"Mannen och kvinnan äter middag."
Translation:The man and the woman are eating dinner.
44 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Middag used to mean lunch but the meaning has shifted to mean dinner. But in many parts of Sweden it still means lunch.
Funny: it happened the same in French with déjeuner which was breakfast (and still is in Canada and Belgium for example) and is now lunch.
EDIT: Well in fact it seems same thing happened in English. dinner was originally the meal of eaten around noon...
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Right. This shift has happened in multiple languages. When people did work involving lots of physical labor they needed to eat their largest meal of the day around noon, in the middle of the workday. Furthermore in some cases the word which used to mean breakfast has shifted to mean the meal now eaten around noon.
It has not in Mexico's spanish, the main meal "comida" (food) is around 2pm and has around 2 hours alotted, power nap included. "Cena" (dinner) is very light and very late ~8-9pm. Unitl afew decades ago most people were farmers.
- 36
In Catalan "dinar" means lunch and I've always wondered why in English "dinner" meant dinner and not lunch. It's interesting how languages change.
- 1081
In English "dinner" means either the evening meal or the midday meal, depending on where you're from and what generation. It means the biggest meal, which varies culturally.
Yes this is correct. That is why Sunday dinner means the meal right after church, or why Thanksgiving dinner is often eaten at the time lunch is usually served. In English, dinner means the main meal of the day.
In the American South a lot of the older folks eat /v used to eat breakfast, dinner, and supper. That usage appears to be slowly fading among the younger ones, who eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- 1148
Yes! Thank you. Dinner and supper are, for this Californian, interchangeable, but I know I've come across it. Supper sounds so... yummm soupy ;-) which might indicate a lighter meal! :-)
Yes, I think it is name of the main meal. And before, when all men were workers and their wifes were at home, all men went home at noon to have their main meal. Now, everybody brings a lunch box or eat in a restaurant and have their main meal when they get home from work in the evening.
Agreed. I'm suspecting it really means lunch but obviously I'm not one to say.
I think the word for lunch is the same as the word "lunch" in English, just pronounced a little differently. Don't quote me on it though!
Clarification please: is middag the mid-day/noon meal or the evening meal in Sweden? In some parts of the U.S. "dinner" is "lunch" and other parts "dinner" is "supper".
Likewise, if I'm in Sweden and I ask for "middag" what time of day would I expect to eat?
Tack
It depends :). For most people it is the evening meal (they have "lunch" at noon). For some people (old people and/or people in the countryside), it is the noon meal (they have "kvällsmat" in the evening).
Btw, I see that you are studying Danish: "kvällsmat" is like aftensmad.
It seems really hard to understand the voice and language. It sounds jumbled. It could be just me. Or is it just the voice speaking TOO fast? I mean, I don't like to use the slower version because I feel I should LEARN the language as is. But this seems ridiculous.
Sounds OK to me as a native, perhaps a tiny bit slow. Try not to get disheartened and keep practicing! Your brain and ears will tune in to Swedish with enough time and exposure. :)
Swedish sounds truly musical to me, even though understanding speakers is the hardest part of studying the language. I've been thinking to study Swedish by going through the lyrics if songs of Kent and Veronica Maggio for example. Cannot say this about German and Danish. I am Bulgarian.
- 1580
Even more fun: until about 60 years ago people in the Netherlands used to eat their hot meal around noon. Probably the same happened in other western and northern European countries.
- 288
Middag in Dutch is still called "middag" aka noon, the time when people eat lunch. This is very confusing, especially since Middag in Swedish used to be lunch :/
Why cannt i listen to the answer again before moving to the next question.
Why not boy and girl I think they are not so bad to not get dinner so mean for parents.
Why is The man and the woman is eating dinner. not right doesn't äter mean is eating, are eating, eating so why can't i use is
- 1580
"The man and the woman" are two persons, so it's like "they": they are eating, the man and the woman are eating.