breda
Meaning
to spread; to butter (a sandwich); to make (a sandwich, including adding any toppings or fillings (which the butter is not considered as – sandwiches are almost always buttered in Swedish cuisine)); to lay it on (thick)
In Swedish: sprida ut (något över en yta)
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att breda | to spread |
|---|---|---|
| Present | breder | jag breder |
| Past | bredde | jag bredde |
| Supine | brett | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har brett | jag har brett |
| Past perfect | hade brett | jag hade brett |
| Future | ska breda | or: kommer att breda |
| Conditional | skulle breda | jag skulle breda |
| Imperative | bred! | a command |
| Present participle | bredande | -ing, used as an adjective |
| Past participle | bredd | used like an adjective, and agrees like one |
Passive (-s form)
| Infinitive | bredas |
|---|---|
| Present | breds |
| Past | breddes |
| Supine | bretts |
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 breder. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise breda
1 / 2Yesterday I … (breda). Which is the past tense?
breda in a sentence
- Smittan breder ut sigThe infection is spreading
- Hon brer sylt på mackanShe spreads jam on the sandwich
- bre mjukost på en mackaput [spread] cheese spread on a sandwich
- Han brer mackanHe butters the sandwich
- Hon gick till köket och bredde sig en mackaShe went to the kitchen and made herself a (buttered) sandwich
- bre på rejältlay it on thick
- Det är skönt att komma hem och få bre påIt's nice to come home and get to speak dialect ["lay (spread) it on"]
Expressions
- breda ("stryka smör på") en smörgåsspread ("butter on") a sandwich
Questions
What does breda mean in English?
breda means “to spread, to butter (a sandwich)”.
What is the past tense of breda?
The past tense of breda is bredde (“jag bredde”). The supine is brett, used in “jag har brett”.
What is the present tense of breda?
breder, the same for every person: jag breder, du breder, vi breder.
Origin
From Old Swedish brēþa, from Old Norse breiða, from Proto-Germanic *braidijaną.
Nearby common words
breda is number 7,197 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

