genom att

Swedish

Conjunction

genom att (subordinating conjunction)

1. (approximately) by; using the means of; by means of

   Ljuset åstadkoms genom att elektrisk ström flyter genom en tunn tråd och denna upphettas till stark glödning.

   Light is produced by electric current flowing through a thin wire causing the latter to glow.

Usage notes

The term "genom att" can be followed either by a subordinate clause, determining the word class of the both words together to a subordinator (by analogy to därför att), or by an infinitive, leaving "genom" being a preposition, and "att" the infinitive marker. There is no English subordinator equivalent to "genom att" in the former case, and the translation will result in a different construction, such as the preposition "by" + gerund.