Posts tagged with "prepositions"

Swedish prepositions: i

Posted by jennie 1 Comment
May 31 2010

Bad news first. No, we did not make it into the Eurovision Song Contest final for the first time ever and it was a huge shock for a Eurovision loving country like Sweden. But hey, better luck next year and let’s look forward to the Fifa World Cup in only two weeks…oh, that’s right! Sweden did not qualify for the football world cup either… Oh well.

More bad news. As you may know by now, are eminent blogger Gabriel has left us but fret not, we will do our very best to fill his space and hopefully team up with another excellent video blogger in short. Good luck Gabriel and we will miss you!

On to the good news now! We have reached the lovely little yet very useful word “i” in our journey through Swedish prepositions. We have tackled “till”, we have been through “på” and after you master “i”, the rest of the prepositions will be a walk in the park.

1. First of all we use “i” when someone or something is inside a volume of some kind.

Volume regarding rooms:

Gästerna sitter i restaurangen
(The guests are sitting in the restaurant)

Jag är i köket!
(I am in the kitchen!)

Jag ligger i soffan och läser
(I am lying on the couch and reading)

In Swedish, you are not sitting ON a couch or ON an armchair, you are sitting IN it. Think of it like this: If it is something soft and cosy, you are sitting IN it. But, if it’s hard and not very nice, you are sitting ON it, like a chair or stool.
Jag sitter på stolen
(I am sitting on the chair)

Volume regarding parts of the body:

Det värker i öronen
(My ears are aching)

Hon har tårar i ögonen
(She has tears in her eyes)

Jag har en diamant i naveln
(I have a diamond in my navel)

Anna skadade sig i foten under träningen
(Anna injured her foot during practice)

Jag är så trött i armarna! 
(My arms are so tired!)

2. Like in English, we use “i” when someone or something is in a country, part of a country or in a city.

Jag har bott i Bristol i två år.
(I have lived in Bristol for two years.)

Slottet ligger i Stockholm.
(The castle is in Stockholm.)

3. So far so good, but it gets a bit trickier now, since “i” is also frequently used when talking about a volume in an abstract sense, as in a situation or condition.

Vi är en nation i krig
(We are a nation at war)

Han lever sitt liv i förnekelse
(He is living his life in denial)

4. Time for time! We use “i” for a number of expressions regarding time.

The clock:
Klockan är fem i fyra
(It is five minutes to four)

Vi möts kvart i fem!
(I’ll meet you at quarter to five!)

Past time:
Festen var i lördags
(The party was last Saturday)

Jag tog en tupplur i eftermiddags
(I took a nap this afternoon)

De har varit ihop sedan i vintras
(They have been a couple since last winter)

Future time:
Vi har stängt i morgon
(We are closed tomorrow)

Jag ska åka till Thailand i november
(I am going to Thailand in November)

Ongoing time:
Jag ska shoppa i dag
(I’m going shopping today)

How long:
Vi reste i flera dagar
(We travelled for days)

De pussades i en hel timme!
(They were kissing for a whole hour! )

5. Speaking of kissing, “i” is also used when you talk about having positive feelings for someone or something.

Jag är kär i dig!
(I’m in love with you)

Cilla är mycket förtjust i köttbullar
(Cilla is very fond of meatballs)

6. Finally, we also use “i” for holding something.

Håll mig i handen, filmen är läskig!
(Hold my hand, the movie is scary!)

Håll i dig hårt, båten är extremt snabb
(Hold on tight, the boat is extremely fast)

Still here? I will leave the prepositions now for a while, I promise. Tomorrow, it’s June which means that it is officially summer, 18 days to go to the big wedding and soon midsummer’s eve, the night when the Swedes dance around a big phallic symbol, imitating little frogs. In other words, lot’s of exciting stuff coming up!

Swedish prepositions: på

Posted by jennie 7 Comments
May 27 2010

Alright, time to get down and dirty with “På”. I wrote earlier this week that Swedes seem to love “Till”, but we have a pretty good love affair with “på” as well. I have bee thinking, reading, asking and googling to find as many ways as possible to use “på” and I am pretty sure I have missed out on some. But let’s start off with these, if you can master at least a few you are definitely on the right track!

1.First and foremost and nice and easy, we use “på” when we are talkig about something that is placed on a surface, just like “on” in English.

Nycklarna ligger på bordet
(The keys are on the table)

Jag gillar tavlan på väggen
(I like the painting on the wall)

2. A bit more tricky: We use “på” when we talk about at place where everyone is doing the same thing, like work, school, public places etc, where and when the activity or the function is more important than the place itself. In this case “på” is better compared to English “at” rahter than “on”. Does it make it any sense? Some examples:

Work:

Janne jobbar på kexfabriken
(Janne works at the cookie factory)

Jag är på jobbet
(I am at work)

School:

Jag läser historia på universitetet.
(I study history at the University)

EXCEPTION ALERT!
When you talk about school in general, you use “i skolan”.
Han går i skolan
(He goes to school)

Commercial facilities and public officies:

Jag gick runt på varuhuset hela dagen
(I walked around the departement store all day)

Sedan var jag på banken
(Then I went to the bank)

Jag halkade och fick ligga på sjukhus
(I slipped and had to stay in the hospital)

EXCEPTION ALERT!!
We say “i affären” (in the store):
Jag hittade ingenting i klädaffären
(I couldn’t find anything in the clothes shop)

Public transportation:

Det är kallt på tåget
(It is cold on the train)

Jag träffade Lena på bussen
(I met Lena on the bus)

Entertainment:

Jag gillar att gå på bio
(I like going to the cinema)

Vill du följa med på fest?
(Do you want to come to a party?)

