tillbaka

Swedish

Alternative forms

• tillbaks (informal)
• tebaka (regional, informal), tebaks (regional, informal)

Etymology

From Old Swedish til baka, from til (“to”) + baka, genitive plural of baker (“back”), equivalent to till +‎ baks, according to SAOB online the alternative forms with -s are however not hence this fact, but rather from the genitive singular. Cognate with Icelandic til baka, Danish tilbage, Norwegian Bokmål tilbake and Norwegian Nynorsk tilbake.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɪlˈbɑːka/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

tillbaka (not comparable)

1. back, in return; (to a previous condition or place)

   Har du fått tillbaka din plånbok än?

   Have you got your wallet back yet?

   Han slog mig och jag slog tillbaka.

   He hit me and I hit him back.

References

• tillbaka in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)