återfätts

Återfåtts is a Swedish verb form used to indicate that something has been recovered, returned, or reclaimed. It is the passive past participle form derived from återfå, meaning to regain or to obtain again. The prefix åter- signals return or repetition, while the suffix -tts marks a passive participle in older or formal Swedish. As a result, återfåtts tends to appear in written language, especially in legal, administrative, or historical texts, and is relatively uncommon in everyday speech.

Grammatical usage centers on passive constructions. It commonly occurs with auxiliary verbs such as har or var to form perfect or pluperfect passive clauses: Föremålet har återfåtts av museet. The form may also appear in past-tense reporting in formal prose: Fyndet återfåtts efter utredningen. In modern usage, speakers often prefer active or less marked expressions, but återfåtts remains a recognizable standard form in established writing.

Etymology traces återfåtts to åter-, a productive prefix meaning “back” or “again,” combined with få, “to obtain” or “to receive,” and the suffix -tts indicating a passive participle. The word thus conveys that the object or right has been obtained back by someone, rather than being newly obtained.

See also: återfå, återfått. Notes on Swedish verb forms show that återfåtts is one of several compounds formed with åter- to express retrieval or restoration in a passive sense.