Posts tagged w/ Vocabulary

What Time Is It?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Aug
7
2009

About an hour ago I was struggling to explain to someone how to say what time it is. In Swedish naturally.

You see, again, it’s one of those things that is deceptively easy on the surface and so similar to English that we tend to forget that there are a couple of bits that are different. Very different in fact.

First of all, what started this whole discussion was when my husband asked me what “Hur dags?” meant. He thought it had something to do with how the day was going. (Yes, shame on me, the guy speaks only two words of Swedish and relies on me for the rest).

But no, “hur dags?” simply means – “at what time?” And then the guy got all stressed out that the word “time” –“tid” wasn’t even in this phrase. To placate him, I said there is another expression, which starts with “vilken tid” and means something like “when”.

And then, very surprisingly, the guy announced that he decided to master telling the time. In Swedish naturally. So we sat down and I very patiently started to explain:

To ask what time it is, you say this:

  • Hur mycket är klockan?

or

  • Vad är klockan?

And here are some possible answers:

  • klockan 9 (kl. 9:00) – 9 o’clock.
  • halv nio – half past eight – 8:30 (yeah, it gets goofy here)
  • tio över nio – ten past nine – 9:10
  • tio i nio – ten till/to nine – 8:50

and here it gets really fun:

  • fem över halv nio – twenty five till/to nine – 8:35, but in Swedish it’s more like “five past half to nine”
  • fem i halv nio – twenty five past eight – 8:25, but again, Swedish it’s literally “five till half to nine”

Fun, isn’t it?
Personally, I hate this way of saying what time it is and normally stick with the military style of 9:10, 8:50, 8:30 and so on. It works just as well and people understand you just fine.

Here are some other handy time-related phrases:

  • Klockan går fem minuter före. – the clock/watch is five minutes fast.
  • Klockan går fem minuter efter. – the clock/watch is five minutes slow.
  • Min klocka går fel. – my watch is wrong (shows wrong time)
  • Klockan slår tolv. – the clock strikes twelve (noon/midnight)

And now that you know how to tell the time in Swedish, you have no more excuses to be late. And that I suspect is the secret reason why my guy will give up on learning these useful phrases in about 3 minutes. :)

 
Posted under Swedish Language, Vocabulary
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Immigration to Sweden - A Few Thoughts

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
28
2009

Last time we talked about Swedish emigration to the US, but what about foreign immigration to Sweden? This is a subject that everybody has an opinion about and when discussing those opinions, tempers can run high, even among normally very reserved Swedes.

I don’t know if as an immigrant myself, I should be even discussing this subject at all. After all, my take on the issue will be vastly different from what a true Svensson might say.

And some people won’t even consider me a “real” immigrant, because as much as I love this country, I do not plan on staying in Sweden for the rest of my life, or becoming en svensk medborgare (a Swedish citizen). Personally, I believe that acquiring foreign citizenship is one issue that should not be taken lightly. Because along with the privileges of a new citizenship also come serious responsibilities, and you can’t have one without the other.

So, what is it like to be an immigrant in Sweden? Impossible to describe it in just one word, so let’s use two: not bad. It’s not entirely good either, because it’s never easy to uproot oneself and settle in a different country.

But compared to many other developed nations, Sweden takes care of its immigrants. It’s a progressive, tolerant country with a live and let-live attitude. It provides services and support to new arrivals that are hard to find in other lands. The ubiquitous SFI (svenska för invandrare) program is but one example (and one that deserves a blog post of its own).

As much as the country has to offer, it is not the land of milk and honey, or cradle to grave welfare, that many misguided new (or potential) arrivals think it to be. You have to work for that welfare, and sometimes finding work can be problematic.

Here’s an interesting article on the subject from The Local. (Yes, I know, I know… but until a new English-speaking media outlet emerges in Sweden, we are stuck with The Local. At least that way I can be sure that even those of you who are not yet fluent in Swedish can understand what is being said.)

And here are a few useful words when talking about immigration:

  • medborgare (def. medborgaren, pl. medborgare, def.pl. medborgarna) - person som hör till ett land och har vissa rättigheter och skyldigheter där (en svensk medborgare) – citizen
  • medborgarskap (def. medborgarskapet, pl. medborgarskap, def.pl. medborgarskapen) - det att vara medborgare i ett land. (De har ansökt om svenskt medborgarskap.) – citizenship

Obs! Be careful! “Medborgare” is an “en” noun, but “medborgarskap” is an “ett” noun.

