bestämma
Meaning
decide; determine; prescribe; settle
In Swedish: besluta, avgöra
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att bestämma | to decide |
|---|---|---|
| Present | bestämmer | jag bestämmer |
| Past | bestämde | jag bestämde |
| Supine | bestämt | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har bestämt | jag har bestämt |
| Past perfect | hade bestämt | jag hade bestämt |
| Future | ska bestämma | or: kommer att bestämma |
| Conditional | skulle bestämma | jag skulle bestämma |
| Imperative | bestäm! | a command |
| Present participle | bestämmande | -ing, used as an adjective |
| Past participle | bestämd | used like an adjective, and agrees like one |
Passive (-s form)
| Infinitive | bestämmas |
|---|---|
| Present | bestämms |
| Past | bestämdes |
| Supine | bestämts |
Group 2: -er verbs. Present -er, past -de or -te (after a voiceless consonant), supine -t. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use bestämmer. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise bestämma
1 / 2Yesterday I … (bestämma). Which is the past tense?
bestämma in a sentence
- det är redan bestämtit has already been decided
- man bestämde sig för att bygga oljehamnenthe decision was made to go ahead with the oil port
- han bestämde det mestahe was the one who made most of the decisions
- hon bestämde över migshe controlled my life
- Jag bestämmer att kebabsåsen måste göras krämigareI'm deciding (as a person who gets to decide things) that the kebab sauce must be made creamier
- Kunderna får själva bestämma vilken sås de vill haCustomers get to decide themselves which sauce they want
- Kunderna bestämmerCustomers (get to) decide
- Jag bestämmer här!I am in charge here! / I am the one calling the shots here! / I am the person who decides things here!
Questions
What does bestämma mean in English?
bestämma means “decide, determine”.
What is the past tense of bestämma?
The past tense of bestämma is bestämde (“jag bestämde”). The supine is bestämt, used in “jag har bestämt”.
What is the present tense of bestämma?
bestämmer, the same for every person: jag bestämmer, du bestämmer, vi bestämmer.
Similar words
Origin
be- + stämma, like German bestimmen
Nearby common words
bestämma is number 724 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. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary

