kortfattad

Kortfattad is a Swedish adjective used to describe communication that is brief and to the point, conveying essential information with minimal detail. It characterizes speech or writing that avoids unnecessary elaboration while preserving core meaning. The term is commonly applied to texts, answers, and summaries that aim for clarity and efficiency.

Usage and context include formal and professional settings such as business reports, academic abstracts, policy briefs, and news summaries. It is often paired with nouns like sammanfattning (a concise summary), rapport (report), besked (message), or beskrivning (description). In spoken language, kortfattat can function as an adverb meaning “in short” or “to put it briefly,” as in Kortfattat kan man säga att … (In short, one can say that …). Grammatically, kortfattad declines in Swedish: kortfattad for en-words, kortfattat for ett-words, and kortfattade for plural forms. Definite forms appear as den kortfattade texten, det kortfattade meddelandet, de kortfattade texterna, respectively.

Etymology and structure: the word is a compound of kort (short) and fattad (a past participle form of fatta, meaning to grasp or understand) and thus literally means “shortly grasped” or “condensed.” The concept emphasizes brevity without unnecessary detail and is contrasted with more expansive or verbose styles.

Related terms and considerations: synonyms include koncis (loanword meaning concise). While kortfattad fosters clarity and efficiency, overuse or excessive compression can omit nuance or important context, so it is often balanced with accuracy depending on genre and audience.