"Mina föräldrar bor i Storbritanniens huvudstad."
Translation:My parents live in the capital of the United Kingdom.
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facepalm I've got to defend us though, in Swedish, Storbritannien does have a capital, Wikipedia link, because we usually call the United Kingdom that. I'm really sorry to say this, but this means that Great Britain is a false friend :-(
Will try to fix the sentence asap, and thanks for the heads up!!
PS have a lingot!
But the United Kingdom doesn't have a capital city :p it's a collective of countries, each with their own capital. London is the capital of England. If you asked a Scottish person if their capital was London they would definitely say no.
Edit; in fact I just looked it up and according to Wikipedia, London is the capital of the 'UK'...but even to me as a native English person, that makes no sense haha, maybe I'm wrong but it seems weird :S. Then again, I never consider myself 'British'. Hmm, maybe you can leave it as is then.
Most people do the same in German. However, there is a possibility to distinguish between Great Britain (Großbritannien) and the United Kingdom (Vereinigtes Königreich) in German, it's just that the latter word is rarely used. Does Swedish have a similar translation for the UK and it's just not commonly used or would it always be Storbritannien?
DerrickMcClure1 is correct that Scotland is a country.
Great Britain can be either a political term or a geographical term.
Great Britain consists of three countries - England, Scotland, and Wales - that are all on the island of Great Britain. So the term "Great Britain" can refer to either the group of three countries or the island itself.
The United Kingdom consists of four countries - England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - although Northern Ireland is sometimes called a country, sometimes a province, and sometimes a region.
The full name of the U.K. is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Obviously, Northern Ireland is on the same island with the country of Ireland, as they used to be one country. Ireland is a separate country, not part of the U.K.
The United Kingdom is considered “a sovereign entity” and treated as a country; however, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are not just divisions of that country, but are also countries themselves.
It seems pretty complicated to me how all the politics work. Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales all have their own governing bodies (a parliament or an assembly), with certain powers and responsibilities distinct from the Parliament of the U.K. For each of these countries, because of the complicated history, there is a different configuration determining which things fall under the jurisdiction of their own parliament or assembly, and which things fall under the jurisdiction of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Also, Northern Ireland's Assembly coordinates with the government of Ireland on some matters.
Unlike the other three countries, England does not have its own parliament; it is governed only by the Parliament of the U.K.
The capital of England is London. The capital of the U.K. is also London.
I have always found the different terms confusing. I hope this helps somebody else. It helped me to write it out.
I guess it would be easier if “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” was shorted to “The United Kingdom” or “The U.K.” rather than “Great Britain” in Swedish. But that’s ok. We will just have to learn that “Storbritannien” is the Swedish abbreviation and means the same as “The United Kingdom.”
2850
Here's a useful (and humorous) video detailing the differences between England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
British isles = Brittiska öarna https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittiska_%C3%B6arna
British islands = Brittiska öar https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittiska_%C3%B6ar
United Kingdom = Storbritannien https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storbritannien
Great Britain = Storbritannien https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storbritannien_(%C3%B6)
Northern Ireland is Nordirland, https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordirland, also Ireland is Irland and Scotland is spelled Skottland, the rest seems to be self-explanatory.
1770
Thanks, this is by far the clearest explanation of this I have ever seen!
And yes, I think that even if I'm otherwise willing to forgive Duolingo for taking creative freedoms with language for pedagogic reasons, this is one occasion where great precision should be exercised and demanded.
My favorite on-line dictionary sanakirja.org gives translations "Förenade konungariket Storbritannien och Nordirland" for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and explains that this is the official name, and "Förenade kungariket" for "United Kingdom", explaining "stat i nordvästra Europa omfattande Storbritannien och Nordirland; ofta kallad Storbritannien"
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Very curious... How do you manage that in schools? I mean, how do you make a difference? Idag förklarar vi skillnaden mellan Storbritannien och... Storbritannien... :))
In very formal settings the difference exists, so if you are talking about college political science then perhaps they would make the distinction. "Förenade konungariket Storbritannien och Nordirland med kortform Förenade kungariket" from EU publication office . Without that, one could still force the distinction when needed but still use the form that seems not to be for diplomatic relations. "Ön Storbritannien" vs "den suveräna staten som Storbritannien".
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Is "Storbritanniens" the common usage? I mean, in everyday speech almost nobody says "United Kingdom" or "Great Britain". One just says "Britain".
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well, since Scotland also left the EU during the BRexit, you have to deal with the fact that the EU calls you BRitisch ;) if you want a different name, you have to secede the UK and rejoin the sane people ;)
646
Just wanted to ask why not Great britain, until read comments below. Well, for foreigner Great britain and United Kingdom is the same...
1109
My parents live in the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Bit of a mouthful!