måste
See also: maste and mäste
Swedish
Etymology
From Middle Low German moste, past tense of môten.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
måste n
- a must; something that is mandatory or required, an obligation, a duty
- jag lägger måstena åt sidan idag
- I'm putting my duties aside today
- jag lägger måstena åt sidan idag
Declension
| Declension of måste | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | måste | måstet | måsten | måstena |
| Genitive | måstes | måstets | måstens | måstenas |
Verb
måste
- (auxiliary) must, have to / had to
Usage notes
The form måste is used for both present tense and past tense. Only very rarely is the supine form måst used, and the infinitive måsta exists in a few dialects but is not at all recognized in standard Swedish.
The meaning of måste together with the negation adverb inte ("not"), differs from the meaning of must together with not in English. While must not means "is not allowed to", måste inte means "does not have to".