förekomma

Förekomma is a Swedish verb meaning to occur, to be present, or to exist in a place or time, and also to appear in a text or record. It is commonly used in formal, scientific, or descriptive writing. In everyday speech, more general verbs such as inträffa, hända, or uppstå are often preferred, whereas förekomma emphasizes the fact that something exists or is observed.

Conjugation and forms. The verb is inseparable and follows a standard strong-verb pattern with vowel changes in the past. Infinitiv: förekomma. Presens: förekommer. Preteritum: förekom. Supinum: förekommit. Participles include förekommande as the present participle (used attributively, e.g., en förekommande tendens) and förekommit as the past participle (used in perfect tenses: har förekommit).

Usage notes. Förekomma is frequently used when describing occurrences in time, places, or texts. It often appears in impersonal constructions with det: Det förekommer många fel i rapporten. It can also be used with a subject referring to a phenomenon or species: Den här arten förekommer i Sverige och grannländerna. In scholarly or statistical writing, the verb signals that a phenomenon is observed or reported rather than assumed.

Etymology. Förekomma is formed from före- (before, beforehand) and komma (to come). It has cognates in other Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian forekomme and Danish forekomme, and traces to older forms in Swedish.

See also. Related verbs include inträffa (to occur) and hända (to happen); förekomst (occurrence) is the noun form.