13 Comments
How would I say "In Decades"?
Eg. "it was the biggest problem in decades" as compared to "it was the biggest problem for decades" which have different meanings.
944
på årtionden would work. Det här är det största problem vi har haft på årtionden. 'This is the biggest problem we've had for decades'.
Can i årtionden also mean "in the decades"? And can "för årtionden" mean for decades?
I guess I should review propositions a lot, but på, i and för seem very variable in their usage.
- 944
in the decades would be under årtiondena, and no, för årtionden would not work. i and på are probably 2 of the most frequent ones, if not the two most frequent ones, so they have a lot of different uses, just like in and on in English.
if i kväll means this evening, why doesn't i årtionden mean this decade?
The i in i kväll serves the same purpose as the "to-" in "tonight". So you may as well ask why you can't say "todecades" in English. :) And the boring answer is that I don't think there's any other reason than the i [time] construction having evolved for the most common options, but not for others.
You can use it to mean "for" if you're dealing with a plural:
- i årtionden = for decades
- i måander = for months
You use it to mean "this" for a specific set of fixed phrases, e.g. i dag and i år.
Seriously I put in decades. But isnt for and I similar in this context anyway?
"In decades" means decades later than now. Here we're looking for "during decades"
why is it not 'the decade'? i guess what i'm asking is why does the plural end in 'en' instead of something more like 'er'?
- 944
It's because it's an ett word. Read more here: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/sv/Plurals
