kände

Kände is the simple past tense form of the Swedish verb känna, meaning to feel, to sense, or to know someone or something personally. It is used for past experiences, sensations, emotions, and for acquaintance with people, places, or facts.

In everyday use, känna covers physical sensations (Jag kände kyla i rummet), emotional states (Hon kände sig ledsen), and familiarity (Jag kände honom sedan länge). With the verb känna till it can express being aware of something: “Vi kände till nyheten.”

Conjugation and related forms: The present tense is känner, the past participle is känt, and the perfect is har känt. The past tense kände is used for actions or states that were completed in the past; the form is also used with reflexive forms like känna sig (to feel oneself): “Jag kände mig trött.”

Etymology: the verb derives from Old Norse kenna and is related to English ken (knowledge).

Common phrases: känna igen (to recognize), känna för (to feel like), känna till (to be aware of). These phrases illustrate typical extensions of the sense of feeling or knowing embedded in känna.