verksamhet

Swedish

Etymology

verksam +‎ -het. Swedish verksamhet derives from verksam (“busy, active”) just like English business derives from being busy.

Pronunciation

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Noun

verksamhet c

1. goal-oriented activity (either commercial or more general goal-oriented activity, carried out on an ongoing basis, often within an organization or group), operations

   Teaterns verksamhet omfattar också turnéer

   The activities of the theater also includes tours

2. (seldom in Finland) a business (commercial or not), an enterprise, an institution

Usage notes

• Verksamhet is a neutral word, often used in legal texts and social sciences to denote any kind of private or public institution or enterprise.
• While Swedish verksam (“worksome”) (one who works; i.e. busy, but also effective) doubtlessly has the same roots as German wirksam (“effective”), their meanings do not fully overlap. And Swedish verksamhet (“activity”) has taken on quite a different meaning than German Wirksamkeit (“effectiveness”). Swedish verksamhet corresponds better to German Tätigkeit (“activity”).

Declension

Declension of verksamhet
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	verksamhet	verksamheten	verksamheter	verksamheterna
Genitive	verksamhets	verksamhetens	verksamheters	verksamheternas

Derived terms

• verksamhetsberättelse
• verksamhetsform
• verksamhetsplanering
• verksamhetsstyrning
• verksamhetsutveckling

Further reading

• verksamhet in Svensk ordbok.