dammsugas

Dammsugas is the Swedish present passive form of the verb dammsuga, meaning to vacuum or to vacuum-clean. In this form the thing being vacuumed is the subject, and the agent performing the action may be omitted or introduced with av. The construction is commonly used for inanimate objects such as floors, carpets, or furniture.

Usage and examples: The passive form is used to describe that a surface is vacuumed without specifying who does it. Examples include “Mattan dammsugs dagligen” (The carpet is vacuumed daily) and “Golvet dammsugs av mig varje lördag” (The floor is vacuumed by me every Saturday). The agent, when mentioned, is usually introduced with av, as in “Mattan dammsugs av städfirman.”

Etymology and related terms: Dammsuga comes from damm (dust) and suga (to suck). Related words include dammsugare (vacuum cleaner) and dammsugning (vacuuming, the act of vacuum cleaning). It is important to note the distinction between dammsugas (passive) and dammsuger (active present), where dammsuger is used when the subject performs the action: “Jag dammsuger mattan.”

Context and notes: The passive form dammsugas is common in everyday speech, manuals, and service descriptions when the focus is on the action rather than the performer. It is part of standard Swedish grammar for transitive verbs to form a passive with the suffix -s.