41 Comments
Yes, it would. It has to do with whether you negate the noun or the verb.
The question has no answer = Frågan har inget svar
The question does not have an answer = Frågan har inte svar
ingen/inget/inga are "no" before a noun or "none" on it's own. Ie "I have no friends" (jag har inga vänner) or "Do you have any friends? I have none." (har du några vänner? Jag har inga). It's a lot like how in English we say both my and mine, but in Swedish the just say min/mitt/mina depending on the grammar of the object.
As standalone words, ingen call also mean "nobody" and "inget" can mean "nothing"
(Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong or unclear)
although they can both be used interchangably, right? (not for purposes of this exercise, but in real life?)
You can listen to this: http://www.tubechop.com/watch/4204972 He says "men ingen ställer frågan: varför..."
The drop down explanation says "does not have any" as the first option. However, it was marked wrong. "An" was the correct word.
831
You're right. We have changed the drop down to "has no" instead, that is closer to the English expression.
It seems like in English we add a lot of words we don't need to, whereas in Swedish, this translates to "The question has no answer". The fact that the answer allows "The question does not have an answer" seems a bit inconsistent when inget is "no", and inte is "not" - different word, but yes, the overall sentence means the same thing
- 831
We usually don't allow both versions, because in most cases the languages correspond perfectly. Hon talar inte engelska is the same as She does not speak English and She speaks no English is Hon talar ingen engelska. In cases like that, we only approve the same version, because there's really no good reason to switch when translating.
Here though, The question does not have an answer would also be Frågan har inget svar in Swedish, so we have to allow both. If you say Frågan har inte ett svar, it either sounds strange, or you stress ett and are actually saying The question does not have one answer.
There may be a few inconsistencies left in the course about these constructions, we're trying to fix that and maybe write something more about it.
I totally understand. Just trying to give logical feedback from a beginner :)
- 831
inte when you negate verbs, ingen/inget when you negate en/ett nouns, respectively. (and inga when you negate plural nouns).
- 831
en retorisk fråga. Although actually a rhetorical question isn't a question that doesn't have an answer, it's one that doesn't want an answer, because it's meant to make a point, not to elicit an answer.
- 831
I'm not quite sure if I think that's an acceptable sentence or not. I'd really like to change it just a little bit. But maybe there's a context where it would work. It would mean The question does not have answers in English.
What do you find confusing? I mean, it's a course for speakers of English, so while we welcome everyone, you will be expected to understand some English.
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Could you also say something like "det finns inget svar" maybe not as a direct translation here, but in general. In English I would say "there is no answer to that question"
Yes - ingen for singular en-words, inget for singular ett-words, inga for plurals.
