Saying What You Like Doing
You have just met the word gärna — it means gladly or with pleasure, and it is one of the most Swedish words there is. Put it after the verb to say you enjoy or welcome doing something:
| I gladly drink coffee in the morning. | Jag dricker gärna kaffe på morgonen. |
| We will gladly come to the party. | Vi kommer gärna till festen. |
Ja, gärna! on its own is the standard warm yes to an offer — "yes, please!"
Comparing Preferences: hellre
Like bra – bättre – bäst, the adverb gärna has its own irregular comparison:
| base | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| gärna (gladly) | hellre (rather) | helst (preferably) |
Hellre says what you would rather do, usually paired with än (than), just like other comparisons:
| She would rather drink tea than coffee. | Hon dricker hellre te än kaffe. |
| He would rather eat at home than at a restaurant. | Han äter hellre hemma än på restaurang. |
The Top Preference: helst
Helst is the superlative — what you would like most of all: Helst dricker jag vatten (Preferably, I drink water); Vad vill du helst göra? (What would you most like to do?). You will drill helst more later in the course, where it also appears in expressions like vad som helst (anything at all).
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