antänddes

Antänddes is a Swedish verb form meaning “was ignited” or “was set on fire.” It is the simple past passive form of the verb antända, which means to ignite or light a fire. In Swedish, the passive voice is often created with the suffix -s in the present tense (antänds means “is ignited”), and the past passive form adds -des (antänddes), indicating that the ignition happened.

The form antänddes is used when the focus is on the event itself rather than the agent responsible for causing the ignition. The agent is frequently omitted or introduced with av, as in av en gnista (by a spark). This construction is common in narrative, historical, and journalistic writing describing fires or ignition events.

Morphology and usage notes: antända is a transitive verb meaning to ignite something. The past passive antänddes thus describes a fire or ignition without specifying who caused it. The verb is primarily found in formal or written Swedish, including reports, historical accounts, and descriptive prose. In everyday speech, speakers may prefer active constructions like “tog eld” (took fire) or other phrasing depending on context.

Etymology: antända derives from the root tända (to light) with the prefix an-, forming a verb meaning to cause to burn. The past passive antänddes follows standard Swedish verb conjugation patterns for passive past forms.

See also: antända, antändning, tända. Examples: Huset antänddes av en gnista. The house was ignited by a spark. Elden antänddes snabbt när oljan läckte. The fire was ignited quickly when the oil leaked.