Wiktionary

helst

Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse helzt.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /hɛlst/, [hɛlˀsd̥]

Adverb

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helst

  1. superlative degree of gerne (“willingly”)

Derived terms

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Icelandic

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Etymology

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From Old Norse helzt.

Adverb

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helst

  1. superlative degree of gjarna (“willingly”)
    Þetta vildi ég helst ekki.
    I didn't really want that.

Derived terms

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Old Norse helzt.

Adverb

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helst

  1. superlative degree of gjerne (“willingly”)

Derived terms

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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From Old Norse helzt.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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helst

  1. superlative degree of gjerne

Etymology 2

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Verb

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helst

  1. past participle of helsa

References

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse helzt.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Adverb

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helst

  1. superlative degree of gärna (“happily”): most of all (most preferably)
    Han vill gärna ha en grön kanin, men hellre en gul kanin, och helst en blå kanin
    He would be happy to own a green rabbit, but would prefer a yellow rabbit, and most of all he would like a blue rabbit
  3. preferably
    – Dricka frätande syra är onyttigt. – Jo, det bör man helst inte göra.
    – Drinking corrosive acid is unhealthy. – Yeah, it's best not to do so. ("Yeah, that ought one preferably not do")

Usage notes

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Can also be analyzed as "most preferably" in (sense 2), which is closer to the native intuition: "The most preferred thing is to not drink corrosive acid." That meaning is equivalent to "preferably" though.

Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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