Søtere

Søtere is the Norwegian comparative form of the adjective søt, meaning sweeter. It is used when comparing two or more items in terms of sweetness, whether in taste, appearance, or demeanor. The corresponding superlative form is søtest.

Usage and grammar

In Norwegian, adjectives are inflected to indicate degree. Søtere is applied when indicating that one item has a higher degree of sweetness than another. It can be used in predicative constructions (after a linking verb) or before the noun in attributive position, depending on the sentence structure. Commonly, it appears in phrases like “den kaken er søtere enn den forrige” (the cake is sweeter than the previous one) or “denne sjokoladen er søtere i dag” (this chocolate is sweeter today).

Cross-linguistic note

The concept exists in other Scandinavian languages with different spellings: Swedish uses sötare, while Danish uses sødere. These forms reflect respective language phonology and spelling conventions, but share the same basic meaning of a higher degree of sweetness.

Semantic range

While primarily used for taste, søtere can also describe non-taste sweetness, such as a sweeter demeanor or manner, in contexts where sweetness is used metaphorically or affectively. The word remains common in everyday speech and writing when making direct comparisons.

Etymology

Søtere is derived from the stem søt, meaning sweet, and forms part of the standard degree-formation in Norwegian adjectives.