Swedish word of the day: nyttig

Today’s word of the day is nyttig. Nyttig has existed in Swedish since the 1600s, and originally comes from the Old Norse word nyttogher. It also exists in Norwegian and Danish.

It has a few different meanings, but is most often used to mean "healthy", for example det är bra att äta nyttig mat (it’s good to eat healthy food), or träning är nyttigt för kroppen (working out is good for the body).

It can often be substituted for the word hälsosam or sund (both meaning healthy), but not always. 

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Sometimes, a better translation is "useful". That’s because nyttig is linked to the word nytta (use, but as a noun rather than a verb), which you’ll see in the phrase att göra nytta (to be useful). In this case, a better synonym for nyttig would be användbar, rather than hälsosam. 

You could, for example, say that a certain skill, experience or piece of information is nyttig (useful), and the English phrase "useful idiot", describing someone who can easily be manipulated, translates into Swedish as a nyttig idiot.

The opposite of nyttig is onyttig, which can be used to describe something unhealthy or useless.

Example sentences: 

Jag kände mig onyttig när jag blev arbetslös.

I felt useless when I lost my job

Är det nyttigt att äta yoghurt till frukost?

Is it healthy to eat yoghurt for breakfast?