52 Comments
Can this be translated as "what do you do?" As in, "what do you do for work?"
It can surely mean that in a conversation, but for the sake of this duo lesson it'd probably be a little farfetched.
In most words the ö is pronounced roughly like the E in bed but with lips rounded, but before an R the ö becomes an A like English apple, but with the lips rounded
Not the same, you're right. But not quite like an "ö" either. Here it is also pronounced differently: http://forvo.com/word/vad_g%C3%B6r_du_i_sverige%3F/#sv
Could a native speaker give context how how you would use this? Is it more of an informal "hey what are you up to? What are you doing?"
Apparently, according to some that are more knowledgeable than me, but I've learned (and read) "hur står det till," and "hur är det?"
That's more asking someone how someone is feeling, rather than what activity they're engaged in. Also, the first is rather formal and polite and not something you'd be likely to come across in casual conversation. The other is much more casual and common in everyday life.
I typed 'vad gör' as a single word ('vadgör') and it was accepted; is this correct?
896
Yes, g has two pronunciations, one 'hard' as g (like in 'guard') and one soft as you might think of as y, like in 'yes'. The soft pronunciation occurs before the vowels e, i, y, ä, ö. There are several useful links about pronunciation in this thread: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/5892805
No it isn't. In certain context it could be, but in general terms it only translates to 'What are you doing'
In English, "What are you doing here?" means "What brings you here?" (Greetings). Is there the same expression In Swedish?
If the vowel is followed by a single consonant (ie: gör, lila) then it's long.
If the vowel is followed by a double consonant (ie: björn, lilla) then it's short.
Hope that helps!
- 896
You're right, except that R + N actually only counts as one consonant, the ö is long in björn. It's because R + N melt together to form the retroflex sound, that's like one consonant.
I'm stuck with questions in this format. If I wanted to ask "What are you doing?" The first thing in my mind would be "Vad är du gör?" (I know swedish doesn't conjugate verbs so maybe "Vad du gör?"). Can someone give me an analogy or something to help me change my mindset?
- 896
We never use är together with another verb in the present, and neither do you in English. Saying du är gör is like saying you are do.
In questions, the verb must go before the subject, and the only thing that can go before the verb is a question word.
This leaves you with Vad gör du? as the only possible option.
Think of the question "What have we here?" Swedish "What do we have" would be like "What have we?" "Vad har vi?"
After a question word, we need a verb (just like in English, except we use so and are/am/is as auxiliary verbs). Translate that sentence into English: What you have? It sounds just as wrong in Swedish. Now swap the verb and pronoun: What have you? It sounds old fashioned but much better, since after a question word we expect to hear a verb.
I notice when listen to native speakers that when askibg a question their voice doesnt go up at the end. Is that just an english thing?
- 896
In principle it should, but it might be less necessary in Swedish than in some other languages because it's normally clear anyway from word order whether it's a question or not. If you do ask a question by using a sentence that doesn't have question word order, you have to make it clear by intonation, so in those cases it's really important.
Is this a common thing for swedish sentences to have different meanings (question, statement) according to the intonation?
I wouldn't say so. It might come up in a few cases ("tycker om" can mean "has an opinion about" if you emphasise the "tycker" and "likes" if you emphasise the "om") but I wouldn't really call it a big part of the Swedish language.
- 896
Use du when addressing a single person and nI for more than one, like 'you all' in some versions of English.
Most Germanic languages, other than English, use to do very sparingly. Germans will say Was machst du. Danes often use laver. Is this true with Swedish gör as well?
- 896
In English, they use do to form questions and negated statements. But in other Germanic languages such as German or the Scandinavian languages, we don't need do for that.
'Do you know?' -> Vet du?
'I do not know.' -> Jag vet inte.
Less 'do' for us. :)
Why can I not also use How are you doing, if Vad also can mean how, what or that.
- 896
The hints show every possible translation of a word that occur in the course, but not every translation fits everywhere.
vad basically means 'what', but it does translate to 'how' in expressions like Vad trevligt! 'How nice!', which is why the hint says 'how', too.
- 896
The Swedish sentence doesn't mean that, it only literally means 'What are you doing?'.
Because that is far, far too colloquial and also not what the phrase means. :)
- 1144
This isn't a question about this sentence, but I am in the Ruby League and my last 65 points have not registered. I can't see how to post this in the Troubleshooting. I can see general questions but not how to post a new question. Help!
In the troubleshooting forums (https://forum.duolingo.com/topic/647), there's a button at the top that says "New post".
