fästa

Fästa is a Swedish verb meaning to fasten, attach, or secure something to another object. It can refer to physical fastening, such as fixing components together, as well as more figurative attachments, like drawing attention or establishing a position. The verb is widely used in everyday language, industry, and describing actions in both concrete and abstract senses.

Common usages include fästa en skruv i trä (to drive a screw into wood), fästa en bild i väggen (to mount a picture on the wall), and fästa uppmärksamheten på en fråga (to direct attention to an issue). The expression få fäste means to gain traction or to become established. There are also reflexive or semi-figurative forms such as fästa sig vid någon (to grow attached to someone) and fästa ögonen på något (to fix one’s gaze on something).

Grammatically, fästa is a strong verb. Present tense: fäster; past tense: fäste; supine and past participle: fäst. Imperative form is often given as fäst. The verb governs various prepositional complements, for example fästa något vid något (attach something to something) or fästa uppmärksamhet på något (draw attention to something).

Etymology and cognates: fästa is of Germanic origin, with cognates in other Scandinavian languages such as Norwegian and Danish (feste) and with the English verb fasten sharing a common root meaning to fix or secure. In Swedish, fästa also yields the noun fäste, meaning a hold, grip, or attachment point.

See also: fäste (noun), förankra (to anchor), uppmärksamhet (attention).