"Han kastade bollen i mål."

Translation: He threw the ball into the goal.

[JANBOEVINK]

It seems to me one could also say: i målet, but I am not sure and I did not try. Any comment?

[Chris-Butler]

Yes, I tried 'målet' and it wasn't accepted. Why is this? Surely it should be the bestämd form

[Hashmush]

It should not be accepted, sorry. We just don't say that, it's always i mål.

[Chris-Butler]

Ok tack, so in which situations is 'målet' used then?

[Hashmush]

In other situations where you're talking about a goal. It's just that, in that phrase it's kinda fixed and we just say i mål. Here's an example where both mål and målet are used:

• Kommer du ihåg målet jag gjorde förra matchen?
• Aa, jag trodde aldrig att det skulle bli mål, sån tur.

Translation (roughly):

• Do you remember the goal I scored last game?
• Yeah, I didn't think it would go in, lucky shot.

Also, mål can refer to an abstract goal or objective as well as a legal case.

• Vad har du för mål i livet?

• What are your objectives in life?

• Varför tar det här målet sån tid?

• Why is this case taking so long?

[Chris-Butler]

Ok tack så mycket, so it's generally used as you would expect other than this example. tack för förklärningen :)

[CruiseCont]

the English translation sounds weird--I would say, 'he threw the ball into the target', but it was not accepted

[Sjodni]

Cheating! He cheated folks! And now all foreign learners learning swedish know it!!!

[Hashmush]

See my other comment -.- There are more sports in this world than, say football.

[Hazilrigg]

What sport is this talking about?

[Hashmush]

Probably handball http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball

[jhmelman]

Not if you are talking about Maradona! :D

[Timurso53]

related to the english "to cast"?

[Hashmush]

Yes https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cast#Etymology

[Vlad514020]

Why 'to the goal' was not accepted here? Thanks.

[Hashmush]

The words "i mål" carries the meaning of scoring a goal. However, neither "to the goal" nor "towards the goal" does.

[Christophir]

The English word cast means "throw", btw.

[devalanteriel]

Sure, but it's very unidiomatic to use in this sentence.

[Mugg19]

Well, yeah, but it sounds hilarious and isn't technically wrong (maybe, google translate seems to agree). Ergo, it should definitely be accepted >.> <.< >.> ^.^

• "He cast/had cast the ball into the goal."

• "He had cast the ball into the fires of Mount Doom, the creature Gollum having held fast to his precious until the very last."

Same thing, really, I mean come on..

[devalanteriel]

No, we're not supposed to accept technically correct but bad translations.