käfta
Swedish
Etymology
From käft (“jaw, mouth”) + -a.
Verb
käfta (present käftar, preterite käftade, supine käftat, imperative käfta)
- (colloquial) to bicker (argue in a nonproductive and somewhat heated way)
- Synonyms: käbbla, smågräla
- De käftar med varandra hela tiden. Jag tror deras förhållande spricker.
- They're bickering all the time. I don't think their relationship will last.
- Jag har inte tid att käfta med dig
- I don't have time to argue with you
- (colloquial) to mouth off (speak without discretion in a provoking manner)
- Han ska alltid käfta när han dricker
- He always starts mouthing off when he drinks
Usage notes
"To mouth" with a more animalistic word for mouth might provide intuition. See käft as well.
Conjugation
Conjugation of käfta (weak)
| Active | Passive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | käfta | käftas | ||
| Supine | käftat | käftats | ||
| Imperative | käfta | — | ||
| Imper. plural1 | käften | — | ||
| Present | Past | Present | Past | |
| Indicative | käftar | käftade | käftas | käftades |
| Ind. plural1 | käfta | käftade | käftas | käftades |
| Subjunctive2 | käfte | käftade | käftes | käftades |
| Participles | ||||
| Present participle | käftande | |||
| Past participle | käftad | |||
| 1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs. | ||||
See also
- käfta emot (“talk back”)
References
- käfta in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
- käfta in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)