"You are boys."
Translation:Ni är pojkar.
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2008
Du is only used for the singular. Since you're referring to a group of boys, you'd use ni instead
I have been told by Swedish teachers that "ni" can also be used to address single persons formally. But nowadays that method is mostly used with elders or possibly people in high authority. I could be wrong. But I have heard it said.
Your post is over a year old and you probably know this by now, but for the benefit of other learners: That's largely a myth, though a common one. The word ni was mostly never in use in that way - Swedish used a titular system instead.
ni :)
It's used for the plural, but not for the singular formal.
- du = you, one person, subject form
- dig = you, one person, object form
- ni = you, more than one person, subject form
- er = you, more than one person, object form
Ni dricker : you are drinking. Ni är pojkar : you are boys. Why is är not used in the first sentence? Thanks in advance
English can use "are" both for nouns being something, e.g. "you are boys", and for expressing that something happens continuously - as in "you are drinking" instead of "you drink".
But Swedish doesn't have the continuous sense, so "you are drinking" is just ni dricker.
Du is singular, so what you're really saying is, "You (the one person) are boys (many people)". That doesn't make much sense, right? Instead, use "Ni är pojkar", because "ni" is plural.
