Vocabulary | Swedish Language Blog

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Swedish Idioms I. (animals)

Posted by Tibor 2 Comments

Sep 28 2011

Det var som katten! or Det var som fan! eng. Well, I´ll be damned
Att ge katten/fan på. eng. To bet one´s life on it.
Att lägga lök på laxen. eng. To make matters worse.
Det är något i hästväg. eng. It´s something extraordinary.

Arg som ett bi. eng. To be furious.
Envis som en åsna. eng. Stubborn as a mule.
Fattig som en kyrkoråtta. eng. Poor as a church mouse.
Fri som en fågel. eng. Free as a bird
From som ett lamm. eng. Meek (gentle) as a lamb.
Glad som en lärka. eng. Glad as a lark.
Hal som en ål. eng. Slippery as an eel
Hungrig som en varg. eng. Hungry as a bear.
Klok som en uggla. eng. Wise as an owl.
Kåt som fan/en kanin. Horney as hell. (vulg!)
Pigg som en mört. eng. Fit as a fiddle.
Rädd som en hare. eng. As timid as a hare.
Slug/Listig som en räv. eng. Sly as a fox.
Stark som en björn/oxe. eng. Strong as a lion.
Stolt som en tupp. eng. Proud as a peacock.
Tyst som en mus. eng. Silent as a mouse.

Learning with Veronica Maggio

Sep 27 2011

I’m a big fan of trying to use different forms of media to learn a language. Last week we posted some tips for learning Swedish. One of those tips was to listen to the radio. Sveriges Radio does a great job of offering many of their programs no matter where you are in the world. If all else fails though, there is always YouTube.

Some songs are great for just listening to. They allow you to hear the nuances, slang, and dialect of a native Swedish speaker. That is always a good thing. But if you listen, really listen to the lyrics, you can find all kinds of words, phrases, and ideas that you, as a language learner, will want to pick up on.

Tibor did a great job a while back of providing you with numbers from 1-100. Couple that with a post about telling time from way back when, and you’ve got yourself a great activity for checking out how far you’ve come with learning your numbers.

Below then you’ll see a YouTube clip of Veronica Maggio’s song “Välkommen in.” You’ll also find the lyrics. I’ve deleted every reference to a number or time. There are a few of them in this short song. As you listen to the song, follow along with the lyrics here and try to fill in the blanks. When you’re done, check out your answers on the link provided below.

Veronica Maggio – Välkommen in

Du, jag slänger ner en nyckel ifrån fönstret i köket
Jag bor _____ trappor upp och du är välkommen in
Massa skor i hela hallen, folk vid fläkten som röker
Det är fest hos mig ikväll och hela världen är min

Oooh, ooh, sång på sång
Det ekar över hela staden
Åh, nått stort på gång
För det är kö från gatan upp till hallen

Och grannarna har klagat sedan ____ ________ ________
Nu är alla i mitt kök och jag är alldeles paj
Spelar pappas skiva ifrån ___________
De sjunger “Cosa vuol dir sono una donna ormai?
O mare nero, mare nero, mare ne”
Sänker volymen, låter alla sjunga med
Kan inte tänka, jag står bara här och ler

Refräng

Det ekar över alla taken
Ja, det är kö från gatan upp till hallen

Dunkande hjärtan klockan ______ _______ ________
Imma på rutorna men ingen går hem
Flackande blickar upp och ner och igen, åh
Ingen vet ifall det verkligen hänt
Ingen vet ifall det verkligen hänt
Imma på rutorna men ingen går hem, åh
Dunkande hjärtan klockan ______ _______ ________
Ingen vet ifall det verkligen hänt

Verkligen hänt
Sång på sång
Refräng

Det ekar över hela staden
För det är kö från gatan upp till hallen

The full lyrics can be found here at LetsSingIt.

Infinitives in Swedish

Posted by Steve 4 Comments

Sep 6 2011

When learning Swedish vocabulary, you will come across many different types of words, and naturally, many of these words are verbs – action words. For example, springa – to run – is a verb.

