verksamhet

Swedish

Etymology

From verksam (“busy, active”) +‎ -het (“-ness”). Compare English busy vs. business.

Pronunciation

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Noun

verksamhet c

1. goal-oriented activity (either commercial or more general goal-oriented activity, carried out on an ongoing basis, often within an organization or group)

   Teaterns verksamhet omfattar också turnéer

   The activities of the theater also includes tours

   vara tillbaka i verksamhet

   be back in business

   1. operations, business, etc.
2. an entity engaging in such goal-oriented activity; an enterprise (in the most general sense)

   Företag och teatrar är verksamheter

   Businesses and theaters are enterprises

   verksamhetens verksamhet

   the activities of the enterprise (artificial)

   1. a business, an institution, etc.

Usage notes

• Verksamhet is a neutral word, often used in legal texts and social sciences to denote any kind of private or public institution or enterprise.
• While Swedish verksam (“worksome”) (one who works; i.e. busy, but also effective) doubtlessly has the same roots as German wirksam (“effective”), their meanings do not fully overlap. And Swedish verksamhet (“activity”) has taken on quite a different meaning than German Wirksamkeit (“effectiveness”). Swedish verksamhet corresponds better to German Tätigkeit (“activity”).

Declension

Declension of verksamhet
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	verksamhet	verksamheten	verksamheter	verksamheterna
Genitive	verksamhets	verksamhetens	verksamheters	verksamheternas

Derived terms

• verksamhetsberättelse
• verksamhetsform
• verksamhetsplanering
• verksamhetsstyrning
• verksamhetsutveckling

References

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