Dött

Dött is the past participle of the Swedish verb dö, meaning to die. It is primarily used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses, as in han har dött (“he has died”) or de har dött i kriget (“they have died in the war”). The simple past tense of dö is dog, used to express a completed action in the past. The participle dött does not change with gender or number in Swedish and remains in the same form when used in compound tenses.

Etymology and relations: the form developed from the Old Norse word dauðr, meaning dead, and is related to descendant words in other Germanic languages that express death or being dead. In Swedish, dött functions as a past participle derived from the verb dö, whereas död serves as the basic adjective meaning “dead.” The two forms are related but have distinct grammatical uses: dött is the participle used with auxiliary verbs, while död is used as an ordinary adjective.

Usage notes: døtt is common in neutral, informative writing such as news reports, biographical notes, and medical or legal contexts when describing that someone has died. It is not generally used as a standalone attributive adjective to describe a person; in that role Swedish prefers död or more formal terms like avliden. The contrast between dött (participle) and död (adjective) is a characteristic feature of the language’s handling of death-related terminology.

See also: Död (dead), dö (to die), avlidna (deceased).