befatta
Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old Swedish befata, from Middle Low German bevaten. By surface analysis, be- + fatta. Cognate of Danish befatte, German befassen, Dutch bevatten.
Verb
[edit]befatta (present befattar, preterite befattade, supine befattat, imperative befatta)
- (reflexive) to involve oneself (in), to get involved (with), to concern oneself (with), to deal (with) (usually of something or someone one doesn't want to or shouldn't deal with)
- Jag befattar mig inte med politik
- I don't involve myself in politics
- Vi bör inte befatta oss med kriminella organisationer
- We shouldn't get involved with (deal with, have dealings with) criminal organizations
- De bör inte befatta sig med hur vi sköter det
- They shouldn't concern themselves with how we handle it
- Jag vill inte befatta mig med honom alls
- I don't want to have anything to do with him
- befatta sig med kriminella
- associate with criminals
Usage notes
[edit]To have something to do with, in the opposite sense of to not want to have anything to do with. To associate with or deal with.
Conjugation
[edit]| active | passive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | befatta | — | ||
| supine | befattat | — | ||
| imperative | befatta | — | ||
| imper. plural1 | befatten | — | ||
| present | past | present | past | |
| indicative | befattar | befattade | — | — |
| ind. plural1 | befatta | befattade | — | — |
| subjunctive2 | befatte | befattade | — | — |
| present participle | befattande | |||
| past participle | — | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.