sjunka

Sjunka is a Swedish verb meaning to sink or subside. It is used for both literal sinking, such as a ship or an object moving downward, and for figurative declines, like prices, interest, or morale. The verb is primarily intransitive, and in many contexts it appears with a downwards adverb like ner to emphasize motion.

In terms of basic conjugation, the infinitive is sjunka. The present tense is sjunker, the past tense is sjönk, and the supine form used with have/has is sjunkit. The present participle form is sjunkande. For example: Skeppet sjunker snabbt. Priserna har sjunkit under veckan. Hon sjunker ner i fåtöljen. These forms are irregular in their vowel change between present and past.

Sjunka is often contrasted with sänka, which is the transitive verb meaning to lower something. While sänka takes a direct object (to lower a price, to lower a flag), sjunka describes the subject’s downward movement or a general decline without directly causing the action on a specific object. The phrase sjunka ner is common to emphasize downward movement, as in someone sinking into a chair or the ground “sjunka ner i soffan.”

Common domains include nautical contexts (ships sinking), geology and meteorology (land subsidence, water levels), economics (prices sinking), and social or emotional discourse (morale sinking). The term is widely understood in Swedish-language media and literature and remains a core example of an irregular, intransitive verb describing downward motion. See also sänka and sjö, for related usage in physical and metaphorical declines.