Kledde

Kledde is a Norwegian verb form that represents the simple past tense of the verb kle (to clothe or dress). It is most commonly seen in the reflexive construction kledde seg, meaning dressed oneself. For example, Hun kledde seg raskt i en varm jakke describes someone dressing quickly in a warm coat. In non-reflexive usage, kledde still serves as the past tense of kle when referring to dressing another person or dressing in a garment.

Morphology and usage

In modern Norwegian, the present tense of kle is kler (seg), meaning someone dresses or clothes themselves, while the past tense is kledde (seg). The related past participle is kledd, used as an adjective meaning dressed, as in en kledd person (a dressed person). The word kledde thus functions primarily as a grammatical tense marker rather than a standalone lexical item.

Etymology and cognates

Kledde derives from the Old Norse verb klæða, which similarly meant to clothe or dress. Cognate forms appear in other Scandinavian languages, such as Swedish klädde and Danish klædte, reflecting shared roots in the Germanic language family.

See also

Kle, clothing, dressing, past tense in Norwegian.

Summary

Kledde is the Norwegian simple past tense form of kle, used with or without reflexive pronouns to indicate that someone dressed themselves or dressed someone else. It is closely related to historical forms in the broader Nordic language area and to its past participle kledd, which describes a state of being dressed.