lätt

Lätt is a Swedish adjective with several closely related senses centered on lightness and ease. The most common meanings are not heavy or light in weight, as in a bag that is easy to carry, and easy in terms of difficulty, as in a task that is not hard to perform. The word can also describe a mild or low-intensity quality, such as a mild flavor or a beverage with reduced alcohol content, as in the use of the prefix “lätt-” in products like lättöl or lättmjölk to indicate lower fat or alcohol levels. In nutrition and cooking, compounds like lättsmält describe foods that are easy to digest.

Grammatical use and forms follow standard Swedish adjective patterns. The basic form is lätt; it forms comparative and superlative as lättare and lättast, and it agrees with the noun in number and definiteness in sentences such as “en lätt uppgift” or “lättare problem.” In many contexts, lätt is used predicatively (“Säcken är lätt”) and attributively (“en lätt måltid”).

Idioms and common phrases help further sense: lurare översättningar aside, the expression “lätt som en plätt” means something is very easy. The word also appears in compound terms that convey reduced content or intensity, such as lättöl or lättarearing, reflecting consumer language around health, diet, and convenience.

Etymology traces lätt to Old Norse létt and is cognate with other Germanic languages, with meanings revolving around lightness and ease. Today it is a core, versatile word in Swedish, employed across formal and informal registers.