42 Comments
"Soppa" can also mean something like "mess":
Vilken soppa. = What a mess.
Det var en riktig soppa. = It was a real mess.
...and in the above sentences you could replace "soppa" with "röra" (touch, move, stir, ..) for the same meaning. "Röra" is more flexible though: you could say "Det är rörigt" ("It's messy"), while "soppigt" is far less commonly used and would often sound weird. My home is certainly "rörigt" but not "soppigt" :)
This just doesn't sound like very good English. It's hard to imagine this phase spoken with sounding awkward and out of place.
We have checked this one with native English speaking English teachers and there should not be any problem with it. "A soup" would refer to a kind of soup or similar. As in "What is Minestrone? - It is a soup." It is of course not perfect, but for the sake of learning the article for soup, it is necessary.
170
In the example you gave, the article is used because you are describing a type of soup. The article goes with type (implied, even though it's not stated directly), not soup.
Some languages use articles where others don't, or where the use of the article implies something else. I've encountered some where saying "a soup" implies a bowl of soup instead.
So, here's my question. If you were in Sweden and wanted to say you were having soup for lunch, would you say en soppa? Or just soppa?
Normally only "soppa", but if wanted to order starters for three persons, e.g. one soup and two salads, I would say "en soppa och två sallader" :).
no, sorry, that's a crap response. yes, you can say a 'kind of' soup, but generally you just sya soup. It's uncountable. Soup. Not 'a soup'.
Definitely eat! At least as long as you use a spoon.
You might drink blueberry soup, or hip soup, but then you would use a cup.
I remember it sounded so awkward to me in the beginning, hearing English speakers talking about drinking soup... So, go for "äter" in Swedish!
Actually, I grew up and live in the US, and everyone I know says "eat soup", but in Chinese it is "drink soup". ☺ Thanks for your response.
Well, honestly, we would never say " a soup" in English, so this is awkward. "Soup" or "Some soup" or "The soup".
- 234
Out of context it does sound odd, but I can imagine "Choose one soup and one main from this menu".
Because en and ett mean "a" but also "one." You can tell which one it is based on the rest of the sentence. For example, if someone were to say "en, två, tre" etc, you'd know they meant "one." Hope this helps :)
While soup itself is not countable, a SERVING of soup certainly is. And it's not alone; we ofter break liquids into more manageable pieces. I drink a coffee every morning. Later I have a pee. :-)
- 888
There's an interesting discussion about this here: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1230776
With uncountable nouns it is always possible to find a context in English where we can use the article "a", but seems like a bad idea for introductory language lessons. The fact that so many native speakers feel that it is wrong should be a good enough reason to drop it. There is no lack of foods for this lesson.
And if it's the principle of presenting genders, why didn't the lessons have "ett vatten" and "ett nötkött"?
I'm enjoying the lessons and think they're quite good. My remarks are only intended to help make them even better.
I especially value all of the extremely helpful discussions by native (and other) speakers. Thanks.
- 888
buljong (it's an en word, and the stress is on the last syllable – French loan word).
In UK English, they can say broth about a certain type of soup.
i dont get it. a soup means one portion of soup when we are talkaing about restaurant. is it the same with soppa? is it usually used with the article unlike english or does it have the same usage as in english?
We just say soup, not a soup. "Would you like soup?" "I think I'll have the soup". "I am drinking soup." "Would you like a bowl of soup" Never "I want a soup". Not unless it is a weird American thing. It's definitely not used in Australia.
a/an literally means en/ett (depengind on word gender ofc)
"Some" soup would be "Någon" (anyone/anything) or "Lite" (little/small amount)
It's maybe a bowl of soup, a soup, or at a restaurant -What do you want? -A soup.
- 888
Mygrapefruit is right though, that would be lite soppa or någon soppa. For one thing, this is not a sentence. But also, you could be talking about a type of soup or order 'one soup' (which is another accepted answer).