  • invandrare (def. invandraren, pl. invandrare, def.pl. invandrarna) – person som bor i ett annat land än det där hon/ han är född – immigrant
  • flykting (def. flyktingen, pl. flyktingar, def.pl. flyktingarna) - person som har flytt från t.ex. ett krig (till ett annat land) – refugee
 
Posted under Culture, Vocabulary
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Vernal Equinox (vårdagjämning) and Seasons in Swedish

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
21
2009

I’m really happy today. Springtime is here. Well, at least officially, because you wouldn’t know it from looking out the window. And while I’m not a fan of vår (spring) – too much rain and mud for my liking, I am a huge fan of vårdagjämning.

  • vårdagjämning (def. vårdagjämningen) - den tidpunkt under våren då dagen och natten är lika långa - omkring den 21 mars.

Well, this year it was on March 20th, because every few years the sun likes to hurry up.
Personally, I prefer vårdagjämning (vernal equinox) to midsommar, because while midsommar might be the longest day of the year, it’s rather depressing when you think about it carefully – after midsommar the days are getting shorter - what’s there to celebrate?

And vårdagjämning is nothing but TRUE joy and happiness, as every SAD (vinterdepression, seasonal affective disorder) sufferer can tell you – the days are getting longer!

Soon the night will be banished altogether (at least up here in the North) and we can enjoy glorious daylight around the clock.
But ancient Vikings apparently did not share my sentiment, instead of vårdagjämning, they saved the really big bash for midsommar. For them, it was simply a matter of common sense.

When compared to other European countries, where spring comes earlier, or at the very least – on time, in Sweden vårdagjämning can still be bitterly cold. There’s still snow covering most of the country and, especially the further North you go, the length of the day is the only indication that the season has indeed changed.

But let’s talk about the word “season” for a second. While in English, “season” can signify the time of the year when it snows, or the time when guys in tight pants and helmets start throwing a ball around, or the time when the birds and the bees get together and make more birds and bees, it doesn’t work quite the same in Swedish. Here, you have a “season” and a “season” and even a “season.”

  • årstid (def. årstiden, pl. årstider, def.pl. årstiderna) - de fyra årstiderna är vår, sommar, höst och vinter - these are the four seasons
  • säsong (def. säsongen, pl. säsonger, def.pl. säsongerna) - tid på året som passar bäst för något eller då något speciellt händer - badsäsong, turistsäsong, skidsäsong – this would be the word to use when you want to talk about “skiing season” or “football season” or “tourist season.”

Let’s say, you are in the tropics, and it’s rainy season - you’d simply say “regntiden,” or when it’s dry – “torrtiden.”

Similar with the mating season – in Swedish it’s simply “tid” – “parningstid,” or “brunsttid” - useful words when you like to watch nature programs or have cats that are not spayed.

And that pretty much covers all the seasons in Swedish. Now, what can we do to make this alleged spring appear faster, hmmm?

 
Posted under Swedish Language, Vocabulary
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Swenglish eller svengelska?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
14
2009

One of the commenters mentioned my funny English recently and that actually was a very good thing. As any expat who’s been living for a long time in a non-English speaking country can tell you, this is bound to happen. Sooner or later, your English will start deteriorating. And the funniest thing is, you might not even realize when instead of English you begin to switch to Swenglish (or svengelska).

Suddenly, you find yourself talking about “red days.” You begin to “eat pills” and to “follow” people to the movies. And when you hear yourself saying that your husband worked “in the commune under five years” you know it’s been a long time since you visited an English speaking country.

So, let’s take a look at some of the most common direct translation mistakes that both Swedes and long-time expats in Sweden tend to make, OK?

  • Vill du följa med? – literally: Do you want to follow with? Correctly: Do you want to/ would you like to come (along)?

My former chef (who was not a chef) was a super-kind woman, who would always invite me to different activities. First time when I heard her say in English to me: “Do you want to follow us?” it took me a moment to figure out what she meant.

  • chef (def. chefen, plural: chefer, def. plural: cheferna) – correctly in English: boss.

