befinna
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Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle Low German bevinden, from Old Saxon bifindan. Equivalent to be- + finna. Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål befinne, Danish befinde, German befinden, Dutch bevinden (“to find”), English befind and Saterland Frisian befiende (“to be located”).
Verb
[edit]befinna (present befinner, preterite befann, supine befunnit, imperative befinn)
- (reflexive, somewhat formal) to be located (at); to be (positioned) at
- Vi befinner oss nu på den plats där Martin Luther King höll sitt berömda tal.
- We find ourselves now at the precise spot where Martin Luther King held his famous speech.
- (reflexive) to be in a specific (non-permanent) state or condition
- Ett objekt som befinner sig i rörelse kommer att förbli i rörelse försåvitt det inte verkas på av en yttre obalanserad kraft.
- An object which is in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced force
- Antag att vi har en atom som befinner sig i sitt grundtillstånd.
- Suppose that we have an atom in its ground state.
Usage notes
[edit]One can, in both senses, replace it with a form of vara (“to be”), however this may give an impression of informality or even outright sloppiness, in particular in the second sense.
Conjugation
[edit]Conjugation of befinna (class 3 strong)
Active | Passive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | befinna | befinnas | ||
Supine | befunnit | befunnits | ||
Imperative | befinn | — | ||
Imper. plural1 | befinnen | — | ||
Present | Past | Present | Past | |
Indicative | befinner | befann | befinns, befinnes | befanns |
Ind. plural1 | befinna | befunno | befinnas | befunnos |
Subjunctive2 | befinne | befunne | befinnes | befunnes |
Participles | ||||
Present participle | befinnande | |||
Past participle | befunnen | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs. |
Further reading
[edit]- befinna in Svensk ordbok.