bakom

Bakom is a Swedish preposition meaning "behind" or "at the back of." It is used to indicate the spatial position of one object relative to another and can refer to both physical locations and figurative positions.

In everyday language, bakom typically comes before the noun it governs and can pair with definite forms. Examples include "bakom huset" (behind the house), "bakom dörren" (behind the door), and the idiom "bakom kulisserna" (behind the scenes). It also appears in phrases describing relative positions in a line or group, as in "hon står bakom mig" (she stands behind me).

Etymology: Bakom is a compound formed from "bak" (back) and the preposition "om" (about/around), belonging to the Germanic language family. It has cognates and parallel formations in related Scandinavian languages, with regional variations in usage and form.

In Swedish, bakom is a regular and productive preposition used across registers, from everyday speech to literature. It also serves in figurative expressions, such as "det ligger något bakom orden" (there is something behind the words), to convey motive, cause, or underlying meaning rather than literal position.