hålla på

hålla på (present håller på, preterite höll på, supine hållit på, imperative håll på)

1. (often with med) to be doing, to be up to (to currently be doing something)

   Jag håller på och städar

   I'm (up to) cleaning

   Vad håller du på med?

   What are you doing? / What are you up to?

2. to be in the process of (like above, but for objects, phenomena, and the like)

   Mjölken håller på att ta slut

   The milk is running out ("The milk is in the process of running out")

   Det höll på att bli mörkt ute

   It was getting dark outside ("It was in the process of getting dark outside")

3. to last (go on for)

   Synonym: vara

   Hur länge håller filmen på?

   How long does the movie last? ("How long does the movie go on for?" – likely to be asked by someone who wants to know when it ends)

4. to almost, to nearly, to be close to (have something (usually undesirable) happen – can be understood as "to be in the process of," like above, with an implication of not reaching the end)

   Vasen höll på att välta

   The vase almost fell over ("was in the process of falling over")

   Jag höll på att svimma när jag såg vad de gjort

   I almost fainted when I saw what they had done

   Hon höll på att försäga sig

   She almost had a slip of the tongue

5. (colloquial) to be doing (something (usually disagreeable) that is clear from context, that goes on for a while)

   Håll inte på så där!

   Don't be like that! (if the thing is going on about something the speaker doesn't want to hear, as an example)

6. (with the stress on hålla) to root for, to support (a team or the like)

   Synonym: heja på

   Vilket lag håller du på?

   Which team are you rooting for?

Can be used to express the continuous tense, which Swedish lacks as a grammatical feature ("Jag städar" can mean both "I clean" (as opposed to never clean, or as a profession or the like) and "I'm cleaning," while "Jag håller på och städar" can only mean "I'm cleaning"). The intended meaning is usually clear from context though, and "hålla på" is often used just to give a tone closer to "be up to" as opposed to "be doing."

• på väg

• hålla på in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• hålla på in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)