"Jag tar av mig kläderna."
Translation:I am taking my clothes off.
77 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Also, the definite form of regularly occurring nouns can also be used as a possessed noun, as something someone is supposed to have. "Jag borstar tänderna" (I brush my teeth) is a good example of this, since teeth are something that people generally have, you can replace it (mina tänder) with the definite form :).
The entire verb here is ”ta av sig” which literally means ”take off oneself” so you have to include all parts of the verb. That’s why you say ”jag tar av mig kläderna” which is literally something like ”I take off myself the clothes”. It’s not that you do it yourself, but rather that you do it from yourself rather than from someone else.
1073
Understood, but shouldn't the translation be "I'm taking off the clothes" with the use of "kläderna"?
689
No. Your proposed translation leaves out the important me/my/myself part.
True, the Swedish uses the definite article "kläderNA". But what the Swedish actually means in English is that I am taking off my clothes, not "the" clothes.
That's because it's actually of, not off. ”The taking of one's clothes.” uses of but it's too hard to try and force of into this translation to reflect that. "I will partake of some wine" uses of this way but nobody is going to say "I will take of my clothes". Another swedish phrase "ta livet av sig” would not make sense with off instead of of. It refers to the taking of one's life. So you can see it's not really off.
1234
I am supporting this statement 100%, ^_^ But, I am unclear about AV. Does it represent both 'of' and 'off'?
2033
Try also the Norwegian course, a favorite sentence there is “The wolf is eating me”. Could be useful in Sweden.
1073
If "tar av mig" is reflexive as is "har på mig", shouldn't the translation be "I'm taking off the clothes"? "Kläderna" also is "the clothes" after all.
689
Your proposed translation leaves out the important me/my/myself part.
True, the Swedish uses the definite article "kläderNA". But what the Swedish actually means in English is that I am taking off my clothes, not "the" clothes.
1073
I think I understand the concept, it’s just a peculiarity to get used to. For me this sounds literally like „I take off my the clothes.“
689
It's more like "I take the clothes off myself".
I'm worried that you are creating difficulties where none exist.
1073
Don’t worry, it’s all good - this translation actually makes more sense, thank you.
689
The Swedish literally says "I take off myself the clothes". But English does not say that. English says "I take off my clothes".
So, to answer your question, it would be wrong to use "the" in the English translation, because English does not say it that way.
452
Write what you hear in Swedish: "Jag tar av mig kläderna." Me: Hmm, I can understand the words but I don't know what that means... Writes the words in -> Correct!; Translation appears at the bottom. Also me: Okay, this could come in handy, I need to remember this!
689
P34RTR33, you need to learn about reflexive verbs. You can start by reading the comments on this page.