förr

Förr is a Swedish adverb meaning formerly or in the past. It is used to refer to a time preceding the present moment and often frames a comparison or contrast with the current situation. Common in both everyday language and writing, förr appears in set phrases such as förr i tiden (“in former times”) or förr i världen (“in the old days”), and can also stand alone to convey nostalgia or historical perspective.

Etymology and related forms: Förr is of North Germanic origin and is cognate with Danish før and Norwegian før. The modern form is inherited from Old Swedish and Old Norse and is connected to the sense of “before” or “earlier.” The word is typically not a present-tense or future marker, but a historical reference.

Usage notes: In contemporary Swedish, förr tends to carry a slightly literary or nostalgic nuance and is more common in written language or storytelling than in casual speech, where words like tidigare or innan might be used instead. It is frequently found in phrases that set a scene or contrast with the present. A related word, förrän, means “before” or “until” in subordinate clauses and is used differently from förr.

Examples: Förr fanns det inga smartphones. Förr i tiden var resorna långsamma och besvärliga. Denna plats var förr mycket annorlunda än idag.

Overall, förr functions as a historical marker in Swedish, signaling what was true in the past and helping to establish a temporal frame for description or reflection.