gränsar

Gränsar is a Swedish verb meaning to border or to be adjacent to. It is used for literal geographic boundaries, such as where a country, region, or natural feature lies next to another, but it can also describe figurative limits or margins that separate concepts or situations.

The verb is derived from the noun gräns, border, with the common verb-forming suffix -a. It is part of everyday Swedish and shares its basic pattern with other regular -a verbs in terms of conjugation.

Usage of gränsar is typically with the prepositions till or mot to indicate neighboring entities: for example, "Sverige gränsar till Norge" and "Sverige gränsar till Finland." In figurative use, it can express that something approaches a limit or nearly becomes something else, as in "situationen gränsar till kaos." The choice between till and mot is influenced by dialect and context, but till is generally more common for geographic borders.

Conjugation and forms (base form gränsa): present tense gränsar; preterite gränsade; supine (past participle) gränsat, used with have/have been in compound tenses, e.g., "har gränsat." Infinitive is gränsa, imperatives take gränsa.

Related terms include gräns (border), gränsdragning (delimitation of borders), and gränsbevakning (border protection). Gränsar remains a core term in discussions of geography, politics, and metaphorical language where boundaries are a central concept.