Återberättar

Återberättar is a Swedish verb meaning to retell or recount again, often in one’s own words. It denotes the act of conveying information from a source, a memory, or a prior narration in a new form. The term is widely used in education, literature, journalism and everyday language to indicate paraphrasing or summarizing a narrative.

Grammatically, återberättar is the present tense form of the infinitive återberätta. The prefix åter- conveys repetition or redoing, while berätta means to tell or narrate. As such, återberättar is typically translated as "retells" or "recounts" in English. Other forms include återberättade (past tense) and återberättat (past participle).

Usage notes: In contexts of analysis or storytelling, återberättar is used to describe someone’s act of recounting events, not necessarily with critical interpretation; the nuance can range from straightforward repetition to personal paraphrase. The term contrasts with berätta, which can be used for telling original stories.

Examples: Han återberättar historien för klasskamraterna. Författaren återberättar legenden i egna ord. I akademiska sammanhang kan man återberätta kända källor kortfattat.