böra
Meaning
ought to, should; should
In Swedish: kunna förväntas
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att böra | to ought to |
|---|---|---|
| Present | bör | jag bör |
| Past | borde | jag borde |
| Supine | bort | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har bort | jag har bort |
| Past perfect | hade bort | jag hade bort |
| Future | ska böra | or: kommer att böra |
| Conditional | skulle böra | jag skulle böra |
Group 4: strong and irregular verbs. Strong verbs change their vowel and have a supine in -it (skriva, skrev, skrivit); irregular ones such as göra and ha follow no pattern. Both have to be learned one by one. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use bör. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise böra
1 / 2Yesterday I … (böra). Which is the past tense?
böra in a sentence
- du bör helst vara hemma före elvayou should preferably be back home by eleven at the latest
- tilläggas bör att han var tysk till nationalitetenit should also be noted that his nationality was German
- han bör vara här när som helsthe should be here any second
- Hon bör sitta i båten.She should be sitting in the boat.
- Det borde fungera.That should work.
- Du borde verkligen utnyttja möjligheten att förlänga avtalet.You should really use the opportunity to extend the agreement.
Questions
What does böra mean in English?
böra means “ought to, should, should”.
What is the past tense of böra?
The past tense of böra is borde (“jag borde”). The supine is bort, used in “jag har bort”.
What is the present tense of böra?
bör, the same for every person: jag bör, du bör, vi bör.
Origin
From Old Swedish böra, from Old Norse byrja (“to befit”), from Proto-Germanic *gaburjaną.
Nearby common words
böra is number 615 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Browse the dictionary