Borrowed from Malay beras, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *bəʀas.
böra
From Old Swedish böra, from Old Norse byrja (“to befit”), from Proto-Germanic *gaburjaną.
böra (present bör, preterite borde, supine bort, imperative bör)
Böra indicates a recommendation or probability, or obligation perceived from the point of the speaker. This differs from måste which signifies an absolute requirement or even force. The difference between present tense bör and past tense borde is not so much of tense, but of the strength of the request. Borde is less strong and perceived as more polite, and is more like making a suggestion that the subject is free to ignore. In the case of statements of reality such as "Det borde fungera", borde indicates more uncertainty than bör; the speaker is not sure if it will work, but believes it will.
Active | Passive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | böra | — | ||
Supine | bort | — | ||
Imperative | bör | — | ||
Imper. plural1 | bören | — | ||
Present | Past | Present | Past | |
Indicative | bör | borde | — | — |
Ind. plural1 | böra | borde | — | — |
Subjunctive2 | böre | borde | — | — |
Participles | ||||
Present participle | börande | |||
Past participle | — | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs. |