Grýla

Gräla is a Swedish verb meaning to have a heated verbal dispute or quarrel. It describes interpersonal conflict expressed through spoken argument and is predominantly used in everyday speech rather than formal writing.

The verb is commonly used with prepositions: gräla med någon means to quarrel with someone, and gräla om något or gräla över något means to argue about or over something. It is a regular verb with present tense forms such as grälar, past tense grälade, and supine grälat; the present participle is grälande. In practice, you might hear phrases like “De grälar ofta om småsaker.”

Gräl is the nominal form associated with gräla and denotes a quarrel or dispute. The definite form is grället. The noun can be used to refer to a single occurrence or to a more persistent contention, as in “Det blev ett långt gräl.” The word tends to appear in informal or colloquial contexts, and while common in conversation, it is less typical in formal or technical discourse.

Etymologically, gräla is a native Swedish word with roots in the broader Germanic language family; cognates exist in related Nordic languages. The term has been part of Swedish for many centuries and remains common in contemporary usage.

See also: bråka, diskutera, argumentera.