24 Comments
Is the use of "the breakfast" standard in the way that English speakers say just "breakfast" or is it really a specific breakfast? I.e., Semantically, is this more "Breakfast is a meal," or "The breakfast is a meal?"
Yes, you could. "Is this breakfast more of a meal, or a snack?" "The breakfast is a meal."
The answer to your suggested question, though, would begin "It's...", and not "The breakfast...".
85
Nobody would ever say "the breakfast is a meal"
"The vacation package I bought includes 20 meals. Does that include the breakfast on the first day?"
"Yes, the breakfast is a meal."
- 740
I'm wondering this myself. In French it's more correct to say "Le petit déjeuner est un repas" than "Petit déjeuner est un repas". So is it the same here?
- 866
Either works in Swedish but actually just frukost makes a bit more sense, as a general statement.
I notice that either "The breakfast is..." or "Breakfast is..." is accepted.
- 866
Arguably Frukosten är en måltid can mean either that some specific breakfast is a meal, or that "the known concept 'breakfast'" is a meal. If we said Frukost är en måltid, we'd be sure only the general concept was meant, and only 'breakfast' could be an acceptable translation. But here, either works.
I think you just have to teach your brain that it's there. It wouldn't make sense to say "The breakfast is meal." And since "en" isn't stressed it gets glided over and smushed into the "r", which if you hear in the rest of the audio, is often extended already with an extra schwa, so that in this sentence it sounds like, "ärn". Plus, "en" isn't stressed in this sentence (idk if it ever really is) ESPECIALLY with the pitch stress that Swedes use. Which is similar to how in English all unstressed vowels are reduced. I think it's just often reduced.
But also, I don't know how accurate a lot of this audio is, because I was talking to my Swedish friends and they often pronounce things differently than the audio. For instance, I said, "Jag" without the G on the end, because the audio never plays it, but they corrected me and said it's pronounced with a hard G, like, "Jo GÄR en MAN." Buuut, none of them have very much linguistic knowledge, and they got angry when I asked if that was just their regional accent and not the standard and swore it was standard! haha
It's just said really fast, I could hear it but I had to press it a few times and listen carefully.
I guess that is just me. You are learning Danish, and I know in Danish words are kind of eaten up. So you are probably a master at this stuff :P
I can hear it but it's quick and if you're not a native Swedish speaker, it's probably difficult to hear it.
She actually said "en"; it sounded like "frukosten ärn måltid", where "än" is "är" + "en"
The sentences before this one are:
- I eat a meal
- You eat a meal
- We eat the meal
- The woman eats food
- Is the food good?
- The boy loves food
- etc.
