- Forum >
- Topic: Swedish >
- "I västra hörnet"
18 Comments
evenythough it might be out of context but.... i still can't get it ! there are three words to describe derections for example ; south : söder , syd , södra ..... what's the different between all??
Whats the diference betwen västra and väster? Plural form and definite form? (Not respectively)
From what I've seen, västra means "western" and is an adjective used with definite nouns. Väster is either an adverb meaning west/westward, as in vi går väster (we are going west), or a noun used in phrases like i väster (in the west).
You don’t have to have the article with cardinal directions. I could also say ’det västra hörnet’ however. I don’t know what the other Swedish speakers think.
So, cardinal directions are an exception? In all other cases you would need "det/den", right? Like "I det gröna hörnet"?
Often in speech you can leave out the ”den/det”, in some cases it’s more common than in others, like in this example. In some other cases it’s mandatory, with certain adjectives, like förra or samma etc. Also in names you never use it, e.g. Gamla stan (Old town).
185
Can someone please supply some context here. I answered "On the western corner," (I'll wait for you on the corner") but it was marked wrong. I don't think I ever said "In a western corner."
It might be because it's in the west corner, rather than on the west corner.
Our maybe it's the difference between West and western that it's pulling you up on? I'm not sure yet if that's a different word in Swedish...
So if it accepts "in the west corner" but not "on the west corner", am I to understand that a "hörn" has to be an interior corner only, and not one, say, on a street?
(I am not a moderater but just trying to help) I believe it would be "on the west corner" if there was 'på', but now there is 'i' which translates to "in".
Whether to use "in" or "on" the corner depends on the situation.
IN the corner = inside a room, where you send a child to stand for punishment, where you put the floor lamp, in a box (I caught the mouse and now it's sitting in the corner of the box washing its face)
ON the corner = where you stand while waiting to cross the street, where the restaurant is located (on the northwest corner of 5th Avenue and Main Street), where you put something on a desk (my wallet is on the back left corner of my bedside table)
I know not all adjectives change forms for en/ett/plural, etc. Am I correct to assume cardinal directions (västra, östra, norral, södra) fall in that category?
If you are asking what the difference is....
väster is for indefinite
västra is for definite
