fällde

Fällde is a Swedish verb-form, specifically the preterite (past tense) of fälla. The core meaning is to bring something down or to cause it to fall. The word is used in several common contexts, with different nuances depending on the object and situation. The present tense of fälla is fäller, so fällde refers to actions completed in the past.

In forestry and construction, fällde is widely used to describe cutting down trees. For example, a loggers’ crew fällde several pines. In hunting, fällde is used to indicate that a game animal was killed, as in a hunter fällde the moose. In legal language, fälla can mean to convict or to pass sentence; in this sense, one can say that a person blev fälld (became condemned) by a court, or that a court fällde a verdict.

Etymology traces fälla and its past tense fällde to the Germanic family of languages, with related forms in other Scandinavian languages and cognates such as the English fell in the sense of cutting down. The word is common in both formal and everyday Swedish, and appears in metaphorical uses as well, such as fälla a trap or obstacle being brought down figuratively.

See also: fälla, fällning (the act of felling), fälld. Note that while fällde is the past tense, the passive or perfect forms may use auxiliary constructions such as har fällts or blev fälld, depending on voice and syntax.