53 Comments
Is this comparable to the french "on" as in "on parle Français au Canada" (French is spoken in Canada) ?
The ''On'' in the french grammar is called ''le pronom personnel indéfinie'' (indefinite personal pronoun)
On (french)= man (swedish) = you (english)
exp:
On doit respecter les personnes âgées
Man måste respectera de äldre
//You have to respect the elderly.
The resemblance between the French and Swedish in this example is strong, surprising and authentic while it is the Swedish and English that are supposed to have similarities because they are Germanic languages!!
well "one must respect the elderly" sounds close enough to the Swedish, stilted as it may be
It's strange to look at the etymology. English can use either you or one interchangeably for this. English one can trace back to Latin, yet only this special usage of it is from French influence. Despite that, French on is actually unrelated and this usage comes from Germanic, like English you!
However, i think it would be more idiomatic to say "In Sweden they speak Swedish" rather than "In Sweden you speak Swedish". I thereby recommend changing the translation.
Oh I think I understand so when you use "man" It is a more general sentence. Like saying in america you speak english. You being general of course
Since it looks like you're taking German -- It seems as if "man" is used in Swedish in the same way it's used in German. Z.b. "wie sagt man das?"
Yes you're right, "man" is used exactly the same way in Swedish as in German! "Wie sagt man das?" would be "Hur säger man det?"
I understand that "man" is translated as "one" in English, but we actually learned in school in German class (in Croatia) to translate it as passive: "Wie sagt man das?" = "Kako se to kaže?" (literally: "How is that said?")
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I don't know about Croatian, but I do know that in very many cases, a Swedish construction with man is well translated into Russian with a passive sentence (not in this specific sentence though), so I think that makes sense.
In comparison with English for this specific sentence, we could both use a passive here with much the same result, eg. I Sverige talas det svenska and Swedish is spoken in Sweden, so English is more similar to Swedish.
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Well the translation depends on the circumstances of man. And the southern Slavic languages don't really have a "a". Even the that is often omitted. But what also might be used for man is reflection. I.e. Man kann prata. Would be translated to: Može se pričati
It is the same as 'one'. In the sense that you can also say 'Hur kan man sager ?' = 'How can one say __?'
I don't understand why man is in this sentence. I thought man was husband
Man is also an impersonal pronoun, like one in English as in ”what should one do?” except it’s used much more in Swedish.
So would it be improper to say I sverige talar du svenska? or does it work the same?
Can we say "In Sweden, WE speak Swedish"?
In French, "On" can be used as an informal "Nous" (We), but I don't know if it's also the case in Swedish.
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That would be I Sverige talar vi svenska. We don't use man to mean 'we' like you do in French, but in the spoken language some people actually tend to use man to mean I.
It's like: "In my country, you hold the door for a lady; it's just what you do!".
This use of English "you" (Swedish "man") is an indefinite personal pronoun known as "generic you". It's distinct from other uses of "you". Like "one", it refers to anyone (an unspecified individual or group of individuals). No specific person is actually being told to hold doors open for ladies. The listener and speaker may both expect never to actually travel to that country. "it's just what you do there".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you
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We have a Swedish proverb for that: Ta seden dit man kommer literally 'take the customs where you get' – meaning, follow the customs in the place you visit.
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Can someone please explain the difference between talar and pratar? They seem very similar. Is there any nuance in when you use either one? Thanks!
I get the impression that 'tala' is like 'speak' (as in, speak a language, speak to an audience, speak clearly), while 'prata' is like talk (as in talk to someone, talk among yourselves). So, if I understand right, you could say 'snälla tala långsamt när du pratar med mig' - 'please speak slowly when you talk with me'.
But I could be wrong.
I think the best translation here would be "In Sweden, they (or: people) speak Swedish". 'You' is a bit odd.
It was a frequent saying of a swedish employer to his english employees. He wanted them to learn Swedish so in that case you would not be a bad translation. It all depends on context
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The verb needs to go in second place in the sentence, so when 'i Sverige' takes up the first place, you must have the verb right after that.
Does this rule apply whenever 'i +location' is in the beginning of a sentence?
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Yes, as long as it's a main clause. For subclauses, other rules apply. More about word order in this topic: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/8970470
That would be missing the translation of the indefinite personal pronoun used in this exercise.
If it was "I Sverige talas det svenska", your answer would be the correct version, as it's the passive form.
If Sverige has a capital letter, why do I see danmark with a lower case d?
man = one, a person, not definite as "You" If you is your correct solution then why is the sentence not" I Sverige du prater Svenska.
you can also be an indefinite. Details are in a comment above. The exercise accepts either you or one, so feel free to translate man in your preferred way.
