skälva

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish skiælva, from Old Norse skjalfa, from Proto-Germanic *skelbaną.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: själva

Noun

skälva c

1. great fear (that makes one tremble), especially in the expression "stora skälvan" (the great fear)

Declension

Declension of skälva
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	skälva	skälvan	—	—
Genitive	skälvas	skälvans	—	—

Verb

skälva (present skälver, preterite skälvde or skalv, supine skälvt, imperative skälv)

1. to shake, to tremble, to quake

Usage notes

• the strong conjugation past tense skalv is also used, but the supine skulvit has fallen out of use

Conjugation

Conjugation of skälva (weak)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	skälva		—
Supine	skälvt		—
Imperative	skälv		—
Imper. plural1	skälven		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	skälver	skälvde	—	—
Ind. plural1	skälva	skälvde	—	—
Subjunctive2	skälve	skälvde	—	—
	Participles
Present participle	skälvande
Past participle	—
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Conjugation of skälva (class 3 strong, archaic)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	skälva		—
Supine	skulvit		—
Imperative	skälv		—
Imper. plural1	skälven		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	skälver	skalv	—	—
Ind. plural1	skälva	skulvo	—	—
Subjunctive2	skälve	skulve	—	—
	Participles
Present participle	skälvande
Past participle	—
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Related terms

• skalv
• skälvning

References

• skälva in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)