Swedish causative verbs
From UniLang Wiki
In English you'd say "The house burns" and "He burned down the house". The verb "burn" has got both an active meaning (to burn) and a causative meaning (to make something burn).
To put it short: The causative verb describes what has to be done to achieve the state of the active verb. "To set fire to something" -> "To burn". "To open something" -> "To be open"
In Swedish, the causative verb is made from the imperfect of the active verb, this does occur in English too, e.g. "Prices have risen because we have raised them".
| Active verb | Imperfect | Causative verb |
|---|---|---|
| Brinna = to burn | Brann | Bränna = to make something burn |
| Falla = to fall | Föll | Fälla = to make something fall |
| Ryka = to let out smoke | Rykte Older form Rök |
Röka = to make something let out smoke (smoking a cigarette = röka en cigarett) |
| Sova = to sleep | Sov | Söva = to make someone sleep |
| Sjunka = to sink | Sjönk | Sänka = to make something sink |
| Sitta = to sit | Satt | Sätta = to make something sit |
| Ligga = to lay down | Låg | Lägga = to make sth/so lay down |
| Dricka = to drink (old form = drinka) |
Drack Older form Drank |
Dränka = to drown somebody |
| Springa = run (old meaning = burst) |
Sprang ——————> |
Spränga = to make something burst |
| Slippa = escape, avoid, not have to |
Slapp ——————> |
Släppa = release, let go |
| Fara = go, move | For ——————> | Föra = making so/sth go, move |
| Spricka = burst | Sprack ————> | Spräcka = make something burst |
Thanks to Ondun for the last two ones.
