kväll

Swedish

Alternative forms

• qväll (obsolete since 1889)

Etymology

From Old Swedish quæld, qvælder, from Old Norse kveld, from Proto-Germanic *kwildiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kvɛlː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kväll c

1. (countable, uncountable) evening
   • 1968, “Deirdres samba [Deirdre's samba]”, Cornelis Vreeswijk (lyrics), Chico Buarque (music)‎^[1]performed by Cornelis Vreeswijk:

     Varje kväll vid åttatiden, går jag stigen nerför berget. Och så hoppar jag på bussen, som går till Copacabana. Jag har badat, jag har duschat. Luktar gott om hela kroppen. Och så börjar jag gå, och jag tål att tittas på.

     Every evening around eight o'clock, I walk the path down the mountain. And then I jump on the bus, that goes to Copacabana. I have bathed, I have showered. My whole body smells good. And then I start walking, and I bear being looked at [idiomatic for looking good].

   1. (in some idiomatic cases) night (compare "all evening long" and the like – see also the usage notes for ikväll, which also apply here)

      hela kvällen

      all night

      (literally, “the whole evening”)

      • 1998, Jan Nordlund, Johan Lagerlöf, Jens Bergmark, Daniel Bäckström, Arijan Selami, Marko Lehtosalo, Stefan Enberg, “Vi drar till fjällen [We head off to the mountains]”‎^[2]performed by Markoolio [portmanteau of his first name Marko and the stage name of American rapper Coolio]; Elise Myrberg; Jemma Myrberg:

        Vi drar till fjällen. Fest hela kvällen. Ute och glider med snowboard och skidor. Vi drar till fjällen. Fest hela kvällen. Se upp i backen för finska attacken.

        We head off to the mountains [or "We're headin' for the mountains" or something colloquial like that]. Party [noun] all night [the whole evening]. Out sliding with snowboard and skis. We head off to the mountains. Party all night. Watch out on the slopes [slope] for the Finnish attack.

Declension

Declension of kväll

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kväll	kvälls
	definite	kvällen	kvällens
plural	indefinite	kvällar	kvällars
	definite	kvällarna	kvällarnas

Derived terms

• god kväll
• ikväll
• kvällning
• kvällskant

See also

• afton

References

• “kväll”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “kväll”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)