vittnar

Vittnar is a Swedish verb meaning to bear witness or to testify, confirming the truth of a statement or event. It is used in legal, formal, and everyday contexts to indicate that someone provides testimony or attests to a fact. The noun form related to the verb is vittne, meaning witness, and vittnesmål refers to a witness’s testimony.

In usage, vittnar appears in phrases such as att vittna i en rättegång (to testify in a court proceedings) and ge vittnesmål (to give testimony). It can also be used more broadly as att vittna om något (to bear witness to something), for example describing personal or historical recollections. The term is common in legal language as well as in journalism and historical writing when describing accounts of events.

Etymology and related forms: the verb is closely tied to the noun vittne (witness) and originates from older Swedish forms related to bearing witness. The verb’s conjugation follows standard Swedish patterns: present tense vittnar (he/she/it bears witness), past tense vittnade, supine vittnat, and perfect forms such as har vittnat.

Conjugation examples:

- Present: Jag vittnar om vad jag såg. (I bear witness to what I saw.)

- Past: Hon vittnade om händelsen i rätten. (She testified about the incident in court.)

- Supine/Perfect: De har vittnat två gånger. (They have testified twice.)

Notes: Vittnar distinguishes the act of testifying from the noun for the witness. It is important to choose the correct form (vittna vs. vittnar) based on subject and tense.