Förståtts

Förståtts is the past tense passive participle of the Swedish verb förstå, meaning to understand. It is used to indicate that something has been understood by someone, typically in a passive voice construction. The form is most common in written or formal Swedish, where a statement or instruction has been comprehended by an implied or explicit agent.

Morphology and usage

The past passive participle förståtts is formed from the verb förstå with the passive participle suffix -tts. It combines with an auxiliary such as har to create perfect passive phrases, for example har förståtts meaning “has been understood.” It can also appear with other auxiliaries that express completed action, for instance blev förståtts or har blivit förståtts in different contexts. In contrast, present passive is understood with förstås (it is understood), and the active past participle is förstått (understood).

Typical functions

förståtts denotes completion of understanding, often when the understanding is attributed to a group or an audience, as in det har förståtts av alla (“it has been understood by everyone”). It can appear with an agent phrase introduced by av, though the agent is frequently omitted when the understanding is generic or widely accepted. The expression is largely technical or formal and may be less common in casual speech, where aktiva forms like jag har förstått are frequently used instead.

Notes for learners

Be careful not to confuse förståtts with förstås (present passive) or förstått (active past participle). Each form serves a different voice and tense, shaping who is understood and when. Etymologically, förstå is the verb meaning to understand, and -tts marks the passive participle used in compound tenses. See also förstå, förstås, and förstått for related forms.