Swedish verb· top 1,000 most common

bestämma

decide, determine, prescribe, settle

Meaning

decide; determine; prescribe; settle

In Swedish: besluta, avgöra

Conjugation

Conjugation of bestämma (decide)
Infinitiveatt bestämmato decide
Presentbestämmerjag bestämmer
Pastbestämdejag bestämde
Supinebestämtused after har / hade
Perfecthar bestämtjag har bestämt
Past perfecthade bestämtjag hade bestämt
Futureska bestämmaor: kommer att bestämma
Conditionalskulle bestämmajag skulle bestämma
Imperativebestäm!a command
Present participlebestämmande-ing, used as an adjective
Past participlebestämdused like an adjective, and agrees like one

Passive (-s form)

Passive of bestämma
Infinitivebestämmas
Presentbestämms
Pastbestämdes
Supinebestämts

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

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Yesterday I … (bestämma). Which is the past tense?

bestämma in a sentence

  • det är redan bestämt
    it has already been decided
  • man bestämde sig för att bygga oljehamnen
    the decision was made to go ahead with the oil port
  • han bestämde det mesta
    he was the one who made most of the decisions
  • hon bestämde över mig
    she controlled my life
  • Jag bestämmer att kebabsåsen måste göras krämigare
    I'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 ha
    Customers get to decide themselves which sauce they want
  • Kunderna bestämmer
    Customers (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

avtalafastslåregera

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