betjäna

Betjäna is a Swedish verb meaning to provide service or assistance to someone, typically in a customer-service or public-service setting. It denotes attending to a person’s needs, answering questions, or performing tasks on behalf of others. It can also mean to operate, handle, or run a device, system, or process when requested. The noun betjäning covers the service itself, the staff who provide it, or the act of serving.

In grammar, betjäna is transitive: jag betjänar kunderna; present tense betjänar, past tense betjänade, supine betjänat. The passive forms are betjänas (present) and betjänades (past). The adjective betjänad describes something that has been served or attended to, as in betjänad kund.

Common contexts include retail, hospitality, healthcare, and public administration, where staff are described as betjänande or that they betjänar kunderna. In everyday speech, other terms such as serva or tillhandahålla service may be used, but betjäna emphasizes the act of serving someone directly.

Origin and related terms: betjäna is a compound built with the prefix be- attached to tjäna (to serve, to earn); its development traces to medieval Swedish. Related words include tjänst (service), betjäning (service provision), and kundservice (customer service).