26 Comments
This gets confusing as an English person, as the American meaning of "pants" is used here. How would you say "pants" in the English sense (as in underpants)?
”Underpants” is commonly ”underkläder” but we often specify what kind as well ”kalsonger” (boxers, briefs, men’s underpants) or ”trosor” (knickers, panties, women’s underpants). Notice that trousers is also accepted for byxor though and it is the word that shows up for me in this discussion thread.
890
I'd like to add that the course is supposed to be in American English, so it should be the pants (there may be inconsistencies though, feel free to report them). I guess we'll just have to add some underwear words as accepted translations. Some of the sentences will be more fun that way too :)
The headline is wrong at the moment, but I'll see if I can fix that.
Why is the course "supposed to be in American English". Haven't seen that represented as such in several years of Duolingo usage.
- 382
I don't think they mean to imply that other types of English is wrong or that Britishisms shouldn't be accepted, for example. Simply that Americanisms will be emphasized, because they have to choose one standard to work from.
I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, but it's because the majority of the world's English speakers speak American English.
Seeing as Swedish is an European language, I think that the English should be Traditional English (British) and not simplified English (American). Trouser/s :P
TBF British English now is far from "traditional english." I'd maybe say Sophisticated English (as far as my understanding goes, B.E. come from the more Francified Upper Class dialect), but both languages are far different from Old English.
Yeah, it’s sometimes used as a synonym for ”ett par byxor” (a pair of pants), but it’s more common to describe them as a pair.
Is "tycker" pronounced like "tukker" in English pronunciation? Because that's what it sounds like to me, rather than "tikker"
I don't know if that helps, but swedish "y" is pronounced like french "u" or german "ü". Try saying saying "ee" like in "weed" while your lips are positioned like when saying "oo" ("wood").
- 890
The lips are more rounded and protruded for the Swedish sound than for German or French. Think duckface :)
For useful links to more info on pronunciation, see: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/5892805
Does the "or" in byxor make it permanently plural like pants in english or does it just happen to end in "or"?
- 890
It's just like in English. The reason is historical – when pants were first invented, they were made in two parts, people only started to make them as one garment later on.
Om är byxorna gröna, jag gillar det. (If the pants are green, I like them) Would this be right?
- 890
Super late answer, and I bet you could have answered this yourself by now, but it would have to be Om byxorna är gröna gillar jag dem. Subclause in first place, then the verb right after that.
What if I want to talk bout several pants? What would be the correct word? Or it will remain the same?
'Pants' is US English for UK English 'trousers'. 'Pants' in UK English means a different article of clothing (underwear). Is there any prospect of taking major variations in target language into account?
The course does need a default, and Duolingo HQ defaults to American English. Other major regional variations are accepted throughout the course, though. If a specific word or phrase is missing, please report that.
Having a separate option to always default to e.g. UK spellings and word choices is not something that Duolingo offers, and it would be a major change to the system so I can't see that happening any time soon.
