bära
See also: Appendix:Variations of "bara"
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish bæra, from Old Norse bera, from Proto-Germanic *beraną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (whence also börja, bår and barn). Cognate with Danish bære, Norwegian bære, and English bear.[1]
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Verb
bära (present bär, preterite bar, supine burit, imperative bär)
- to carry; to lift and transport anywhere else
- 1914, Dan Andersson, “Utrivning”, in Kolarhistorier, page 34:
- Isen var så tjock och där var så djupt till vattnet att man fick ställa sig på knä i snön för att ösa upp vatten i hinken.
Två sådana fans, vi buro upp dem fulla och ställde dem ett stycke från milan.- The ice there was so thick and it was so deep to the water that one had to get down on ones knees in the snow, to scoop up water into the bucket.
There were two of those, and we carried them filled and put them down a bit away from the charcoal pile.
- The ice there was so thick and it was so deep to the water that one had to get down on ones knees in the snow, to scoop up water into the bucket.
- to wear; e.g. a piece of clothing or jewelry
- (often with a particle like upp) to support, to bear
- Taket bärs upp av pelare
- The roof is supported by columns
- Jag hoppas isen bär
- I hope the ice will carry us (will be able to support us)
- (bära frukt) [for a plant] to bear fruit or berries (but also figuratively speaking)
- Äppelträdet bär mycket mer än i fjol
- The apple tree has produced / is bearing / yields much more [fruit] than last year
- Ansträngningarna bar frukt
- The efforts proved fruitful (bore fruit)
- (often impersonal) to head (compare "head" sense of English "bear")
- Imorgon bär det av (till Säffle)!
- Tomorrow we're (setting) off (to Säffle)! ("Tomorrow it heads off (to Säffle)!") / Tomorrow it's off to Säffle!
- En bit fram bär vägen utför
- A little further on, the road goes downhill ("A bit forth the road heads downhill")
- Vem vet vart det bär hän?
- Who knows where it will lead? ("Who knows where it heads away (to)?)
- Vi får se vart det bär hän
- We will see where it goes / what happens
Usage notes
"Bära hän" can be considered an (often somewhat jocularly old-fashioned) idiom.
Conjugation
| active | passive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | bära | bäras | ||
| supine | burit | burits | ||
| imperative | bär | — | ||
| imper. plural1 | bären | — | ||
| present | past | present | past | |
| indicative | bär | bar | bärs, bäres | bars |
| ind. plural1 | bära | buro | bäras | buros |
| subjunctive2 | bäre | bure | bäres | bures |
| present participle | bärande | |||
| past participle | buren | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.
Synonyms
- (lead to): leda (till)