"Enligt henne är hästen vit."
Translation:According to her, the horse is white.
48 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
"Är hästen vit?" Yeah. It's the same as here. If you just said "The horse is white", it would be "Hästen är vit." The "Enligt henne" affects the word order of the sentence. If you are confused by it, try to think of it as "Only because something happened could something else happen" and not "Only because something happened something else could happen. It's the way it works.
Re-recording
The voice is not quite perfect on this sentence, as of August 11th, 2017, so I've taken the liberty of re-recording it.
The stress should be on henne, and that word shouldn't merge with är as happens currently.
Please find a correct recording on http://duolingo.vydea.io/239b388ab9f640379e0bc23e93f07f33.mp3
For more info on re-recordings, please check the info thread: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/23723515
Thanks for listening. Ha en bra dag! :)
1902
"Är hästen vit, enligt henne?" is the possible way to have it as an unambiguous question.
No, Swedish makes a difference between predicative and attributive adjectives, meaning that even though hästen is in the definite, the adjective isn't here.
I've written about it briefly several times in these forums, e.g. here: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/26420394/Answers-to-some-common-questions-on-grammar-that-beginners-have (under "How many definites do I need when I have an adjective describing a noun?")
well, i just dont get it (native german speaker i am :-)). nobody would set a comma in a sentence where there isnt in the translation ("enligt henne är hästen vit" being "according to her, the horse is white). but then it is "enligt henne, hästen är vit" being "according to her, the horse is white". its driving me completely crazy. i've never bothered with grammatics (you just learn it the way it is) but you would never put a comma somewhere while translating while there isnt any in the original sentence
you would never put a comma somewhere while translating while there isnt any in the original sentence
That's actually not true. Since languages work differently, there may be many reasons to change punctuation when translating.
In this case, the most straightforward way of expressing the sentence is in its natural word order: Hästen är vit enligt henne.
When you move enligt henne in front, Swedish requires you to move the verb so that it comes directly after. So you get enligt henne är hästen vit, instead of enligt henne hästen är vit.
In English, however, when you move "according to her" in front, you don't move the verb. Instead, you add a comma. So you get "according to her, the horse is white".
It's simply bad grammar to skip the comma in English - and it would be to add the comma in Swedish.
thanks. thats a really good explanation. but its still a bit confusing because you really have to think about how the word order has to be set. for many german people its a hit confusing because you have to learn swedish - english - german and the other way around. there isnt a direct way for swedish - german built in duolingo. so its exercise in english as well, but that makes it a bit complicated when it comes to word order.
nevertheless - tack så mycket for the good explanation. i wish i could learn it that it goes fluently
I really like the way Duolingo kinda throws you into a new sentence without much explaining and you are expected to figure it out for yourself. Such a great way to learn a language! Surely has helped me a lot as I have "forced" myself to memorize the order in a sentence by making up my own version of the rules instead of having to learn one by heart.