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- "Min mamma är dubbelt så gamm…
"Min mamma är dubbelt så gammal som jag."
Translation:My mom is twice as old as I am.
28 Comments
Why does "as" change through out the sentence? Is it because one is talking about the mother and the other is talking about "I"
That’s just how this construction is formed in Swedish. English uses as…as whereas Swedish uses så/lika…som. It’s the same with like ”the more the merrier” and those kinds of expressions where English uses the…the but Swedish uses ju…desto, two different words.
That would explain why I'm able to learn Swedish at almost a freakish pace, haha. Thanks!
And zo...als in Dutch! With the similarities between zo/så and als/as.
Brilliant.I love these discussions. Can you possibly tell me what 'the more the merrier' would be, please?
Yes, you cannot have som…som or anything like that.
- Det är så bra som det kan bli. (It is as good as it gets.)
- Han tog hälften så mycket som jag. (He took half as much as I did.)
- Han äter lika mycket som en häst. (He eats as much as a horse.)
PS. If you reply by pressing the reply button underneath the comment, I will get a notification that you’ve replied.
I'm a little confused as to why "jag" is used here instead of "mig". Can someone explain?
1371
All of som jag, som mig, and som jag är are fine. We might tend to use som jag a little more often in Standard Swedish while som mig is a little more colloquial but it really doesn't matter which one you choose.
Well I was going to answer with "me." Thanks for teaching me some English grammar. :)
hi, why is double not accepted. as an English speaker dubbelt sounds more similar to double than twice . Tack !
- 214
True, the words sound alike and are related. But in English you would not say 'My mom is double as old as I am'.
- 214
I'm afraid your English is off. The phrase "twice the age as I" is not grammatical. But you could do one of the following:
1. My mother is twice my age.
2. My mother is twice the age that I am.
3. My mother is twice as old as I am.
4. My mother is twice as old as I.
The problem with your proposed sentence is not in the "I am" part. Rather, it is the ungrammatical use of "as" in "twice the age as I (am)". Compare the following:
1. He is twice as old as I am
2. He is twice the age that I am
The grammar changes depending on whether you use an adjective (old) or a noun (age).
- 335
Technically, it should be correct. The unwritten "am" for "I am" is a given. It's not common, but then again, people don't speak "old English" any more. At least, not the stuff that was in my grammar books half a century ago. Cheers.
- 214
No, what you propose is not correct, even "technically". Your error has nothing to do with an unwritten "am". That is another matter. Please re-read my earlier comment.
In English we say either "My mother is twice my age " or "My mother is twice as old as me/I" We do not use double in this context.
- 128
Double isn't being used here either. Dubbel/dubbelt/dubbla does mean double, but it also means twice with regard to the quantity of something. And två gånger means twice with regard to the frequency of something . One English word, two definitions, two Swedish words. Example:
She has twice as much food as me. = Hon har dubbelt så mycket mat som jag
vs
I ate dinner twice. = Jag åt middag två gånger.
