Posts under Grammar

What’s the deal with själv?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Aug
16
2009

I was talking to an American gal who teaches Swedish (in the US) the other day and there was one thing she said that just stopped me dead in my tracks. And that was “själv is a reflexive pronoun.” What? Please don’t tell me this is what teachers of Swedish in the US tell their students!

While “själv” may indeed look like a reflexive pronoun, especially when it’s translated into English, it most definitely is not. It’s just a word used for emphasis that someone performed a certain action all by him/herself. Unfortunately, because of this “himself, herself, myself, etc” bit, it frequently gets mistaken for a reflexive pronoun.

So how does this “själv” work in Swedish? Like this:

  • Jag kan göra det själv. - I can do it myself.

And now for a real reflexive pronoun:

  • Jag har skurit mig. – I have cut myself.

The first one simply emphasizes that I can do whatever it is that I’m supposed to do all by myself, just like a big girl should.

This example is a little bit different, but it also shows you what this “själv” is all about:

  • Han älskar bara sig själv. – He only loves himself.

There you have both “sig” and “själv” and yes, I know it can be confusing, but it’s really very logical, especially when you see “själv” as part of compound words.

Actually, I think it’s the easiest way to figure out what “själv” is all about - by seeing how it’s translated when used in compound words, like these:

  • självbetjäning – self-service
  • självdisciplin – self-discipline
  • självkritik – self-criticism

and

  • självförtroende – self-confidence

Can you see the difference now between “själv” and a real reflexive pronoun?

And oh yeah, I almost forgot. When talking about plural, then “själv” becomes “själva”, like this:

  • Studenterna själva ordnade festen. – The students themselves arranged the party.
 
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Ordinal Numbers - Ordningstal

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jul
25
2009

Let’s talk about numbers today.

I know, I know, another boring topic. But unfortunately, an important topic. And judging from the number of mistakes I hear when it comes to numbers (yes, I’m trying to be clever here), also a necessary one.

You see, Swedish numbers appear to be deceptively similar to English. So similar, in fact, that some people think they can just follow the English pattern and all will be fine. Well, in reality, it’s not quite that simple – and I’m talking here about ordinal numbers, of course.

But since I’ve been asked to explain some of the terms I use on this blog as I go along, let’s cover the basics first.
Cardinal numbers (grundtal) are used for counting – they show quantity. In other words, they are your garden variety numbers you most likely learned first:

  • 1-    ett, en
  • 2-    två
  • 3-    tre
  • 4-    fyra

and so on.

And then come ordinal numbers (ordningstal)– they are those pesky little things that show the order of things, as in:

  • 1st – första
  • 2nd – andra
  • 3rd – tredje
  • 4th – fjärde
  • 5th - femte
  • 6th - sjätte
  • 7th - sjunde
  • 8th - åttonde
  • 9th - nionde
  • 10th – tionde

Seems very basic, isn’t it? But you need to look at them carefully. What’s a more or less regular ordinal number in English, such as 4th, is a goofy irregular-looking “fjärde” in Swedish. Now, how did they come up with this one from “fyra”, huh?

It gets even goofier when you reach 6 – “sex” in Swedish (get your mind out of the gutter, OK? This is numbers we’re talking about here). The ordinal version of “sex” is “sjätte” (sixth), NOT sexte.

Now you see that Swedish ordinals are a bit more irregular than their English equivalents – a fact that many beginning learners tend to forget. Add to that the sometimes difficult pronunciation of sjätte and sjunde (though that depends on the region) and you can understand why ordinal numbers can be a bit frustrating. But remember – the more you use them, the easier they become!

 
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It’s a sin!

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jul
4
2009

Well, not really a sin, but simply “sin”. It’s one of those fun “false friends”- words that look the same in both English and Swedish, but have different meanings. And we could pretty much leave it at that, but unfortunately, this Swedish “sin” can be a bit problematic for English speakers.

You see, it’s a possessive pronoun. Yes, another one, I know, I know… And it’s also of the “not found in English” variety of personal pronouns, which is precisely why it can be a pain to learn and use it correctly.

So, what is this “sin” exactly? It may mean “his” or “her” or “its” or “their” depending on the subject of the sentence. Because you see, it’s used when the third person possessive pronoun in the sentence refers to the subject of the same clause. Confused? OK, let’s take a look at how it works in real life.

  • Åsa är gift med Jonas. – Åsa is married to Jonas.

And this lovely couple will now demonstrate when you use “sin” and when some other possessive pronoun is needed.

  • Jonas besöker sin pappa ofta. – Jonas often visits his (own) dad.
  • Åsa ringer hans pappa varje dag. – Åsa calls his (Jonas’s) dad every day.

See what I mean? In the first sentence, because Jonas is the subject and his dad is the object, instead of “his” we need to use “sin”. It means “his”, but more like “his own”. And that’s basically the gist of it. If you can’t stick “own” after the possessive pronoun in a sentence, then you must use “hans” or “hennes” or “deras”.

Now, Åsa will provide us with one more example.

  • Åsa tvättar inte sin bil. – Åsa doesn’t wash her (own) car. (hehehe, she’s just like me!)
  • Jonas älskar Åsa, så han tvättar hennes bil. – Jonas loves Åsa, and so he washes her car. (and Jonas is just like my husband, LOL!)

And that’s basically it. You just need to remember that “sin” can’t be used with the subject. For example:

  • Jag känner Åsa. - I know Åsa.
  • Hennes man arbetar på vårt kontor. – Her husband works at our office.

See? You can’t say “Sin man arbetar på vårt kontor”.

