"They will call me if she dies during the night."

Translation:De ringer mig om hon dör under natten.

December 15, 2014

34 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Dean510945

Dark sentence, I hope no one ever needs this.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Lukas296444

spoiler alert Everyone dies.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Susann.e23

Yes, if we follow Duolingo's rules.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/CommieGnome

Why is på natten unacceptable?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AlexBricke

from my experience, it's because words like that (at, to, during, for) honestly just are sometimes memorized in languages. It's like that in english (for example, you get IN a car, but ON a bus) and it's like that in spanish, especially with many reflexive verbs. Unfortunately, we sometimes just have to memorize these things.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/craigchardy

Wow, this is a good question and 4 years later still no answer.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Segwyne

Cetainly no expert here, but maybe that would be translated as on the night. I noticed that where English says over a time period, Swedish says under a time period, so overnight becomes under natten.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Aly522743

This really helps, thanks!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Segwyne

I see that Swedish says under night, whereas English would more likely say overnight.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AlexBricke

that's an interesting aspect of this and helps me understand it more


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/canadianic

"will call" is not present tense, it is future tense. As a result, it does not translate to "ringer", but rather "ska ringa"


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Arnauti

We often use the present tense in Swedish when English uses future tense.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/canadianic

Fair enough, but "ska ringa" should also be an acceptable translation and the system shouldn't have flagged it as a mistake.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Arnauti

De kommer att ringa mig om hon dör under natten is an accepted answer already, and it's a good one. I'm not sure about De ska ringa mig …  though. I don't think its' a very good translation in this case, since it adds something that isn't there in the English sentence. In the ska future, there's always a sense that somebody wants or intends for something to happen, it's not neutral. If you imagine that the context of the sentence is that "they" promised you this, then it could work. Then they are the ones who have the intention. The interesting thing about ska is that there's an intention there, but the intention could come either from the speaker or from the person s/he is talking about.
Anyway we should probably approve this version, especially since that context is indeed very likely, but keep in mind that ska can be a little tricky this way, it can sometimes make it sound like you're giving out orders.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/hundage

could "genom" be used as in "genom natten", or is that bad swedish?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Arnauti

It just sounds wrong in this context. It is possible to say genom natten, though it's usually very poetic, in some contexts where the meaning will be more like 'through'.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/hundage

cool, thanks. appreciate all your answers


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Lee
  • 1080

Quite an unsavoury sentence to include in the course...


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/_ginzburg

Duolingo, always on the bright side of existence :-)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Fruggstrix

what about i natt?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JoseeV64

"I natt" is tonight, the coming night. This sentence applies to every night and therefore it is "under natten".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/danielwatson97

Surely call can be call for, as in shout for, as well as to call on the phone?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jormungand10

Why is it under natten? I would have gone with i natten as in "if she dies 'in the night'. Would that be acceptable?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/HnL.

Wouldn't this mean 'tonight' rather than 'in the night'? There's a subtle difference in English. Tonight is very specific and definite. In the night is more open and can mean tonight or tomorrow night, or any night.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Vilinthril

Why not på or i natten?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/who.is.artis

What would över instead of under in this sentence mean? I just got the two mixed up but I guess I forget when you use över, if at all.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Numuji

I wrote "de ska ringer mig om hon dör under natten" what's wrong?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Segwyne

Maybe because it needs the infinitive after ska, so "De ska ringa mig ..."


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/flokratiss

Is "medan natten" okay?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/RAlberdi

...said the coroner


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MaryBeth378619

Does this work? De ringer mig under natten om hon dör.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/RuthFiddy

In English we say someone is "under anaesthetic" if they are currently receiving an anaesthetic (for surgery). Also, that they will be "under anaesthetic" when talking about it happening during planned surgery in the future.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/cagdassaray59

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