främmande

Swedish

Etymology

The current form ending in -ande (normally indicating a present participle) was used already in Old Swedish, but the more original form främmad lives on in spoken dialects in Götaland (including Närke) and is sometimes used in written poetry. Traces back to Old Saxon fremithi and Old High German framadi, fremidi, meaning "removed from". Ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz. This in turn is derived from fram, with roots in the indo-European pro-, also related to English preposition from. ("Främmad", SAOB). Cognate with Norwegian fremmed, English fremd, German fremd, Dutch vreemd.

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Adjective

främmande

strange (as a stranger), unknown, unfamiliar
foreign (from a different country, culture or religion)

Noun

främmande c, n

a stranger
a visitor, a guest (whether a stranger or acquaintance)
vi får främmande ikväll
we'll have visitors tonight

Usage notes

It seems both common and neuter gender can be used, and the neuter singular (främmandet, vårt främmande) can be refer to a group of visitors.
In spoken dialects (Götaland, including Närke, Östergötland), främmat is used, neuter form of främmad.

Declension

Declension of främmande
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	främmande	främmanden	främmande	främmande
Genitive	främmandes	främmandens	främmandes	främmandes

Declension of främmande
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	främmande	främmandet	främmanden	främmandena
Genitive	främmandes	främmandets	främmandens	främmandenas