887572 by CK
- Vad annat saknar du?Who else do you miss?This sentence shows how to use sakna in a question regarding what else is missing.Tatoeba #4328470 by richke, translation #3731626 by CM
- Ursäkta, fröken, kan jag hjälpa dig?Excuse me, miss, can I help you?
- Hej fröken, vill du beställa något från menyn?Hello miss, would you like to order something from the menu?
- 47 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Lucas are talking about their life in a different country.
- EmmaSaknar du Sverige, Lucas?Do you miss Sweden, Lucas?
- LucasJa, jag saknar verkligen mitt land.Yes, I really miss my country.
- EmmaJag saknar också den svenska maten.I miss the Swedish food too.
- LucasDet är svårt att vara här.It is hard to be here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “miss” translations and entries sakna, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
