gammal

Gammal is a Swedish adjective meaning old or aged. It describes people, objects, places, and ideas that are not new, and it can refer to physical age, historical duration, or longstanding characteristics. In everyday use it appears in phrases such as en gammal bil (an old car), ett gammalt hus (an old house), and gamla böcker (old books), illustrating its agreement with the noun’s gender and number.

Grammar and usage in Swedish: Gammal inflects for indefinite forms as gammal (common gender singular), gammalt (neuter singular), and gamla (plural). In definite phrases the form changes to fit definite nouns, for example den gamla bilen, det gamla huset, de gamla böckerna. The word is commonly used across contexts to express age, wear, or historical association, and it often appears in comparisons or descriptive appositions.

Etymology and cognates: Gammal has cognates in other Scandinavian languages, notably Danish gammel and Norwegian gammel, reflecting a shared Germanic roots for the concept of age. The Swedish form gammal aligns with these related words while following Swedish inflection patterns.

See also: Swedish grammar; Scandinavian languages; Old Norse; cognate terms in Danish and Norwegian.

Idioms and note: The word occurs in common idiomatic expressions, such as the proverb “gammal kärlek rostar aldrig” (an old flame never rusts), which uses the idea of age to convey continuity or resilience in relationships.