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 Nynorsk framand, Danish fremmed, English fremd, German fremd, Dutch vreemd.

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Adjective

främmande (comparative mer främmande, superlative mest främmande)

strange (as a stranger), unfamiliar, unknown
En främmande man kom fram till mig
A man I didn't know came up to me

Ska vi anropa det främmande skeppet?
Should we hail the unknown ship?
foreign (of a different country, culture, religion, etc.)
främmande kulturer
foreign cultures (from notion of strange (as a stranger))

Alternative forms

fremmande (obsolete)

Related terms

främling

Noun

främmande n

guest(s), visitor(s) (usually to one's home, whether strangers or acquaintances, often collectively)
Vi får främmande ikväll
We're having guests tonight

Usage notes

In spoken dialects (Götaland, including Närke, Östergötland), främmat is used, neuter form of främmad.
Rarely appears with common gender.

Declension

Declension of **främmande**
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	främmande	främmandes
singular	definite	främmandet	främmandets
plural	indefinite	—	—
plural	definite	—	—

Declension of **främmande**
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	främmande	främmandes
singular	definite	främmanden	främmandens
plural	indefinite	—	—
plural	definite	—	—

References