The easiest way to remember when to use “sin” and when to use a different possessive pronoun is to keep in mind these two simple sentences:

  • Jonas älskar sin fru. – Jonas loves his (own wife).
  • Jonas älskar hans fru. – Jonas loves his (some other guy’s) wife.

And of course, because it’s Swedish “sin” morphs into “sitt” when it is used with “ett” nouns and becomes “sina” when used with plural nouns.

Now, you see that it’s important to learn how to use “sin” correctly - it can help you stay out of trouble when talking about another man’s wife! :) Because otherwise, it’s a sin!

 
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Swedish Possessive Pronouns

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jun
30
2009

I have never suspected that possessive pronouns (possessiva pronomen) can be the cause of so many emails! In my post about birthdays, I used a couple of possessive pronouns, and seemingly all of you who had my email address got in touch saying something along those lines “Yo Anna, if you are going to use some goofy examples, don’t you think it would be a good idea to explain first why sometimes ‘din’ is ‘ditt’ or ‘dina’? Because we are not, like, you know, mind readers and stuff.”

Ahhh… Those Swedish personal pronouns… They sure are fun! And don’t worry, they are not as complicated as you think. And by the way, I think I did cover them somewhere on this blog last year.

But since your wish is my command, let’s review those bits, because you are right, they are important, and getting them right makes all the difference between sounding like an idiot and speaking like someone who actually cared enough to learn it properly.

In English, it’s straightforward and easy. Whether you are talking about “my car” or “my children” – “my” stays the same, no matter what.

In Swedish, it’s a bit more involved than that, simply because Swedish nouns are divided into “en” and “ett”. And because most possessive pronouns behave just like adjectives, they need to be treated like adjectives. And hence, most of them get the “t” ending when accompanying “ett” nouns and “a” ending for plural nouns.

Take a look:

  • min bil – my car

but

  • mitt hus – my house

and

  • mina skor – my shoes

Unfortunately, not all possessive pronouns follow this simple pattern. If they did, our lives would be just too easy, right?

Here’s one example:

  • hans katt – his cat

and

  • hans hus – his house

and

  • hans pengar – his money (money is plural in Swedish)

And unfortunately, this one is not the only one. There’s more of them pesky little buggers who don’t like to conform.

Here is the complete table of possessive pronouns:

  • my – min – mitt – mina
  • your (singular) – din – ditt –dina
  • his – hans – hans – hans
  • her – hennes – hennes – hennes
  • its – dess – dess – dess
  • our – vår – vårt – våra
  • your (plural) – er – ert – era
  • their – deras – deras – deras

“Dess” is the possessive pronoun of “den” and “det” but it’s not used very much. Normally, the concept of “its” is expressed in some other way, like for example:
Jag har en katt. – I have a cat.
But instead of saying “Dess päls är vit.” – Its fur (coat) it white.
We would rather say
Den har vit päls. – It has white fur (coat).

There is also a mysterious (at least mysterious to many Swedish learners) pronoun “sin” but I think we should cover it in its very own special post.

PS. Today is the LAST DAY to enter my Midsommar Book Contest!!! The deadline is midnight EST (Eastern Standard Time in the US). So don’t miss out!!! :)

Scroll a few posts back to get the details!

 
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Happy Birthday Swedish Blog!

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jun
24
2009

I don’t know if you’ve noticed (because I must say it has totally escaped even me) that our little Swedish Blog is one year old now! Can you believe it? I’m not sure about you, but somehow this fact is enough to put a big smile on my face.

You’ve survived one whole year with me! And frankly, I couldn’t have done it without you. Your comments, support, suggestions, and just plain being there and reading what I have to say ten times a month is more than what any blogger could have asked for. Because what’s a blog good for if no one ever reads it, right?

So, while we’re on the subject of age, let’s learn how to say how old we are in Swedish (well, not “we” because you’re not supposed to ask a lady’s age, but just in general) , OK?

  • Swedish Blog är ett år (gammal). – Swedish Blog is one year old.

See? It’s easy. Very similar to English. That final “gammal” is not even necessary. Just like we would say in English that someone is (for example) 14, with “years” and “old” being understood and omitted.

Same in Swedish. You could say that:

  • Han är 14 år. - He is 14. And that’s good enough.

Notice anything interesting about that final “år”? Even though it looks like a singular noun, in reality it’s not.

Take a look:

  • år (def. året, pl. år, pl. def. åren) - 365 dagar * - year

This is the kind of stuff that happens with many “ett” nouns, and unfortunately, there’s no way around it - you just need to learn it.
And how do we ask about someone’s age?

  • Hur gammal är du? – How old are you?

And our young friend would answer:

  • Jag är 14 år. - I am fourteen.

But what happens if the object about whose age we are inquiring happens to be an “ett” noun? Then of course, instead of “gammal”, we have to say “gammalt”.

  • Hur gammalt är ditt barn? – How old is your child?

“Barn” is an “ett” noun, and so the adjective “gammal” acquired one “t” at the end.

But wait a sec. Now take a look at this:

  • Hur gamla är dina barn? – How old are your children?

“Barn” is one of those pesky nouns, just like “år”, that look the same in both indefinite singular and plural forms. But because “gammal” morphed into “gamla”, we know we are talking about more than one of your children here.

And this is how a simple birthday celebration turned into a grammar lesson. Ouch!

Har den äran på födelsedagen, Swedish Blog! – Happy Birthday Swedish Blog!

* A year with 366 days is called “skottår”.

PS. Even though it’s after Midsommar, it’s not too late to enter my Midsommar Swedish book contest!!! If you a reader from a country other than Sweden where Swedish books are hard to come by, all you need to do is to leave a comment under this post telling me IN SWEDISH why I should send the book to YOU (and not to someone else)! Good luck!!!

 
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