"I have a button in my pocket."
Translation:Jag har en knapp i fickan.
17 Comments
- 7
- 3
I put "Jag har en knapp i min ficka." and it was marked correct.. But it is telling me that "I have a button in the pocket." is also correct... Why x'D
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 23
- 21
- 18
- 16
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 634
The normal way of saying this in Swedish is Jag har en knapp i fickan. It's not wrong per se to say Jag har en knapp i min ficka, but it's not the idiomatic way of saying it. We prefer definite forms in many cases where English uses possessive pronouns instead.
- 7
- 3
I guess that makes sense to a degree, but it's just so odd because "the pocket" could refer to like, any pocket. But I'm going to guess if I say I have something most people would assume it's my "noun" in the "place" anyways, is that what you mean? Sorry x'D
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 23
- 21
- 18
- 16
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 634
Yes, like, if you say in Swedish Jag borstar tänderna ('I am brushing my teeth') we feel that it's quite unnecessary to point out that it's my teeth I'm brushing, since that's the most obvious case. If I'm brushing somebody else's teeth, I'll point that out instead. – The definite form here means that we are speaking about an object that can to some extent be taken for granted ('you know which one I mean').
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 23
- 21
- 18
- 16
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 634
Read more about this in connection with body parts here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/6094128
- 18
- 8
- 4
- 4
- 2
Since you're the one with the button, then we can safely assume that "the pocket" is your pocket, and not someone else's pocket. If you mean another pocket, then that would be surprising, and we expect you to say so.
It's the same in other languages. In French, we say "I wash myself the hands" to mean "I wash my hands". If I'm washing myself, then whose hands would I wash except mine? :)
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 23
- 21
- 18
- 16
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 634
Jag har en knapp i fickan is best, Jag har en knapp i min ficka is acceptable.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 23
- 21
- 18
- 16
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 634
You need the indefinite article both in Swedish and English. In both languages, we rarely use the singular without an article, and if we do, it's for more general or abstract things or for instance mass nouns. For typical objects (concrete, countable things) we basically never use them without an article in the singular in either language.