menas + Infinitive

Intended Purpose

Level 4

Compare Lagen avses skydda konsumenterna and Lagen är tänkt att skydda konsumenterna. Both present intended purpose. Vad menas med ordet? instead asks what a word means.

How It Works

Intended Purpose With Avses
Avses is the s-passive form of avse. In formal writing it can introduce an infinitive describing what the subject is intended to do:
Lagen avses skydda konsumenterna. (The law is meant to protect consumers.)

The structure is subject + avses + (att) + infinitive. The infinitive marker att is optional in this passive construction; adding it does not make the sentence ungrammatical. Compare Högtidligheterna avses gå av stapeln i augusti and Högtidligheterna avses att gå av stapeln i augusti.

Other Ways To Describe A Purpose
Är tänkt att presents something as intended for an action: Knappen är tänkt att återställa systemet. This uses vara with the participle tänkt, which agrees with the subject: formuläret är tänkt, reglerna är tänkta.

Ska can also describe what is supposed to happen, but has other uses such as plans, requirements and predictions. Lagen ska skydda konsumenterna can express what the law is expected or required to achieve. These alternatives overlap without being interchangeable in every context.

What Menas Means
Menas belongs to mena, not avse. In Vad menas med ordet?, it asks what is meant by a word. Mena also expresses intention in Jag menade inte att såra dig (I did not mean to hurt you). Do not use a bare menas as an automatic equivalent of every English is meant to. For the designed purpose practiced here, avses (att), är tänkt att and är avsedd att provide clear models.

Active And Passive Perspectives
Jag avser att resa presents the person as intending the trip. The passive construction presents what is planned without naming a planner. Whether an inanimate subject is possible depends on the meaning of the verb and the construction; the rule is not that every active avser must have a human subject. A plan, proposal or document can be described by its aim in appropriate context.

Purpose Of An Action
Jag trycker på knappen för att återställa systemet gives the purpose of pressing the button. Knappen är tänkt att återställa systemet gives its intended function. Neither construction guarantees that the purpose is achieved.

Examples (4)

  1. Lagen avses skydda konsumenterna.

    The law is meant to protect consumers.

    Word by Word: The-law is-meant to-protect the-consumers.

    A typical example from a legal or official context.

  2. Formuläret ska fyllas i med svart bläck.

    The form is supposed to be filled out in black ink.

    Word by Word: The form / shall be filled in / with black ink.

    This example uses ska plus the passive infinitive fyllas, an instruction rather than an example of avses. It is retained to compare ways of expressing what is supposed to happen.

  3. Denna knapp avses återställa systemet vid fel.

    This button is meant to reset the system in case of an error.

    Word by Word: This button is-meant to-reset the-system at error.

    An example of language you might find in a technical manual.

  4. Bestämmelsen avses förhindra missbruk av systemet.

    The regulation is meant to prevent misuse of the system.

    Word by Word: The-regulation is-meant to-prevent misuse of the-system.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

menas + InfinitiveLevel 4Intended Purpose

Learn This First

To understand 'menas + infinitive' (is meant to), you first need to understand the s-passive voice in Swedish, as 'menas' is the passive form of 'mena'. You also need to be familiar with how infinitives are used as complements to other verbs, often involving the marker 'att'.

Words in This Pattern

mena