Ska vi ta en fika på kaféet?
(Shall we take a coffee on the coffee shop?)

I helgen ska vi på bröllop
(We are going to a wedding this week)

Courses an meetings:

Jag ska gå på ett möte i London.
(I’m going on a meeting in London)

Time off:

Klockan 12 går jag på lunchrast
(At 12 o’clock I will go for a lunch break)

I december åker jag på semester
(In December, I am going on holiday)

3. Nice and easy again: We also use “på” when we talk about festive holidays, like “on” in English.

Jultomten kommer på julafton
(Santa is coming on Christmas Eve)

Vi dansade på Midsommarafton
(We danced on Midsummer eve)

4. “På” is also used when expressing negative feelings:

arg på
(angry about/angry with)

besviken på
(disappointed at)

trött på
(tired of/sick of)

förbannad på
(furious about)

galen på
(mad about)

irriterad på
(annyoed with/at)

5. We also use “på” when talking about what we can do with our five senses:

Jag tittar på Eurovision Song Contest
(I am watching Eurovision Song Contest)

Smaka på lanagen, var den god?
(Taste the lasanga, was it good?)

Lyssna på mig!
(Listen to me!)

Lukta på denna parfym
(Smell this parfume)

Känn på mitt hår, visst är det mjukt?
(Touch my hair, isn’t it soft?)

6. Some other verbs are also always used togehter with “på”, but it doesn’t seem to be any rule regarding these. You just have to learn them by doing, unfortunately.

Satsa på = Bet on
Vilken häst ska vi satsa på?
(What horse shall we bet on?)
If you use “satsa” on its own, it’s more like an imperative, Satsa!

Lita på = trust
Jag litar inte på någon
(I don’t trust anyone)

Heja på = Cheer
Jag hejar på Sverige!
I am cheering for Sweden!
If you use “heja” on its own, it’s more like an imperative, Heja!

Phew, let’s leave there for tonight shall we? But as always, please feel free to add more ways to use “på”. Now: Time to rösta på (vote for) Anna Bergendahl in The Eurovision Song Contest Semi final! Go Anna! Heja Sverige!

Swedish prepositions: Till

Posted by jennie 5 Comments
May 24 2010

Prepositions can be a real horror to master when you are speaking a foreign language and for me – a native Swedish speaker living in England -, it is  to/for that is extremely confusing. The reason for this is quite obvious: I translate from Swedish to English when I speak and where it is  ”till” in Swedish, it’s either “for”, “to” or even “with”  and “of” in English. 

And when desperately trying to get this right, I have noticed that the Swedes seem to love the word ”till”! I have gathered six different examples on how “till” can be used in everyday Swedish.

1. First of all, we will use “till” when we are talking about direction. Here, “till” can easily can be translated to “to”:

Jag ska flytta till ett större hus
(I am moving to a bigger house)

Jag brukar åka buss till jobbet
(I usually go by bus to work)

2. We also use “till” when we are talking about direction in a more abstract sense, when something is about to happen and you are moving towards it:

 Vad ska vi äta till middag ikväll?
(What’s for dinner tonight?)

Jag har anmält mig till en salsakurs
(I have applied for a salsa course)

3. “Till” is also used when the action involves some kind of change:

Jag vill byta denna till en större storlek
(I want to change this for a bigger size)

Malin utbildar sig till svenskalärare
(Malin is studying to become a Swedish teacher)

4. We also use ”till” when we are sending or giving something away:

Vad ska du ge till Jennie på hennes födelsedag?
(What are you going to give Jennie for her birthday?)

Jag har en överraskning till dig!
(I have a surprise for you!)

Snälla, säg ingenting till någon!
(Please, don’t tell anyone!)

5. “Till” is also used when describing different types of usage:

Vad använder du den här till?
(What do you use this one for?)

Jag tror att pengarna räcker till maten
(I think I have enough money for the food)

6. For any accessories, attachments and side dishes, “till” is the word to use:

Kan jag få en kanelbulle till kaffet?
(Can I have a cinnamon bun with my coffee?)

Jag kan inte hitta locket till burken
(I can’t find the lid for this jar)

Passar halsbandet till klänningen?
(Does this neckless go with the dress?)

Jag bor i en förort till Göteborg.
(I live in a suburb of Göteborg)

So, has this been of any help? (Har detta varit till någon hjälp?)
Please feel free to add more examples if you can think of more usages of till. And while you’re at it, where in the jungle of prepositions do you reckon we should head the next time?

På And More På

Posted by Transparent Language 5 Comments
Jul 21 2008

I went to the movies tonight with my friend and we saw “Hancock”, it was actually pretty good. Yes, I know, I know. This movie is old news in the US, but here it’s just opened and the theatre was packed. I didn’t even know there were that many people left in my town on a Sunday night in July. And they all decided to go “på bio”.

Yes, it’s preposition time today! And I thought since we already used “på” last time, when talking about being “på semester”, which of course means “on vacation”, that we could continue with these “på” phrases some more.

“På” is a very pesky word. It has many meanings. Too many, if you want to know my opinion. And because of that, it can be translated into English in many different ways. Too many different ways, actually.

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