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Help answering questions in Swedish
Hej!
I've made it to the first round of "questions" in Swedish and I am a little stuck. I am able to translate all the examples now (for the most part) since I have done them so many times, but I am hesitating to move on because I know I don't fully understand the rules for asking questions in Swedish. I'd like to know the grammar before I carry on to the next section. Can anyone recommend a good resource that could help explain the rules to me?
6 Comments
Did you read the text on the skill overview page? (here: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/sv/Questions)? I think that explains most of the important points. Don't hesitate to ask more questions though, we're here to help you!
I did read the text on the page and it helped a lot but I'm still having some trouble being careful to apply the rules correctly. And I'm not sure if I fully understand it all yet. I made a little list yesterday to help me based on some of what I learned from the site and what I watched on some youtube videos. Can someone tell me if this makes sense? I went over it yesterday and realized I was still putting the subject before the verb, I think it's mostly fixed now. Basically, this is how I understand asking questions and I want to make sure I'm not messing anything up:
Question words
Vem - who Vad - what När - when Vär - where (location) Värt - where (direction) Varför - why Hur - how
Asking questions
Question word comes first, followed by the verb, followed by the subject
e.g: "What are you doing?”
becomes “Vad gör du?”
In English, literally “What do you?”
The word “no”
inga - plural, when you are referring to more than one thing.
ingen - common gender. “en” words. Also means literally “no one”.
inget - neuter. “ett” words. Also can mean literally “no thing”, is used to mean “nothing”, like ingenting.
ingenting = “nothing”
inte = “not”
Asking questions without “question” words (who, what, when, etc.)
Usually have “yes” or “no” answers.
Use the same grammar that you would use asking a question with a question word.
e.g: “varför läser du Eriks bok?” / “Why are you reading Erik’s book?"
becomes “ läser du Eriks bok?” / “Are you reading Erik’s book?”
The negative form of the question without the question word is
“Läser du inte Eriks bok?” / “Aren’t you reading Erik’s book?”
With a question word this sentence becomes “Varför läser du inte Eriks bok?” / “Why aren’t you reading Erik’s book?"
That looks good, except you've got a typo on Var and Vart, they shouldn't have dots on them.
Most important points are as you say, question type with question word: the verb comes in second place in the sentence.
Question type without a question word: reverse word order. (Läser du Eriks bok?)
When answering negative questions or assumptions with yes, you can't answer ja, you must say jo. – Har du inte läst boken? – Jo det har jag. (Haven't you read the book? Yes I have. )
Thank you! I couldn't figure out the difference between ja/jo, now I get it. :)