I don’t even remember when it first happened that I started to replace “boss” with “chef” (of course when meaning “boss”) while speaking English. This has to be hands down the most common false-friends mix-up in Swenglish. And it’s an equal opportunity mistake, too - both native Swedes and expats make it.

  • röd dag – literally: red day, correctly: bank/public holiday.

You know you’re listening to two expats talking when you overhear this sort of conversation:

“Are we off tomorrow?”

“Sure, it’s a red day. What are your plans?”

“Dunno, go to the stuga maybe. Do you want to follow?”

  • äta tabletter – literally: eat pills, correctly: take pills.

This always confuses my husband when he goes to the pharmacy. He automatically asks to clarify: “You want me to eat while taking the pills?” Because my husband doesn’t speak Swedish, he and the unlucky pharmacist must communicate in English, and so further confusion ensues. Listening to them can be quite entertaining, actually.

  • under (when talking about time periods) – correctly in English: during

This is also a very common mistake. In December on of my friends who’s been living in Sweden for over 20 years asked me this: “Are you going to be home under Christmas?”

  • den röda tråden – literally: the red thread, correctly: the main thread, common theme

We went to a lecture once where the speaker kept talking (in English) about the red threads in Bergman’s movies. My companion whispered to me quietly: “I didn’t know that Bergman was into the Kabbalah.”

There are of course many more of such words and phrases and this is just a small sample to give you an idea of how easy it is to fall into the svengelska trap.

And now, if you excuse me, I have pills to eat. I got sick under winter break.

 
Posted under Vocabulary
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Sportlov Season Is Upon Us

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Feb
21
2009

And that’s “lov,” NOT “love,” not to be confused, and the meaning is totally different as well.
Sportlov, aka vinterlov, or skidlov is simply Swedish for “winter school break.”

But lov is a tricky word – it has several meanings, and depending on the meaning, it can be either an “ett” or “en” word, or exist without any other form.

So, let’s take a closer look at this mysterious “lov,” shall we?

  • 1. lov (def. lovet, indef.pl: lov, def.pl: loven) – tid då man har ledigt från skolan – sommarlov eller vinterlov – time off from school – summer break or winter break. School holidays, in other words.
  • 2. lov (def. loven, indef.pl: lovar, def.pl: lovarna) – vändning, sväng – a turn (of a boat) – it’s a sailing term
  • 3. lov (without any other forms – such a weird noun in Swedish is called “oböjligt substantiv”) – svar eller förklaring som säger att man får göra något, tillåtelse – permission to do something.
  • 4. lov (def. lovet, no plural forms) – beröm – praise (used as a noun).

So, there’s plenty of reasons to be careful with this noun. It also pops up in many expressions and compound words. Of course “sportlov” is one of such compounds.

Why is a winter school break called literally “a sports holiday” that I don’t know. I’m a very non-sporty person. But I’m sure it has something to do with going outside and playing in the snow. One of the synonyms for “sportlov” is simply “skidlov” – skiing holiday.

And sure it is. Last night I was at Cityterminalen in Stockholm waiting for my bus, and while I sat there doing nothing I watched groups upon groups of school age kids with all sorts of skis and snowboards piling into buses to such exciting destinations as Hemavan and Åre (popular skiing areas).

Kids in Stockholm get their sporlov during week 9. In fact, the whole sportlov schedule is staggered, so the break comes at different weeks in different regions of the country. Below is the usual outline.

Följande delar av Sverige har sportlov följande veckor:

* Vecka 7: Göteborg, Kungsbacka, Jönköpings län, Ydre
* Vecka 8: Uppsala län, Skåne län, Södermanlands län (utom Gnesta), Östergötlands län (utom Ydre), Örebro län, Hallands län, Blekinge län, Kalmar län, Kronobergs län
* Vecka 9: Stockholms län, Dalarnas län, Gästrikland, södra Hälsingland, Västmanlands län, Värmlands län, Gnesta, Älvkarleby, Gotland
* Vecka 10: Västerbotten, Norrbotten, norra Hälsingland, Västernorrlands län, Jämtlands län, Idre
* Vecka 11: Jokkmokk

So, what will your kids do during sportlov?

PS. Back in the olden days sportlov was called kokslov and it was a school break designed to reduce school heating costs during cold winter months.

 
Posted under Vocabulary
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