på

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "pa"

Danish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Rebracketing of older oppå, from Old Norse upp + á, compare English 'pon from upon. The preposition å (“on”) is still used in some Jutlandic dialects in the same sense.

Pronunciation

Preposition

på

  1. on
    Synonym: (Jutlandic) å

Adverb

på

  1. on

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

  • paa (the old spelling)

Etymology

Rebracketing of Old Norse upp á, compare English upon.

Pronunciation

Preposition

på

  1. on
    Boken er på bordet ― The book is on the table
  2. on, against, touching; hanging from or being attached to (a vertical surface)
    Eplet henger på den grenen. ― The apple is hanging on that branch.
    Skiltet på veggen. ― The sign on the wall.
  3. on (a certain day)
    På julaften. ― On Christmas eve.
  4. at (some abstract concepts)
    Jeg er på jobb. ― I am at work.
  5. at (concerning time)
    På den tiden... ― At that time...
  6. in (a language or dialect)
    Si det på norsk. ― Say it in Norwegian.

Adverb

på

  1. (of machines, etc) turned on; functioning

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

  • paa (the old spelling)
  • pao (some western dialects)

Etymology

Rebracketing of Old Norse upp á, compare English upon.

Pronunciation

Preposition

på

  1. on (touching from above or touching, hanging from)
    Boka ligg på bordet
    The book is on the table
  2. on, against, touching; hanging from or being attached to (a vertical surface)
    Eplet som heng på den greina
    The apple hanging on that branch
    Skiltet på veggen
    The sign on the wall
  3. on (a certain day)
    på julaftan
    on Christmas Eve
  4. at (some abstract concepts)
    på jobben
    at work
  5. at (concerning time)
    på den tida
    at that time
  6. in (islands and many towns that are not on the coast)
    på Island
    in Iceland
    på Hamar
    in Hamar
  7. in (a language)
    på nynorsk
    in Nynorsk
  8. in (part of the day, time of day)
    på ettermiddagen
    in the afternoon

Adverb

på

  1. (of machines, etc) turned on; functioning
    Fjernsynet står på
    The television is on

Derived terms

References

Russenorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Norwegian Nynorsk på and Russian по (po).

Pronunciation

Preposition

på

  1. on
  2. in
  3. to (direction)
    Davai på skip kom
    Come on, come to the ship
  4. at
  5. of (belonging)

References

  • Ingvild Broch, Ernst H. Jahr (1984) Russenorsk: Et pidginspråk i Norge [Russenorsk: A pidgin language in Norway], 2 edition, Oslo: Novus Forlag

Swedish

Etymology

Rebracketing of uppå,[1] from Old Norse upp á. Compare English 'pon, formed in a similar way from upon.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /poː/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -oː

Preposition

på

  1. on, on top of; touching from above
    Boken ligger på bordet.
    The book lies on the table.
  2. on, against, touching; hanging from or being attached to (a vertical surface)
    Äpplet som hänger på den grenen
    The apple hanging on that branch
    Skylten på väggen
    The sign on the wall
  3. on (a certain day)
    på julafton ― on Christmas Eve
  4. at (some abstract concepts, and locations associated more with their purpose than architecture)
    på jobbet ― at work
    på begravning ― at a funeral
    på festen ― at the party
    på hockey ― at a hockey game
    på sjukhuset ― at the hospital
    på stationen ― at the train station
    på marknaden ― at the market
    på toaletten ― on the toilet
    på dass ― in the outhouse
  5. in (a language)
    på svenska ― in Swedish
  6. in (part of the day, time of day)
    på eftermiddagen ― in the afternoon
  7. of (part of an object)
    Ögat på nålen
    The eye of the needle
    Slå huvudet på spiken
    Hit the head of the nail

Usage notes

På only means at when it cannot mean on top, usually when talking about abstract concepts (which extends to clubs, hospitals, and other places where the focus is normally not on the building itself) rather than physical objects that one may be on top of. For at in a truly spatial sense, use vid. See also the usage notes for inuti.

In the time sense, it is only used for speaking of days when describing them in some sense: på julafton, på min födelsedag, på måndag; when giving a date this preposition is excluded: Han köpte bilen den tredje maj = He bought the car on the third of May.

The sense of can also be expressed using the genitive. For example, the phrase ögat på nålen above is interchangeable with nålens öga.

Synonyms

  • uppå (somewhat solemn or dialectal)
  • å (obsolete except in certain fixed expressions and compounds)

Adjective

på (not comparable)

  1. (predicative, of machines, etc) turned on; functioning
    Radion är inte på.
    The radio isn't turned on.

Declension

Invariable, only used predicatively.

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Lindström, Fredrik (2010) “Svårt att gissa arslets grundform [Hard to guess the lemma of arslet]”, in Språktidningen‎ (in Swedish), number 5, retrieved 20 August 2020
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