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### Hearsay and Probability: Lär

When you want to share a juicy rumor or state that something is highly likely, Swedish uses the modal verb **lär**.

Depending on the context, *lär* translates to "is said to," "reportedly," or "is likely to." Just like other modal verbs, it is followed directly by another verb in its bare infinitive form—there is no need for the word *att* (to) in between.

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### Predicting Outcomes

Because *lär* expresses strong probability, it is the perfect word for predicting the fallout of a local scandal (**skandal**) or a secret love affair (**kärleksaffär**).

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### The Town Gossip

Here are a few more examples of how *lär* is used to spread rumors about ruined businesses, inheritances, and running away with the money.

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Hearsay and probability (lär)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite ending (barnet, hunden)

Indefinite articles and -ar verbs (en, ett)

Basic word order

Singular adjectives (stor, stort)

Plural adjectives (-a)

Sentence negation (inte)

Yes/No questions

Basic question words (vad, vem, var)

Regular Group 2 verbs (-er)

Short verbs and irregulars (har, gör)

The infinitive marker (att)

Modal verbs (kan, vill, måste, får)

Future intention (ska)

Time adverbs (imorgon, igår)

Word order inversion

Adverbs of frequency (ibland, aldrig)

Everyday things (dörren, stolen, tåget)

Definite suffix spelling changes

Plural nouns Group 1 and 2 (-or, -ar)

Plural nouns Group 3 (-er, -r)

Neuter indefinite plurals

Definite plural suffixes (-na, -a, -en)

Object pronouns (mig, dig, oss)

Reflexive pronouns (sig)

Expanded question words (när, varför)

Which and what (vilken, vilket, vilka)

Coordinating conjunctions (men, eller, för)

Prepositions of place (i, på, till, från)

Quantifiers (mycket, många)

Indefinite pronouns (någon, något, några)

First and second person possessives (min, din, vår, er)

Third person possessives (hans, hennes, dess, deras)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sitt, sina)

The genitive (-s)

Adjectives before singular nouns

Adjectives before plural nouns (-a)

Double definiteness (den, det, de)

Demonstratives (den här, det här, de här)

The imperative mood

Past tense of vara and ha (var, hade)

Possessives for names (-s)

Definite plural adjectives (de ... -a)

Genitive case for names (-s)

Numbers 1 to 10 (en, två, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elva till tjugo)

Counting by tens to 100 (trettio, fyrtio...)

Days of the week (måndag, tisdag...)

Months of the year (januari, februari...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (första, andra...)

Greetings and politeness (hej, tack, förlåt)

Particle verbs of direction (gå ut, komma in)

Simple past: Group 1 (-ade)

Simple past: Group 2a (-de)

Simple past: Group 2b (-te)

Simple past: Group 3 (-dde)

Simple past: Group 4

Present perfect: Groups 1 and 2 (har)

Present perfect: Groups 3 and 4

Past perfect (hade)

Future predictions (kommer att)

Future with present tense

The adjective small (liten, litet, små)

Demonstratives of distance (den där, det där, de där)

Negative pronouns (ingen, inget, inga)

Universal pronouns (all, allt, alla)

The generic pronoun (man, en)

Possessive generic pronoun (ens)

Reciprocal pronoun (varandra)

Qualitative pronouns (sådan, sådant, sådana)

Habitual time expressions (på)

Specific past time expressions (i)

Past time expressions (för ... sedan)

Future time expressions (om)

Location and motion adverbs (här/hit, där/dit)

Consequences (så)

Correlative conjunctions (både ... och)

Either and neither (antingen ... eller, varken ... eller)

Verbs of opinion and belief (tycker, tror, tänker)

Subordinate clauses (att, om)

Time clauses (när, innan, medan)

Clauses of cause (eftersom, därför att)

Negation in subordinate clauses (inte)

V2 word order inversion

Relative clauses as subjects (som)

Relative clauses as objects (som)

Relative clauses for places (där)

Adverbs from adjectives (-t)

Adjective comparative and superlative (-are, -ast)

Question	Answer
the mayor	borgmästaren
is said to / is likely to	lär
The mayor is said to be very sick.	Borgmästaren lär vara mycket sjuk.
the scandal	skandalen
the love affair	kärleksaffären
The scandal is about that love affair.	Skandalen handlar om den där kärleksaffären.
the lover	älskaren
The wife is said to have a secret lover.	Frun lär ha en hemlig älskare.
to run away	rymma
She is likely to run away with her lover tonight.	Hon lär rymma med sin älskare ikväll.
the divorce	skilsmässan
The divorce is likely to be very expensive for him.	Skilsmässan lär bli väldigt dyr för honom.
the fortune	förmögenheten
He will lose the whole fortune after the divorce.	Han förlorar hela förmögenheten efter skilsmässan.
ruined	ruinerad
The company is reportedly completely ruined now.	Företaget lär vara helt ruinerat nu.
the inheritance	arvet
The inheritance will probably save the ruined man.	Arvet lär rädda den ruinerade mannen.
The lover reportedly wants the money from the inheritance.	Älskaren lär vilja ha pengarna från arvet.
The wife reportedly knows everything about the love affair.	Frun lär veta allt om kärleksaffären.
The scandal is likely to destroy his entire career.	Skandalen lär förstöra hela hans karriär.
The lover is likely to reveal the secret soon.	Älskaren lär avslöja hemligheten snart.
The mayor is said to be running away with the fortune.	Borgmästaren lär rymma med förmögenheten.