Swedish

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Etymology

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From verksam (busy, active) +‎ -het (-ness). Compare English busy vs. business.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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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)
    Teaterns verksamhet omfattar också turnéer
    The activities of the theater also includes tours
    vara tillbaka i verksamhet
    be back in business
    1. operations, business, etc.
  2. an entity engaging in such goal-oriented activity; an enterprise (in the most general sense)
    Företag och teatrar är verksamheter
    Businesses and theaters are enterprises
    verksamhetens verksamhet
    the activities of the enterprise (artificial)
    1. a business, an institution, etc.

Usage notes

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  • 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

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

Derived terms

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References

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