svårt

Svårt is a Swedish word that functions as both an adjective meaning "difficult" or "hard" and as an adverb meaning "with difficulty." As an adjective it describes nouns and agrees with their grammatical gender and number; as an adverb it modifies verbs or clauses to express difficulty. In neuter singular indefinite form the adjective takes the form svårt, as in ett svårt uppdrag.

Inflection and forms: the basic positive form is svår. Comparative form is svårare and superlative form is svårast. When used with neuter singular indefinite nouns, the form is svårt (for example ett svårt uppdrag). With common gender nouns in indefinite form, the form remains svår (for example en svår uppgift).

Usage and examples: svårt is widely used in everyday Swedish. Examples include: Det är svårt att förstå varför. (It is difficult to understand why.) Det blev en svår uppgift. (It became a difficult task.) Det var svårt att hitta lösningen. (It was difficult to find the solution.) As an adverb, svårt can modify a verb or clause, such as Det gick svårare än väntat, or Det var svårt att tro.

Etymology and related forms: svårt comes from the older Swedish adjective svår, which has cognates in other Nordic languages, such as Danish svær and Norwegian svær, all sharing a common Germanic root for “difficult.” Related nouns include svårighet (difficulty) and related adjectives such as besvärlig (troublesome).

See also: svår, svårighet, besvär.