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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Jag vill ha en smörgås."
65 Comments
Hi, could someone please explain: 1. Is it irregular verb ("vill")? Since it doesn't have suffix -r/-er/-ar 2. Why do we add here "ha"? Does it something like a phrasal verb? Thanks.
- The infinitive of vill is (att) vilja and it is indeed irregular. In Swedish we often list the conjugations infinitive, preterite and supine of a verb and call them the "theme" of the verb. For vilja, the "theme" is vilja, ville, velat. Here are all its conjugations: http://sv.bab.la/verb/svensk/vilja
- Vilja does not imply that you want ownership of something, as it does in English or French. In English if you want to do something, you use "want to" + verb. In Swedish this is the only valid construction, but without the "to" (would have been att in this case) so the construction is the same if you want to ride, you want to work or you want to have something. Therefore, to want something = att vilja ha någonting; to want to do something = att vilja göra någonting. I hope I didn't make it even more confusing.
Not at all, it's quite clear for me now. Many thanks for your detailed answer, Erik!
Okey I got it so we just add "ha" when you want something but we dont have to add when the next word is a verb
1487
Nu vill jag ha en smörgås – once you put nu first in the sentence, the verb has to come right after it in order to be in second place :)
Not really an exception, just a rule in itself. The main verb always goes in second position.
- 313
Two things of interest I saw for me: The syntax seems to be at least similar to German and the word for “now” is the same as in Dutch. Tack så mycket!
I put "I will have a sandwich" Got told it was wrong. Right answer "I would like a sandwich"
What's the difference??
- 1487
vill ha means want. I wrote some more about it here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/5892480
'I would like a sandwich' is Jag skulle vilja ha en smörgås in Swedish though, so that doesn't work here either.
So there's no "nice" way of saying it in Swedish? ie "I want a sandwich" vs "I will have a sandwich" ?
- 1487
The nice way is Jag skulle vilja ha en smörgås, which is like I would like a sandwich. The normal way is Jag vill ha en smörgås, which is like I want a sandwich.
Honestly thats sound worse. i want a sandwich sounds mean but i will have a sandwich sounds like you will get your sandwich no matter what.
It's like in a restaurant when you tell the waiter, "I will have the steak" aka "I want the steak." I think we really only use "will have" to mean "want" in terms of choosing food/drink options in English. I can't think of any other times at the moment. But it would still be slightly more polite to say, "I would like..."
- 1487
@ManeeshM1 For 'wear', it's ha på sig: Jag har på mig en jacka.
Jag tar på mig en jacka means 'I am putting on a jacket'.
Notice that the pronouns have to be right:
Jag har på mig 'I am wearing'
du har på dig 'you are wearing'
hon har på sig 'she is wearing'
and so on.
That(Jag tar) can be used to mean 'wear' also right, like 'Jag tar på dig en jacka' - I wear a jacket
In google "Jag skulle gärna vilja ha ......" is also coming for 'I would like to have'. Is that more stronger like "I would love to get..."
Thanks Arnauti. Just a question on 'tar på mig' and 'tar av mig', do they mean 'wearing something' and 'taking off something' respectively?
So 'Jag tar av mig min jacka' - Is this okay for 'I am taking off my jacket? Does a phrase verb exist like Jag 'har av mig' ......
In English I would find ' I would like a sandwich a little more polite than I want a sandwich.
That would instead be: "Jag skulle vilja ha en smörgås". The other way can't be impolite if you aren't requesting someone else get it for you. Maybe you are declaring you want a sandwich as explanation for why you must go buy some bread.
Thanks! Couldn't access it because I was on mobile. Now I can, thanks. :D
And this is a formal way to ask for a sandwich? Because if you say "Ich will ein Sandwich haben" in German, it doesn't sound polite. It's what a little child would say to his father for ex...
But here the person might be talking to himself and not making a request.... i 'want' whatever i'd like to have ...
If the verb is "att vilja", so why we use "vill ha"? Could someone please come up with some examples of "att vilja?
- 414
I went to type this in, and my phone offered the word "divorce" before I could type sandwich. I am not married.
Just to clarify, it would be incorrect in most all cases to say "[subject] vill [object]" without some infinitive verb between vill and the direct object, correct?
Yes. Generally, "vill" = "want to", but you can also say "Jag vill det" which translates roughly to "I want to do that" or "I want that to happen".
- 273
I dont know if you know, or are just expressing frustration. But rumpa is slang in some places, for the outermost slice of a loaf of bread. The same expression exists in English; butt bread. So this translation is not entirely incorrect :-)
It would seem its the impolite way of asking for a sandwich. I always thought jag vill ha was.... i would like......
Is vill ha like saying will have? Because that's what it sounds like to me
No, they're false friends. "Vill ha" just means "want" (or literally "want to have").
"I wish to have a sandwich" is the (arguably preferable) polite British equivalent of "I want a sandwich". In Britain, we have the expression "I want never gets", which is used as a way of teaching young children not to use the the form "I want", which is seen as bad manners. My second attempt was "I would like a sandwich", which was also rejected. I realise I will have to use the ill-mannered form of "I want a sandwich" if I am to progress past this question, but it does rather stick in my throat (like a dry sandwich!)
It sounded very much like "I would like a sandwich", but apparently it's not :(
Seriously? I got an incorrect for saying "I will have" instead of "I want to have" because it's IMPOLITE. WOW
I think it's just not a good translation. If I say "I want a sandwich, so I think I'll go buy some bread". I am not requesting a sandwich from anyone and it's not polite or impolite to state what I want. I doubt I would say "I will have a sandwich, so I think I'll go buy some bread", but if I did I would use different words to translate it. "Vill ha" means "want".
- 1487
The less polite 'will have' in English would be ska ha in Swedish.
The more neutral 'will have' would be tar.
Because "vill" doesn't mean "will". "Vill ha" means that you want a sandwich, but it doesn't specify if you already have one or if you will ever get one.
(Me guessing: The Swedish "vill" probably has common roots with the will in "free will". "Vill" has nothing to do with tense though.)
