106 Comments
Actually you just invented a pretty good one yourself there by adding an extra 'l'.
Mina föräldrar är fula = My parents are ugly Mina föräldrar är fulla = My parents are drunk
:)
I'm glad they teach us such useful sentences. Along with the ones above, I have no idea what I'd do without "älgen tittar på mig" ("the moose is looking at me"), or "jag undrar var mina byxor är". ("I wonder where my pants are") .
Edit: sarcasm guys. It's SARCASM.
I swear this comment has been on every sentence regarding a moose in a Scandinavian language
I think in the adjectives lesson "är lik" was used to mean "look like", but I don't remember the exact context. Is "ser ut" used in a different way, or are they interchangeable?
882
Yes, ser ut som means looks like and liknar means resembles. So she looks like a moose, but it wouldn't be quite as fitting to say that she resembles a moose. Not impossible, but not as likely.
Just to add to what Arnauti wrote, "Liknar" and "Är lik" are more or less interchangeable. Both mean resemble.
I am sorry, but I am a begginer in Swedish and in English I am not very good, but looks like and resembles is not the same thing???
As I understand it, it's kind of like the difference between "might" and "may," so the difference lies in the level of certainty.
Arnauti: looks like = resembles = looks like. There may be a distinction in the Swedish (between ser ut som and liknar) but there is none in the meaning of the English terms you mention. E.g. Cambridge Dictionary: "resemble (verb) = look like or be like (someone or something)".
There is a difference, though - for instance, if someone sees you and your father walking, there may be a resemblance in how you both walk, for which you wouldn't use "look like". Hence Cambridge saying "or be like".
This may seem like a silly point, but since the difference is well worth learning in Swedish, we try to preserve it in translation as well. :)
Can "ser ut" be used to translate "she looks tired" for instance? Hon ser ut trött?
This is so like in German. I keep finding Swedish like someone being a tad too tipsy and trying to speak in German and English at the same time. I'm having a wonderful blast, laughing often and learning much much Swedish that way!!!
I am slowly approaching German through norwegian and then swedish and then danish. It's an intimidating language.
- 850
It can be that she is tall, has very long legs and a long stride. You can use the verb "älga" about people, for "walking with a long stride".
The words ser ut come from a common origin with English see and out. As an expression ser ut translates to looks like.
It is necessary.
Ser and ser ut mean different things. Att se (ser) has the same meaning as English to see. Ut changes the meaning of ser, kind of like flipping the direction of the seeing to the outside. Ser ut could be more literally translated to "appears outwardly". The difference between ser and ser ut is like the difference between gives and gives up, e.g. "She gives playing cards" vs "She gives up playing cards".
Ut is an adverb, modifying ser. Som, in turn, is an adverb to ser ut, e.g. "She appears outwardly like a moose".
You can use "ser ut" on its own to mean "look out" in the right context. Han ser ut genom fönstret. He looks out the window. Hon ser ut över havet. She looks out over the ocean. The meanings are pretty different though, so you'll most likely be able to tell which meaning you're looking for just from context.
Alright. I did think of ser ut as the spanish verb paracer, and tittar is ver or mirar.
Ohhh! As a native spanish speaker I hadn't considered this and it may be useful! thanks!
Because in Britain, Americas, SA, NZ, AUS etc... we don't normally say "is looking" or "am looking" for something that is constant. "am loving" "am climbing" "am walking" "am surfing" . If you want to say you are a climber, you say "I climb". E.G " I surf" "I hike" "I shoot" mean I am a surfer, I am a hiker and I like to shoot. I am loving is something that is sneaking into English mainly from international users and Indian English. She -is looking- like a moose, is okay, but will mark you out as a non native speaker. "she -looks- like" is much better sounding to natives. Just as we much prefer to hear "She writes, or she is a writer" rather than "she is writing". She is writing is only used when talking about now, or specific occasions, such as she is writing this report (now or currently), She is writing regularly or she is writing 3 times a week.
If you were to say, she is looking like a moose, it would mean the way she is seeing things.
So why is behaving like ett svin worse than acting like en gris? Is it similar to the distinction (of esteem) between the English words swine and pig?
Generally speaking, behaving like a gris implies being e.g. unkempt or physically dirty, not taking care of their hygiene or not washing their hands before cooking for other people - that sort of thing.
Behaving like a svin, on the other hand, is an issue of moral dirtiness. That middle manager who's sexually harrassing their employees because they know the employees don't dare go to HR and can't quit? Someone breaking up with you over text while also mentioning you'll want to get tested for STDs? Those are definitely swine.
So it is rather like the pig/swine distinction then! If I say "You pig!" what I'm complaining about has more to do with a lack of "personal daintiness" than the moral depravity that would cause me to exclaim "You swine!" Being a pig in English also means going at one's food like a pig at the trough. Would it mean the same thing to say "han äter som en gris"?
Yes, that's correct, though you could also use it for overeating to the point of rapidly gaining weight.
Exactly the same as the german "Sieht aus wie". "Sie sieht aus wie ein Elch" It is actually not "looks out as" but "sees out as" (or "sees out like")
Yes. If you put it in the infinitive like that, att se ut som.
Why would "han beter sig ut som gris" have the word sig and not the original sentence "hon ser ut some en älg." ?????????
- 882
bete sig is a reflexive verb. It's just a grammatical feature of some verbs.
That would mean she is moose-like. Perhaps she has four legs, antlers, etc.
- 882
Not really. I'd take hon är lik en älg to mean 'she resembles a moose' as in 'she resembles one specific moose'.
- 456
Like Bullwinkle? :-) (I am showing my age and nationality as a American here.)
There was a different way to say someone looks like someone else in one of the previous lessons. Something like " she looks like her mother " . Can anyone tell me how it sounded exactly?
- 350
How should I say "She looks as beautiful as a moose"? "Hon ser ut som snygg som an älg"?
Hon ser så vackert ut som an älg would be my attempt (I hope the native speakers will correct me if I'm wrong), literally "she appears so beautiful outwardly like a moose".
I'd say Hon ser lika vacker ut som en älg. Your way works if you change to vacker, but it's not an idiomatic phrasing outside of poetry.
Titta = Only means to look at something, not to look like something. Also the infinite form of the verb, not the present tense.
Lika = Plural form of the adjective "alike".
