Å bety = To mean (Uke 48)

Å bety, the Verb of the Week, is "to mean, to signify" (thus the noun betydning, "meaning, importance, significance", and the adjectives betydelig, "considerable" and betydningsfull, "meaningful, important"). Bety is often used with the demonstrative pronouns det or dette, "it" or "that", or the interrogative hva, "what?".

Note that this is not quite the same as the verb å mene, "to mean, intend, have in mind".

det betyr = it means (present tense)
det betydde = it meant (past tense)
det har betydd = it has meant (past participle)

Here are a few examples of its use:

Vår betyr at sommeren kommer.
Spring means that summer is coming.

Hva betyr dette røde merket ved siden av navnet mitt?
What does this red mark mean next to my name?

Sangen vil ikke bety mye om du ikke forstår italiensk.
The song will not mean much if you don’t understand Italian.

Det var pinlig! Jeg trodde skiltet betydde "kvinner".
That was embarrassing! I thought the sign meant "women".