"Jag förbereder mig för helgen."

Translation: I prepare myself for the weekend.

[KaiAlben]

" I'm getting ready for the weekend" or " I get ready for the weekend " are both valid translations.

[friswing]

Yes, I think so. 'I prepare myself for the weekend' feels more sinister, as if the person is expecting only bad things ... any comments?

[rwhodges]

As a native English speaker, I mostly agree. To "prepare yourself" does not necessarily imply bad things coming, but generally something that could be stressful or overwhelming. For an example of a potentially good thing, you might need to prepare yourself to go on a first date with someone you really like. But definitely it's at least for something that is going to be stressful in some way. It is about working on your mental composure.

[friswing]

Swedish 'förbereder' is more prepare for a date kind of thing, or a party or a family dinner, with a lot of cakes to bake, food, and other preparations. But of course the context could also be some kind of stressful event, at least someting that needs preparations, e.g. a trip, a course. ... But, I prepare myself for what may come = Jag är beredd på vad än som kan hända. .

[skrats]

What is the difference between förbereder and beredd?? I'm not quite seeing it

[friswing]

Förbereder is the verb, the act of doing preparations for something (a party, a travel, an exam, etc). But beredd is used after any form of vara (being), like an adjective or participe, your state of being prepared, when the preparations are made, etc.

[Paaulmax]

Thanks for asking that.

[JordanOsr]

Out of curiosity, is there a similar verb without the associated potential stress (Of a date, or a family dinner, or a party)? Or could this verb be used as appropriately in those situations?

[friswing]

I would say that förbereder is the more common, appropriate for all kinds of 'preparing'. But for a more stressful situation, I would change it into vara beredd, here I have already done all the preparations, I 'am prepared for what may come', Jag är beredd på vad än som kan hända

[martin.mk]

sich vorbereiten vs sig förbereder

I knew German would come in handy someday :)

[Zmrzlina]

Swedish is basically a bastard child of Low German and Old Norse...

[photodiarist]

I answered correctly, but I wonder, would "I prepare for the weekend" be accepted? As rwhodges said, in English to prepare oneself implies an expectation of a challenge or stress of some sort. I would guess that the Swedish sentence above has the meaning of getting ready for the weekend.

[MarkBorkBorkBork]

I think it should be accepted if it isn't. I believe Förbereder is a transitive verb and needs an object, but prepare can be intransitive, so myself is not needed. Including myself makes it seem a little more intense than I believe förbereder to be in Swedish.

[ReinerSelb]

it's an accepted answer.

[person222222]

Is this like "I am mentally readying myself for the weekend" or is it like "I am making plans for the weekend"?

[friswing]

Usually it is a more practical thing, like packing your suitcase etc.

[TheBeetleMan]

Why asnwer has "myself" while there is no "själv" in the clause?

[MarkBorkBorkBork]

mig is a self-reference.

[bigswedeej]

I seem to remember a julsång Bereden Väg, which i thought was prepare the way. Where am i wrong?

[friswing]

it is a very old religious hymn, so it contains 'old' language. Bered en väg för Herren... = Build a road for the Lord. (or maybe 'bereden' is an old plural form of Bered, in that case there is no article 'en'). It is a kind of pave the way for him.

[rswansonvt]

Why not jag förbereder sig?

[MarkBorkBorkBork]

That would be I prepare him. See the response to my comment.

[ReinerSelb]

no. it would be something strange like i prepare oneself. just wrong. you need to adjust the reflexive pronoun to the personal pronoun:
jag... mig
du... dig
han/hon... sig
vi... oss
ni... er
de... sig

[MarkBorkBorkBork]

Thanks for the correction!

[ReinerSelb]

yay! det kommer att vara en rolig fest!

[Patrick889093]

Isn't själv myself ?
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[friswing]

Yes, when you emphasizing yourself. But this sentence has the reflexive verb "förbereda sig" (getting ready), so we only use the reflexive pronoun (mig, dig, sig, oss, er, sig). It would sound weird to use 'myself' in this phrase.

[SSilvamc]

Does this mean to prepare myself over the weekend for something that comes after it, or rather to prepare myself now for the weekend?

[friswing]

The preparation is now - for the weekend, maybe a party or a trip happening this weekend.