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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Håll er hemma!"
22 Comments
Had to read this twice before getting the grammar. `Er' is rarely met in Duolingo, I think that was the problem!
2371
Yes, here you are urging more than one person to stay at home. Er = pronoun for the 2nd person plural. I don't know if it would be possible to say in English "Keep yourselves at home!" ???
I have the same question? Which one is more idiomatic? Or is there a certain context under which they are to be used?
Surely some of our great teachers will come and give us the answer soon :)
- 2371
Well, not a big difference, but there is a little bit more edge to 'Håll er hemma!', as shown by the exclamation mark. To me it feels a little bit more insisting. Maybe the speaker is unsure if those s/he is talking to were going to follow the rule.
It appears to be a reflexive verb, hålla sig. At least, I haven't found examples yet on DL where the reflexive pronoun isn't required.
Hålla avstånd, as we see quiet often now a days in Sweden, doesn't seem to require the reflexive pronoun though.
- 238
However, "er" is not a reflexive pronoun, it is an object pronoun. Avstånd is a noun.
My understanding is that "hålla i" means "to keep (not in the sense of continue), to hold", hålla med om = to agree with someone, hålla på = to be in the process of doing something, "hålla på med" = to be up to, to be doing something, etc.
- 409
Would this be something like "hold yourselves at home" (making a too literal translation, of course)?
