exempelmening

Exempelmening is a term used in Swedish linguistics and lexicography to refer to a sentence that demonstrates how a word or grammatical construction is used in context. The word is a compound of exempel (example) and mening (sentence), and it is widely employed in dictionaries, grammar books, and language-learning materials to illustrate meaning, usage, and syntax through a real sentence rather than a paraphrase.

Purpose and use

Exempelmeningar help learners and readers understand typical contexts, collocations, and inflection. They can show how a verb is conjugated, how a noun is declined, or how a phrase functions within a sentence. In dictionaries, example sentences accompany definitions and usage notes to provide concrete illustration of how a word appears in natural language.

Formation and quality

Good example sentences are authentic, neutral in tone, and representative of common usage. They should avoid archaic, regionally restricted, or overly contrived language. In educational contexts, multiple example sentences may be provided to show different senses, registers (formal vs. informal), or modes (present, past, conditional).

Relationship to other resources

Exempelmeningar are a standard feature in Swedish-language lexicography and grammar instruction. They are comparable to “example sentences” in English-language resources and have parallels in other languages, such as Beispielfrases in German or exempe de phrases in French. In digital resources, example sentences may be drawn from corpora to reflect current usage and may be annotated with information about register, dialect, or source.

Overall, the concept of an exempelmening centers on practicality: a concrete sentence that clarifies how a word functions in real language, aiding understanding and correct application.