Posts in May 2009

Mother’s Day!

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
31
2009

Did you remember to call your moms today? Or, if you are in Sweden, did you remember to show up at your mom’s house with a bunch of flowers? And a gift? I’m terrible when it comes to remembering such days (I almost totally forgot about Father’s Day last year), but this time I at least managed to send a card.

During the past two weeks several people have asked me why Mother’s Day (Mors dag) in Sweden is celebrated on a different day than in the US. And I can tell you right now that you will be disappointed with the answer. It’s very simple really – the availability of fresh flowers.

So, in other words – blame it on Sweden’s geographic location. Spring comes here later than in other places and hence people’s gardens also bloom later than in other places. Plus, those additional two weeks (which is the difference between Mother’s Day in the US and in Sweden) means a lot in terms of weather. Because it’s no fun to sit down to a lovely outdoor lunch with your mom when it’s blowing like crazy. And during such times, even the old adage of “det finns inget dåligt väder bara dåliga kläder” is not very comforting.

So, an easy solution was to move Mors dag to the last Sunday in May, when the weather is better, the flowers are blooming, and the general mood of summer is already in the air.

When was the first time that Mother’s Day was celebrated in Sweden? A loooong time ago, in 1919. There was once a lady named Cecilia Bååth-Holmberg (1857 – 1920) who was a writer (best known for her biography of Karl XV) who thought it would be a very good idea to bring Mother’s Day to Sweden. And as it often happens with women, if we put our mind to something, we get things done, Cecilia spearheaded the initiative and the rest is history. Or a commercial success.

GRATTIS mamma på Mors dag…. vi älskar dig massor… önskar dina döttrar Anna och Maria.

 
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More Past Participle Goodness - Irregular (a.k.a. strong) Verbs

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
28
2009

So let’s finish those past participles today and get on with more pleasant things in our lives, shall we?

I promised you we’d save the best for last and talk about past participles of irregular verbs in this blog post. Irregular? Sounds scary? No worries, it’s not!
Actually, it’s very easy.

You see, if you know what the Swedish supine is and you memorized them for those pesky irregular (also known as “strong”) verbs, forming past participles is so straightforward, it’s almost suspicious.

You don’t believe me? Just wait and you’ll see.

But let’s backtrack for a sec to make sure we remember what this mysterious Swedish supine is. Though by now it shouldn’t be mysterious at all.

Swedish supine is different from what we call “supine” in English. In Swedish this is the verb form that is used in perfect tenses. In other words, it’s the bit that follows har (present perfect) or hade (past perfect) in normal sentences.

So, here are some very handsome irregular Swedish supines:

  • bjudit - from “bjuda” (to invite)
  • försvunnit - from “försvunna” (to disappear)
  • bundit – from “binda” (to bind, to tie)
  • skurit – from “skära” (to cut, to carve)

OK, so now we have those supines. Now see how easy it is to make their past participles. And you do it like this: you grab that supine, chop off that “it” ending and then add “en” instead.

  • bjudit → bjud + en → bjuden – invited
  • försvunnit → försvunn + en → försvunnen – disappeared
  • bundit → bund + en → bunden – bound (tied)
  • skurit → skur + en → skuren – cut, carved

So, even though the initial verb might be “irregular” the way we create those past participles is very regular indeed.

PS. Just a reminder - it’s Mother’s Day (Mors dag) this Sunday in Sweden. Don’t forget about your moms, or moms-in-law! :)

 
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Past Participles of Regular Verbs

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
25
2009

Last time when we talked about Swedish supines (in Swedish it’s the verb form that’s used in perfect tenses,) and past participles (in Swedish, it’s the verb form that’s used as an adjective), I picked a really tough example – “skriva” (to write).

Of course, since “skriva” is an irregular verb (just like in English), things got a bit complicated when I tried to explain what Swedish past participles are and how they are used.

But at least we got the hard bit out of the way and today you can breathe easy, because past participles of regular verbs are very straightforward. Don’t you just love regular verbs?

You see, with regular verbs, you just stick some letters to the end of the word, or add something to the verb’s basic form.

1. For example, “d” is added to longish verbs that end in “a” or to those that have a voiced consonant in the basic form, like this:

  • intressera + d → intresserad – interested
  • öka + d → ökad – increased

glömma – first you remove the ending and you get “glöm”, then you add “d”

  • glöm + d → glömd – forgotten

stänga – first you remove the ending and you get “stäng”, then you add “d”

  • stäng + d → stängd – closed

2. Ok, how about verbs that in their basic form (when you remove the ending “a”) end in a voiceless consonant, such as p, t, k, and s? To form past participles of those guys, you add “t” to the basic form:

  • köp + t → köpt – bought
  • tänk + t → tänkt – thought
  • läs + t → läst – read

Then sometimes “dd” is added to certain verbs. Those are normally verbs that end in a loooooong, stressed vowel, in other words, very short verbs such as:

  • tro + dd → trod – believed
  • klä + dd → klädd – dressed

See? That wasn’t so bad now, was it?
Unfortunately, when it comes to Swedish past participles, you have to remember that they are not like English past participles, but rather like adjectives that are used to describe nouns. It may seem complicated and difficult at first, but as one of the readers very aptly pointed out, it’s still nothing when compared with romance languages.

