helt enkelt

Swedish

Etymology

From helt (“wholly, completely, entirely”) +‎ enkelt (“simply”). Likely a calque of French tout simplement, according to SAOB.

Adverb

helt enkelt (not comparable)

1. simply, just, plain and simple (when stating something thought to be obvious or the like)

   Jag har inget emot det av principskäl, men det skulle helt enkelt inte fungera

   I have nothing against it as a matter of principle, but it simply wouldn't work

   Vi kommer inte få igång bilen, så vi får helt enkelt gå

   We won't get the car running, so we'll just have to walk

   Jag bryr mig inte om vad han kallar det. Det är stöld, helt enkelt.

   I don't care what he calls it. It's theft, plain and simple.

2. simply (in a simple manner)

   De struntar helt enkelt i reglerna

   They simply don't care about the rules

   Vägen var avstängd, men vi tog helt enkelt en annan väg

   The road was closed, but we simply took another route

References

• enkel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• enkel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)