- Forum >
- Topic: Swedish >
- "Kvinnan dricker en kopp kaff…
19 Comments
Is Swedish similar to Semitic languages where there is no "of"? This sentences says "The woman drinks a cup coffee" I was just wondering if it is natural in Swedish not to have "of" in a situation like this.
1460
In some cases we have a word like of, which is av in Swedish. But for containers with content, more often we use med, which usually corresponds to with in English. So you could also say en kopp med kaffe. Av tends to be used more for things that are "constructed out of" something. Like, ett hjärta av sten = "a heart of stone". But, in general, we do use the of less. And of course it is often replaced by compound nouns as well.
No, there is a word for "of", but you don't use it when talking about a cup of coffee, a bowl of cereal etc. The word is "av" and you can read when to use it here: http://blogs.transparent.com/swedish/the-many-uses-of-the-preposition-av/
It reminds me to a "relaxing cup of café con leche in plaza mayor", a quote from the ex-mayor of Madrid. How embarrassing...
when i go on the translator, it says something different for these sentences
How do you know when to use the 'i' spelling or the 'y' spelling of dricker (drycker)?
I wrote "The woman is drinking a cup of tea" and didn't get accepted even though in similar cases it didn't matter wheter I used one or the other. Is there a certain reason why it doesn't work here?
I wonder how one might say:
"a coffee cup" as opposed to, for example, a teacup?
Would it be:... en kaffe kopp?
