vare
last
Definition & meaning
Vare is an old-fashioned or literary Swedish form of “be”, related to the verb (“to be”).
It is mainly used in fixed expressions:
- — “whether,” usually in the construction “whether … or …”
- Vare sig du vill eller inte — “Whether you want to or not.”
- — “so be it,” “let it be so”
- Så vare sagt. — “So be it said.”
- — “thank God” or literally “God be praised.”
In modern Swedish, , , or is normally used instead.
Grammar & Word origin
Vare is an archaic subjunctive or optative form of . It expresses a wish, possibility, command, or hypothetical situation, roughly corresponding to English “be” in expressions such as “be it so.”
It comes from older Scandinavian forms related to Old Swedish væri and ultimately has the same Germanic origin as English “be.”
Today, vare is mostly fossilized in formal, religious, legal, or literary language, especially in .
Synonyms & antonyms
Depending on its use, modern equivalents include:
- — the ordinary modern verb “to be”
- — “may be” or “let it be”
- — “regardless of whether,” an equivalent of in many contexts
- — “irrespective of whether”
There is no direct antonym to vare, since it is a grammatical verb form rather than a concrete concept. Its semantic opposite would usually be expressed with — “not be.”
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Mötet kommer nog att vara i två timmar.other
The meeting will probably last for two hours.
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