begära

From Middle Low German begeren (“to want, covet”).

• Audio:

  (file)

begära (present begär, preterite begärde, supine begärt, imperative begär)

1. to request, to ask for (ask for to be granted)

   Jag har begärt ledigt första veckan i november

   I have requested time off for the first week of November

   De begärde att få tala med konungen

   They asked to speak to the king

   Vad mer kan man begära?

   What more can you ask for?

   Det är inte mycket jag begär

   I'm not asking for much

   Är det för mycket begärt att han tar lite ansvar?

   Is it too much to ask [too much asked for] for him to take some responsibility?

   • 1568 – 1625, Anna Vasa, Anna Vasas brev:

     Och dedh i begere wete min siwckdom till pricke täncker iagh ath ï skwlle fwlle wetedh mesth siellff

     And that which you want to know about — my illness in detail — I think that you would already know best yourself.

   • 1678, Samuel Columbus, Mål-roo eller roo-mål:

     De begärte räkningen af gossen på det som war förtärt.

     They asked the waiter for the bill for what they had consumed.

   1. to require, to demand (when implied)

      Synonym: kräva

      Vi begär betalning i förskott

      We require / ask for payment in advance

   2. to file for

      Han har begärt skilsmässa [Can also be expressed as "Han har ansökt om skilsmässa"]

      He has filed for divorce

      Företaget begärdes i konkurs

      The company declared / filed for bankruptcy [assuming they did it themselves – "begäras i konkurs" is a common phrase]

      (literally, “The company was requested into bankruptcy”)

• begär
• begäran
• begärelse

• be (“ask for”) (less forceful)

• begära in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• begära in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• begära in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• bägare