Still, too much grammar in one sitting is not good for anyone, so we will stop here for now. Next time we’ll tackle those irregular past participles in greater detail. Because when you look at them carefully, you’ll notice that they’re not all that irregular after all.

 
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Swedish Supines and Past Participles and More Grammar

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
22
2009

You know how I always tell you that Swedish is so similar to English that learning it should be a cake-walk really?

Well, today, I will break with this long-standing tradition and instead I’m going to tell you that Swedish is not like English at all and that it can be quite hard to get it right.

I’ve never even thought about this issue, because well, frankly, it’s never even crossed my mind. Until I had to help someone deal with supines and past participles. And the trouble began.

“Wait!” I hear you say, “isn’t it, like, pretty much basic and easy in English?”
Yes it is. But it’s not so easy in Swedish. Especially for an English speaker (hence I kindly ask all native Swedes reading this blog post to please consider this fact while commenting, thank you).

You see, the English supine is the bare naked infinitive form, the kind we stick “to” in front of.
But in Swedish, the supine is the stuff we use to construct perfect tenses - as in “jag har/hade + Swedish supine.

So, it looks like the Swedish supine is what in English we’d call a past participle.

So, what’s a past participle in Swedish? Hmmm… It’s also a verb form, but it’s used as an adjective. And it also follows the same rules as all normal adjectives do.

So, let’s take a look at this:

  • skriva – to write

and in all the tenses:

  • skriver – write (present tense)
  • skrev – wrote (past tense)
  • skrivit – written (used in perfect tenses – this “skrivit” is the Swedish supine)

and

  • skriven – “written” as an adjective – this is the Swedish past participle, this form is used with “en” nouns
  • skrivet – “written” as an adjective – this form is used with “ett” nouns

and

  • skrivna – “written” as an adjective – this form is used with plural nouns.

“Ouch!” I hear you say and I don’t blame you. Maybe these very simple examples will make it clearer:

  • Någon har skrivit ett brev. – Someone has written a letter. - That’s our garden variety present perfect tense. Nothing complicated here. “Skrivit” is the Swedish supine.
  • Detta brev var skrivet på engelska. – This letter was written in English. - “Brev” is an “ett” noun and the past participle form we need to use here is “skrivet”.
  • Denna text var skriven i december 2008. – This text was written in December 2008. - “Text” is an “en” noun and the past participle form that matches it is “skriven”.
  • Alla gamla böcker var skrivna på latin. – All old books were written in Latin. - “Böcker” is a plural noun, and so we need to use the plural form of past participle, which in this case is “skrivna”.

Of course I made it difficult for you by choosing an irregular verb for these examples, so next time I’ll show you how this Swedish past participle stuff works with normal, boring, regular verbs, OK?

 
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Summer Festivals in Sweden

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
20
2009

I don’t know about you, but for me summer means one thing (well, one among several other equally important things) – music festivals. I’m not sure if this is a sign of my immaturity, or nostalgia for the days when I was young and free and didn’t mind (heck, actually enjoyed!) having mud fights at open-air rock concerts.

Sweden is a famously musical country (the recent Malena Eurovision fiasco notwithstanding) and it seems that every little town has its very own summer music festival. Sometimes several. I strongly suspect that Sweden has the most summer music events per person than any other country in Europe.

And it’s not just rock we’re talking about here. There’s a festival for just about any taste, no matter how offbeat, from ukulele (yes, there is such a thing as Ukulelefestivalen in Göteborg, May 29-30) to reggae.

So, how to find a music event that’s right for you? Easy! There’s Festivalinfo.se.
They very helpfully list concerts and festivals, and not only in Sweden, but in other parts of Europe, too (from that site I learned that Jean Michel Jarre is still alive and touring, wow!).

And one of the largest music events in Sweden (though some may debate this claim) is of course the very heavily advertised Rix FM Festival. And get this – it’s free! Which in Sweden is rare indeed.

This year’s Rix FM lineup is, as always, predictably light, dancey and fluffy: Alcazar, Melody Club, BWO and others. So, Swedish Eurobeat at its finest.

For the more discriminating tastes, there is of course Hultsfred (July 8-11) but this one doesn’t come cheap: 790SEK for a day ticket, or 1490SEK for a four day pass.

So, it’s going to be a hot (we can always hope, right?) and very musical (that we know for sure) summer.

 
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