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- "Ser du den snygge mannen?"
60 Comments
1449
It's the masculine ending -e for things that are referred to as he, but it is optional to use it. So you can just as well say Ser du den snygga mannen?
Researching the word "schnieke", I found this:
schnieke Adj. 'schmuck', berlin. Vermutlich aus ndd. snicker 'hübsch' (mit Umlaut zu nndl. snugger 'klug', ofr. snugge 'glatt, nett', ne. snug 'behaglich') unter Einfluß der Wertadjektive auf -e und vielleicht unter Einmischung von geschniegelt (s. schniegeln) umgeformt.
It turns out it's related to English snug, too, though snug meaning handsome is dialectical (no one I know would know that meaning).
363
Meant to say that the Gaelic term "snog" comes from the Norse - from the time when the vikings controlled the Western Isles
Handsome is also more correlated with 'Stilig' in swedish. Stilig being a word often used too describe someone that looks good in formal wear ('Stilig' carries with it a certain sense of pride when stating it). For example: A parent would be more likely too say that his son looks 'stilig' in his suit on his wedding day than that he looks 'snygg'.
1449
I'm glad you appreciate it. :) Some people seem to be annoyed at learning any English in here at all, which I think is kind of weird. I mean, I even find out new things about Swedish on here, not to mention how much I learn about English.
Hmm, maybe this is colloquial but if I were out with a close female friend I might point surreptitiously to a stranger and say to my friend "are you seeing that handsome man over there?" and I would not be asking if she were dating him, I would be asking if she had noticed him and soliciting her opinion on his handsomeness. So although 'seeing' can mean dating with respect to a handsome man, it doesn't have to mean that.
59
I think snygg is my favorite Swedish word. It could be considered onomatopoeia. I'm trying to sneak it into English now.
That doesn't mean the same thing. In English, if you "are seeing" someone, it means you are having romantic encounters.
Generally, for momentary situations, use the do form of a verb, e.g. "Do you see the handsome man?"
Use are + -ing for continual situations, such as "I am studying Swedish" or "I am reading the newspaper".
You may find this link useful: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerundium#Englisch
Most of the time, the do and are + -ing forms have the same general meaning, with only the time context changing. You found one of the exceptions.
1068
See Arnauti's comment above. 'Snygga' is always ok but with masculine words like mannen, killen, pojken the adjective can have the e-ending as in snygge, lille, berömde.
Do you mean the Swedish or the English sentence? It's pretty similar in both. Ser du? = Do you see?. Most germanic languages put the verb infront of the pronoun when asking questions. Du ser = You see; Ser du? = Do you see?. Theoretically it's not wrong to ask Du ser den snygge mannen?, but that would put a stress on Du and would translate to YOU see the handsome man?. Like specifically asking whether the person you are talking to does see the handsome man. I hope this helps :)