Snurras

Snurras is the present passive form of the Swedish verb snurra, meaning to spin, whirl, or rotate. In Swedish, many verbs can form a passive voice by adding -s to the verb in the present tense, yielding forms such as snurras, skrivs, görs. Snurras indicates that the subject is being acted upon, rather than performing the action, and it is commonly used to describe processes, mechanisms, or states involving motion or rotation. The agent of the action can be omitted or introduced with the preposition av (by).

Examples of use include: “Hjulen snurras snabbt” (The wheels spin rapidly) and “Vattenhjulet snurras av vinden” (The water wheel is spun by the wind). The construction is typical in descriptive or technical writing where the focus is on the action or phenomenon rather than on the actor. It can also appear in impersonal statements, contributing to a neutral, objective tone.

Related forms include the active present tense snurrar (he/she/it spins) and the past forms snurrade (past) and snurrat (perfect). The passive -s form contrasts with the more explicit passive constructions using bli or vara in Swedish, and it tends to be used when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or when a concise, process-oriented phrasing is desired.

Etymology traces snurras to the Swedish verb snurra, which in turn derives from older Germanic roots related to turning or twisting. In everyday speech, snurras can be encountered in both literal contexts (mechanical devices, wheels, rotors) and figurative ones that describe things revolving or developing rapidly.