Verbs can be shown to students of Swedish in many different forms, but for memorization, the most common form is the infinitive form, otherwise known as the ‘to’-form:

to run – att springa

For instance:

I like to run. – Jag gillar att springa.

As you can see here, att is the same as ‘to’ in English in this context. That is why you might think that the following is also a logical, correct sentence:

I want to run. – Jag vill att springa.

Unfortunately, Swedish has a tendency to drift from its own patterns. Jag vill att springa is not a correct sentence. What happens is something that simply does not make sense in English:

I want to run. – Jag vill springa.

One does not say ‘I want run’. No, you say ‘I want to run’, right? Well, springa, without the att, can mean ‘to run’ just as well as with it, as you can see in this example. This rule – or lack thereof – does not only apply to springa, but applies to all other verbs as well. One difference that may help you to understand, though, is that att springa can also be interpreted as ‘running’. So, if the ‘-ing’ form of the verb (in other words, ‘running’ instead of ‘to run’) works in the sentence, you will most likely need att in front of the infinitive. For example, ‘I want running’ does not make sense – therefore, you leave out the att, so the Swedish sentence becomes Jag vill springa, not Jag vill att springa.

Here are some common situations in which you should and should not use att, for reference:

Busschauffören (The bus driver)	vill (wants) behöver (needs) ska (will/intends) kan (can) måste (must/has)	köra bussen. (to drive the bus.)
Busschauffören (The bus driver)	gillar (likes) hatar (hates) försöker (tries) är bra på (is good at) är van vid (is used to)	att köra bussen. (to drive the bus.) *(driving the bus.)

I hope this helped all of you who are trying to learn Swedish. It looks very complicated but if you practice with these examples, you’ll get used to the concept and have an internal understanding of it in no time!

There is a dog buried here somewhere

Posted by jennie 2 Comments

May 26 2011

As said many times before; direct translations of idioms can cause major confusion and most definitely a few laughs. Do you remember the dog’s head? Well, I tried another dog the other day. The buried dog, this time. Det ligger en hund begraven här = There is a dog buried here – is used when something isn’t quite right, when you have a sneaky suspicion that someone is trying to hide something. That’s when we use the buried dog. The english equivalent would be “I smell rat” or “Something smells fishy”. Another Swedish idiom used in the same way is Ana ugglor i mossen – Suspect owls in the bog.

“Jag tror inte att han är mördaren. Det ligger en hund begraven här.”
“Jag tror inte att hon var otrogen. Jag anar ugglor i mossen.”

Do you have any animals buried or smelling in your language?

Some other idioms and their equivalent in English:

Det där var nära ögat = That’s a close shave
(Direct translation: That was close to the eye)

Det var en annan femma = That’s another cup of tea
(Direct translation: That’s another fiver)

Du ser ut som om du sålt smöret och tappat pengarna = You look like a dying duck in a thunderstorm
(Direct translation: You look like you have sold the butter and dropped the money)

Friskt vågat hälften vunnet = Nothing ventured nothing gained
(Direct translation: Dare brave win half)

Göra en höna av en fjäder = Make a mountain out of a molehill
(Direct translation: To make a hen out of one feather)

Ha ett finger med i spelet = Have a finger in the pie
(Direct translation: To have a finger in the game)

Hellre fria än fälla = Give somebody the benefit of a doubt
(Rather acquit than convict)

Vowels, Part 2

Posted by Steve 5 Comments

May 14 2011

Hej!

After a short-term illness, I’m back to blogging with my second video on vowels!

Click here for the Byki-list!

You may have noticed that in the past several videos I have mainly covered more beginner-level concepts. This is because I thought it would be a good idea to try to offer something useful to the wide spectrum of readers we have. Don’t worry, intermediate Swedish speakers—there will be more geared toward you in the future!

Hope everyone has had a pleasant start of the month!

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