20 Comments
Is there a difference between actively and passively sitting? Are they both sitter?
835
Actively sitting down (moving from standing to sitting) is sätter sig but sitting as in already being seated is sitter.
If you hover over "sitter" it says a possible translation is "is". Is this a typo? I'd imagine it should be "sit"
- 835
Many things "sit" or "stand" or "lie" in Swedish, when they just "are" in English. For instance, "Näsan sitter i ansiktet" in Swedish, but I guess that would be "The nose is on the face" in English. Also in expressions like "Han sitter i fängelse" - "He's in prison". However, in this sentence of course "sitter" does not mean "is" in English.
Tack! Thank you for making that so clear. I never would have guessed that, but it totally makes sense now
Does Swedish have a generic "is situated/located"? (Heh, the prison one's identical to Russian!)
- 835
Well, if you speak Russian, befinner sig is the same as находится, that is sort of a generic verb for it. But it's not really a colloquial word, usually we use the words sitter 'sits', står, 'stands' or ligger 'lies' depending on what object we're talking about.
I see, that's exactly what in had in mind, thanks! ...I can't resist. If you speak Russian... как говорить надлежит: стоит тарелка или лежит? (är en tallrik står eller sitter?)
- 835
Всегда стоит, она может лежать только если разбитая. It's always Tallriken står, (unless it's broken) and if you put the plates on the table, you use the verb ställer.
Для русскоязычного тоже интересно, что дома на шведском редко стоят – бывает, что так говорим, но только если хотим подчеркуть, что дома высокие. Чаще всего, дом у нас лежит. Var ligger huset? 'Где находится дом?'
Arnauti is correct, but with the addition that if the plate lies on the floor because someone dropped it or similar (and you do not intend to eat from it in that place), then "tallriken ligger på golvet" is often used. (A sentence you think often, if you have a small child :-) .)
- 679
What is wrong with saying 'The boy sits down'? Is there a specific way of saying this?
- 835
Yes, pojken sätter sig. (assuming you mean 'sits down' as in 'moves from standing to sitting position')
Following feom Karr Man; It does sound like sviter rather than sitter when you listen to it. Does anyone know why?
When I click the button on the left I hear a different pronunciation for the word 'sitter' than what I hear when I click only that word. Why is that?
