berövar

Berövar is a Swedish transitive verb meaning to deprive someone of something valued or legally recognized, such as freedom, life, rights, or property. The term is used to describe an active act of taking away from a person or group, rather than something that happens by accident.

Grammatical notes: Berövar follows regular Swedish conjugation. Present tense is berövar, past tense berövade, and supine berövat. The past participle is berövad, used in adjectival or perfect constructions (e.g., han har berövat). In many sentences the object denotes the person or group deprived, while the thing taken away may be expressed as the direct object (e.g., beröva någon friheten) or, in some constructions, with may be expressed using av. The verb is formal and commonly appears in legal, political, or literary contexts.

Usage and nuance: Beröva is often preferred in formal registers over more colloquial phrases such as ta ifrån or frånta. It emphasizes a deliberate act of deprivation and can carry a strong ethical or legal weight, especially when discussing rights, freedom, or life. In everyday language, speakers might choose softer or more specific verbs depending on the context.

Etymology and related forms: The word is built with the prefix be- attached to a root related to deprivation or taking away. Cognate forms appear in other Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian berøva. A related noun form is berövande, meaning deprivation, and the adjective berövad, meaning deprived.

See also: deprivation, rights, law, politics.