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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Det är ert barn."
127 Comments
Does anyone have any advice on how to distinguish between "ert barn" and "ett barn" besides context? Can natives easily distinguish between the two sounds?
Yes, it's all clear to a native. Furthermore, the vowels are different; short in ett, long in ert.
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I found that sometimes it's silent and sometimes it's not. Does that depend on subsequent letters? Is there a rule to follow?
Unless you're speaking one of the very few dialects where you might hear the T, pronouncing it is hypercorrection.
- 57
Do swedish people really talk like the automated voice in this sentence? I had to click sköldpaddan to hear that is't four seperate words and not just 2...
I'm a native, and I'd say that while native Swedish is often as fast as TTS here, the TTS seems to be a bit too sloppy here.
I am not a native speake of Swedish, and I would say that I usually find Swedish to be more clear than this. The vowels themselves are ok, but I think the voice could have more stress between words. That is, not deeertbarn but more like de'e'ert'barn.
The difference is in number, singular or plural.
Din/ditt/dina goes with du/dig, the singular second person pronoun.
Er/ert/era belongs to ni/er, the plural second person pronoun.
Follow up question - Is "Ni" (and subsequently er/ert/era) reserved for talking to a group, or can it also be used when speaking formally one-on-one (as is the case in many other languages)? I've read that "Ni" has fallen out of usage as a formal pronoun, not sure if that was accurate or not? Thanks.
It's only for plural, not politeness (and never has been historically).
I wrote a bit about how Swedish expresses politeness here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/5591933
- 1453
Not quite, -t stands for singular ett gender.
ett barn, ert barn 'a child, your child'
en hund, er hund 'a dog, your child'
I think we are on the same page. You are merely adding that it is not all-inclusive for singular cases, correct? If so, I was aware, but failed to add that.
What I was trying to get at is this: if "t" is used, it is NOT used in a plural case. Yes?
EDITED TO ADD:
In the cases of "ett agg" and "ett brev" for examples, is there a suggestion that gender is applied?
- 1453
We usually pronounce it very weakly, basically we normally just say 'det är' as 'dee' (Swedish pronunciation, not English!) with a slightly prolonged e-sound.
I translated the sentence as "this is your child" but only "that" or "it" will be accepted as correct answer. I don't understand why... (just for information:I''m not a native english speaker) What would the sentence "this is your chikd" be in swedish? Thanks for your help!
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This is your child would be either Det här är ditt/ert barn or Detta är ditt/ert barn. There is no difference in meaning between den här/det här and denna/detta, but when used with a noun, they function differently grammatically: we say det här barnet but detta barn.
If we are going to make this distinction with Det här, then why is "that" an accepted translation?
Following the same logic, "that" should only be translatable as "Det där".
- 1453
If you stress det in Swedish, it usually gets the same meaning as det där. Also, we use det där less in Swedish than you use that in English. So in this course, det and det där are allowed for that, and det här and detta are allowed for this.
I totally forgot. Can you tell between ett and en, or you have to memorize them?
I think you have to memorize them, here is a good site ! :)
ahh really wish there was a list of all the -et/-er words so i could practice memorizing them
One thing I've found that really helps me with this is to try to learn the word in the definite form, rather than in the indefinite form. For example: flicka (girl) - I learn it as 'flickan' (the girl) ... or ... hus (house) - I learn it as 'huset' (the house)
That helps me to get the gender and endings thoroughly attached to the word.
what is diference and when is used "er", "ert", "din" and "ditt"? please!!! y si pueden decirmelo en español seria mejor gracias!!!
Er is for common gender nouns ("en" words), ert is for neutral gender nouns ("ett" words).
In Swedish, like in many languages, the word for Child is gender neutral (it) (so one child = ett barn).
Ert = your (second person plural, as if you're talking to perhaps a man and a wife together), ett = a(n).
If i was to say, "Det är ditt barn", would that mean "It is your children"?
No, since "ditt" is used for a singular ett-word, that would mean "it is your child".
Er = common gender nouns, ert = neuter gender nounds, era = plural.
Child is neutral (ett) so you you "ert" instead of "er" (you'd use "er" for son or daughter specifically, for example).
er ert era words are they the same meaning as din ditt dina words just that they for more formal? Same as Du and Ni? Ni more formal
Du is singular you, Ni is plural you. In that respect, imagine that you'd say Din when talking to the mom, but Er when talking to the mom and dad together.
