"I am looking for work."

Translation: Jag letar arbete.

[spiffwalker]

Why is 'efter' not used here?

[Zmrzlina]

It's quite optional. You could include it, but you don't have to.

[spiffwalker]

Is there any situation where it is absolutely necessary? Or is it always optional?

[Zmrzlina]

If I were to say "I'm looking for my keys" I'd have to say "Jag letar efter mina nycklar", for example. But why that is so isn't something I know, sorry. :S

[HoroTanuki]

Could it be like English verb "to seek". As in, "I'm seeking for work", and "I'm seeking work" ("for" is, I'm guessing, optional)

[AmbassadorTigger]

Seeking for sounds downright wrong to me, but perhaps it has regional use

[Xxq04ezm]

I think the verb "seeking" has the "for", preposition part, already 'built in' to it. Whereas looking is not the same as seeking.... but you'd need to look FOR something to be sort of the same as 'seeking'.

[friswing]

I think 'letar efter' is a verb with particle mostly like the English 'look for', they go together. But mostly with concrete, material things, I suppose. 'Leta arbete' feels more "Uncountable", less concrete, Maybe that is why.

[nnikolovski]

What's the difference between "letar" and "tittar pa"? Also, can I say "Jag letar pa arbete"?

[Lundgren8]

Leta is ”look for, search, search after”. Titta på is ”look at, watch”. You cannot say ”Jag letar på arbete”.

[friswing]

No, but you can say: "Jag letar jobb", which I could say if I was an entrepreneur, searching assignments. But If I was looking for employment I would rather say: "Jag söker arbete/jobb"

[ShawnCorco]

I said "Jag letar arbete" and I was told another translation is "Jag letar arbete"

[jordan88keys]

What form is the form arbete in this sentence? could it be arbetar or another form as well?

[Zmrzlina]

Noun, indefinite singular.

[Cheryl618]

Re: You can't say "Jag letar på arbete," I guess you've never seen road crews here in the States. Out of a crew of four, one will be working and the other three are watching the work!

[Arnauti]

You still can't say letar på arbete, that is just wrong. De ser på när andra arbetar would describe the situation you're talking about. leta does not mean 'look' like in watch, it means 'search'.

[the-scientist]

Is it possible to say ''Jag letar efter yrke''?

[Arnauti]

No. You can look for ett arbete or ett jobb, because both these can mean 'an employment', but ett yrke is not an employment, it's just a profession. And it doesn't make sense to leta efter that. Maybe you are trying to välja 'choose' yrke, but you wouldn't leta efter it.

[the-scientist]

Ah, got it. Tack!

[HelenHaine]

Why is the plural form of work not used?

[friswing]

Because here it has the 'uncountable' meaning.

[zuvedra_mandra]

I'm totally confused. Got English question 'I am looking for work'. Answered 'Jag leker arbete'. And that was wrong! Duo offered 'Jag söker arbete' instead. So what's wrong with 'leker'?

[friswing]

Swedish 'leker' is used when children 'play', e.g. pretending to do their parents work. I suppose you confuse 'leker' with 'letar' = looking for. We can use 'letar arbete', as well as the verb 'söker' = search for, that in connection with 'arbete' has the same meaning.

[Boi839245]

Can "Jag söker efter arbete" be used as well, or am I confusing it with German too much?