hämtar

Hämtar is the present tense form of the Swedish verb hämta, meaning to fetch, bring, collect, or retrieve something from a location. It is a transitive verb and is used with a direct object, as in jag hämtar posten (I fetch the mail) or hon hämtar barnet vid skolan (she picks up the child at school). The present tense hämtar is used for ongoing or habitual actions, while past tense is hämtade and the supine form is hämtat (as in har hämtat, meaning has retrieved). The imperative form is hämta.

The verb hämta belongs to the core vocabulary of Swedish and is widely used in everyday speech as well as in formal and instructional contexts. In addition to physical retrieval, it is also used metaphorically or in broader information contexts, for example hämtar data från en server (fetches data from a server) or hämtar nyheter (fetches news). Common idiomatic expressions include hämta andan (to catch one’s breath), hämta kraft (to regain strength), and hämta hem (to fetch home, to bring something home). The term has cognates in other North Germanic languages, such as Danish hente and Norwegian hente, reflecting shared etymological roots.

In modern Swedish, hämtar is routinely used in both everyday language and technical language, including computing and digital services, where the sense of retrieving or downloading information aligns with the broader use of fetch in other languages.