"Prinsessan är bara ett spädbarn."

Translation: The princess is just a baby.

[SDMArmstrong]

I was talking to my girlfriend, a native Swedish speaker who also has flawless English, and she reckons 'spädbarn' translates better to 'toddler'.

[Schnueffi]

Yup, that absolutely makes sense, seeing Princess Estelle was born 2012, and this thread was opened in 2015.

[kiteo]

I wonder if there are regional differences? SAOB seemed to give a few definitions.

[jacob738094]

Wiktionary says a young human from birth to a couple of years old, not sure if this includes toddlers

[exqeriment]

Do compound words take the genderr of the last word in them?

[Arnauti]

Yes.

[Harpreet_2015]

What's wrong with The princess is just a child? It is marked as incorrect

[Arnauti]

A child is ett barn but ett spädbarn is a very small child – an infant or a baby.

[GaryAxelson]

What is the difference between en bebis and ett spädbarn?

[sotnosen93]

I would say "en bebis" can only be "a baby" while "ett spädbarn" can be both "a baby" and "an infant", which I would place somewhere between a newborn and a toddler.

[thorr18]

One of the meanings of just is synonymous with barely, not with only as this use appears to probably be.
How might I say the princess is "barely a toddler" because she is almost too young for that label? Or to say that she is "barely still a toddler", because she is almost too old to retain that label?

[sotnosen93]

For the first you would say "knappt ett spädbarn". Nothing immediately comes up for the second one, it might not have a neat, straight Swedish translation.

[kiteo]

Now I know späd is related to spud and spade it makes me giggle thinking about how babies even princesses (and mine) are kinda potato-like :D

[Texan-Paul]

Sweet potato-like

[PoszLaszlo]

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prinsessan_Estelle

[rooblgi]

Would 'newborn' work instead of baby for spädbarn?

[Zmrzlina]

No, I dont think so. "Newborn" should translate to "nyfödd" or "ett nyfött barn" in my opinion.

[BlueMoose1]

How would you say the princess is an only child?? Like the only child her parents have; she has no siblings.

[Jeanbean425734]

Would this be something like "ett enda barn"???

[Uppsala18]

Could you say 'is merely a baby' ?

[VeraTha]

Does a princess still count as a baby when she is 42 years old? Asking for a friend

[sylvie328517]

I wrote "the princess is merely a baby" and Duolingo said I was wrong.