Barn is a neuter gender word (det barn; barnet) so it takes a neuter gender adjective ending
- 1453
You can say Hon är ditt barn or Han är ditt barn, but that's not what the sentence means – det does not refer to the child, it's a placeholder pronoun. See this thread for a longer explanation: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/9708920
For a short fix, consider what you'd say if there was a knock on the door. You can't see the person and someone asks you who you think it is. You wouldn't say 'She's your child' but you could say 'It's your child'. (more likely of course, It's your daughter, but still not She's your daughter)
Although barn is an ett word, we actually normally don't use det as a pronoun about children. So no, it doesn't work like that.
This is fairly common in languages, I think. Presumably it's to avoid gender confusion when identifying a child - historically Swedish also had three genders, though the masculine and feminine disappeared. I assume this is a holdover from the earlier language though.
Wondering if someone can help with "Ditt" can be used instead of "Ert" or any specific rule to follow? tack!
- 1453
'ditt' for something that belongs to one person, 'ert' if it belongs to more than one person
"Det är ert barn. " why is being translated to " It is your child" ? since "Ert" is used for plural and "ditt" for singular "You" where subject is singular noun, i think Ditt is more suitable, correct me tack!
Think of "ditt" as being used in a conversation with one parent and "ert" as being used in a conversation with both parents. In English we only have one "you", but most European languages have a singular you (for talking to one person) and a plural you (when talking to an audience of multiple people).
This has been discussed a bit already in this conversation chain - please read other comments in the future, you might find your answer there.
- 1292
"Ert" might be used because the owners of the child are more than one (you maybe talk to a couple and ask them if the child is theirs). It could also be that you use the polite and slightly old fashion "ni" instead of the normal "du" when you talk to a single person. But if you are talking to a single person, you can use "ditt".
Just to expand on this great explanation - child is singular, but the possessive pronoun matches the ownership of the people whose kid (s) you're talking about. Regardless if it is kid or kids, you would use some form of "er" if you're talking directly to the parents/guardians, just like in English (for instance, if you're talking about HIS kid, you wouldn't use the pronoun "their").
Why isn't it, "it is your children?" Barn keeps messing me up every time.
I think it would sound better to say "They are your children", no?
The "t" at the end of "er" gives it away - "er" would be for common gender, "ert" for neuter, and "era" for plural. So it can not be children.
Tack! It took me forever to get this down. Reading back my sentence, it is obviously wrong. :)
I feel like "they are your child" should also be accepted since they are, it is and that is in English are interchangeable here, unless each of those variations would be specifically written differently in Swedish?
They can also occasionally be a singular pronoun, but that's better left for specific purpose. It's not a general pronoun and doesn't make much sense to accept as a translation here.
No, sitt is for when you have already introduced a subject that has something. For instance: han ger sitt barn mat = he gives his child food.
- ditt = belongs to one person
- ert = belongs to more than one person
Im having trouble telling when barn is plural and when it's singular. Anybody got a firmer grasp on this?
You can often tell by the surrounding words. In this case, ert is a singular form so it has to be one child. Otherwise, it would have been era.
This confuses me. If the collective/plural you is being used, why isn't this Det är era barnen? Or would the way this is worded be something you would say to 1 set of parents about 1 child?
Why is är not pronounced? 'Deeyah (sound det makes) ert barn.' I've listened so many times. Är isn't there right?
How can I possibly know, if this means "They are your children" or "It is your child"? I'm confused
I believe they are your children would be "de är era barn." Both the de/det/den and three er/era/ert would have to agree.
Obviously. :) But I went through every sentence of all of the most basic lessons several times when I was a contributor. Their error rates are practically zero, since they are so simple. I very much doubt both are not accepted already.
Tack! That's very nice to hear. There's much to do still but it's a good start at least.
ert is a singular form, so it can only be one child. The plural is era.
- 1292
Ditt: singular, one owner. Ert: plural, more than one owner. Or one owner towards whom you are very polite.
- ditt = singular you, meaning the child belongs to one person
- ert = plural you, meaning the child belongs to more than one person
How to know when it will be ett or ert, only by listening the pronunciation?
Both the vowels and the consonants are different. :)
Very roughly speaking, the e in ett is like that in English "bet", and the one in ert is like that in English "beer".
And tt is pronounced like an English t, but rt is a retroflex.
A bit confused here. When do we say 'ert' and when do we say 'ditt' for 'your' when the noun takes an 'ett'?
ditt when you're talking to one person.
ert when you're talking to more than one person.
No, ett uses a different vowel sound, and no retroflex. The difference is very clear to a native.
