"Samboskap är mycket vanligt i Sverige."

Translation: Cohabitation is very common in Sweden.

[legresam]

Does this mean a couple that didn't choose to marry?

[Lundgren8]

Yeah, it refers to a couple living together but who aren’t married. It can also be used for like flatmates without any romance however. ”Sam-” means ”co-” and ”-bo” means ”person that lives (at place/in a specific way)”.

[legresam]

So it's basically like the French "coloc". Thanks!

[Lundgren8]

There is also särbo, for people living in a marriage-like relationship, but at separate places, and a lot of more jocular words for types of habitation relationships based on these words.

[Olesja386275]

guest marriage, like this?

[devalanteriel]

Sorry, what? :)

[Haiw0n]

I'm not sure it is, since coloc can be anyone that you're living with (colocataire literally meaning co-renter) whereas this seems to imply a romantic relationship between the two parties.

[jesuislachwigo]

In my experience sambo is not necessarily romantic but kan be

[devalanteriel]

It is definitely romantic, and anyone you talk to will assume that your sambo is your partner.

[Ally654138]

Eller australien 'defacto'

[Antonio_Sou]

In another thread the mods said 'sambo' cannot be used to mean flatmates that are not in a romantic relation, tho.

[Lundgren8]

It’s usually implies a romantic relationship but is sometimes used not implying that.

[Amy262264]

Every time I see this word all I can see is "same living cupboard" :)

[NathanHill16]

... Well, me too, now.

[Claqing]

This "common law relationship" is so popular in Jamaica that it has pretty much the same legal status, benefits, obligations etc as an actual marriage.

[hr1982]

In the U.S., the common term is living together.

[Ramsfan1]

And in the uk too

[Beanybadger]

But the formal term is cohabitation- I've had to use that when filling out forms sometimes

[Amy262264]

In Australia it's called a de facto relationship.

[eliotis3]

is there a different word for just roommates (no romance implied)?

[devalanteriel]

Yes, e.g. rumskompis.

[Trilby16]

Room friends! I love how Swedish combines words. Very economical.

[devalanteriel]

I mean, yeah, but English does literally the same thing in "roommate". :)

[Trilby16]

In the US we don't use mate so much to mean friend, like in the UK, but OK point taken.
My favorite Swedish combo is leksak, play-thing.

[devalanteriel]

Then you'll love to learn that the raketstol replaced the older kind of ejector seat called a katapultstol. :)

[ahferroin7]

Yeah, there are a lot of fun compound words in Swedish. My favorite I've seen so far is 'raketstol' (literally 'rocket chair') being used for the ejector seats found in fighter jets.

[MicheleFla1]

Why is there a -t in vanligt?

[NathanHill16]

I presume it's because samboskap is an ett-word (as distinct from the person themselves, which would be an en-word).

[Zmrzlina]

Indeed.

[john52571]

SAO has samboskap as en "en" word.
https://svenska.se/tre/?sok=samboskap&pz=2
Is vanligt being using as an adverb?

[devalanteriel]

That's really odd. I'd also use ett samboskap, without a doubt.

[Nane1983]

dict.cc has samboskap as an "ett" word meaning cohabitation and as an "en" word if its meaning is zoological/agricultural.

[___j___]

I think concubinage is a far better term to use for samboskap.

[devalanteriel]

Technically, it fits perfectly, but I don't think that's how most people will interpret it. Quoting Wikipedia here:

While various forms of long-term sexual relationships and co-habitation short of marriage have become increasingly common in the Western world, these are generally not described as concubinage. The terms concubinage and concubine are used today primarily when referring to non-marital partnerships of earlier eras. In modern usage, a non-marital domestic relationship is commonly referred to as co-habitation (or similar terms), and the woman in such a relationship is generally referred to as a girlfriend, lover or (life) partner.

[deactivated user]

Is this true throughout Sweden, or just in Stockholm, where I heard that housing is scarce and very expensive?

[devalanteriel]

Everywhere. Samboskap is basically the same as living together without being married. So it's quite common in any western country, really. :)

[KDT558999]

i very much hate the limited range of translations allowed by DL for 'samboskap'

[devalanteriel]

That may be the programme acting up, actually. I can't check the number of allowed translations, but sentences with the word sambo allow for a ridiculously long list of acceptables.

[doveres]

In Canada we usually use the term 'common law' relationship. Same thing?

[devalanteriel]

Yes, using the standard Canadian definition. Note that common law relationships can be quite different things in different English-speaking countries. :)

[StarMachinery]

Why can't I say "Cohabitation is very normal in Sweden"?

[devalanteriel]

vanligt means "common", not "normal".

[StarMachinery]

Common and normal are synonyms in English. I mean, they have slightly different meanings in different contexts, but are often interchangeable, and I think they have basically the same meaning in this context.

[devalanteriel]

I disagree, they are not synonyms. Things can be perfectly normal yet rare, though, and a common thing may still not be the norm.

In this case, "normal" is the quality of adhering to a norm, while "common" concerns only frequency.

[StarMachinery]

Hmm, ok for this sentence, maybe "common" is better.

But normal doesn't only mean adhering to the norm - while that is one definition, it can also just be something that is not unusual. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/normal?s=t "... usual; not abnormal; regular; "

[devalanteriel]

Sure, they can occasionally mean the same thing - and more often do in British English than in US English. I didn't mean to say that they're never interchangeable. :)

[StarMachinery]

(replying here since I can't reply to the below comment)

Ok, I am Australian, which is closer to British English, and I wasn't aware of this difference from US English, so that's good to know!

[mschniepp]

I used normal here as well and was confused as to why this was not accepted but apparently normal is also a Swedish word itself. So that makes sense to separate the two strictly.

[JulieBooze]

The program cancels me out before I finish typing, repeatedly. I cannot progress!!!!

[devalanteriel]

You don't have to do timed exercises, though.