"Who does he look like?"
Translation:Vem ser han ut som?
29 Comments
Vem ser han ut som? - Who does he look like? (Whom see he at like?)
Just putting this in my comments so that I can find it later in my profile to remember this construction. Hoping that Duolingo will have a way for users to star or save items for review. :)
i really don't get this sentence, i can't know how to construct it with the translations offered for each word :/
se ut som = look like
It's a fixed expression, but if you look at it word by word you'll be confused:
se = see
ut = out
som = like
I am confused by the construction of this sentence. What happens when I remove last two words (Vem ser han) ?
Here's an easier translation if the one offered by Duo is confusing: Vem är han lik? Conveys the meaning across doesn't it? Kindly tell me if thid is wrong, or whether I can use it during daily usage.
898
It's an accepted translation and you can definitely use it in both speech and writing. The one above is a closer translation though. Vem är han lik? actually means Who(m) does he resemble? – there's a small difference in meaning between look like and resemble.
I'm not sure that there is any difference in English meaning between 'look like' and 'resemble'. What is the difference in meaning in Swedish? Is it a matter of degree, i.e. 'resemble' is less strong?
- 1601
Can the words be reordered? I.e. Vem ser ut han som? Vem ser ut som han?
- 898
Vem ser ut som han? means 'Who looks like him?' so that changes the meaning drastically. Han ser ut som vem? is the kind of question created by word order that you can do in English too, it would be 'He looks like who?' in English. I guess you could also say Som vem ser han ut? 'Like who does he look?' but it sounds a bit strained to me.
- 898
'Vem ser ut han som?' would be just wrong. Verbs and their particles part pretty easily in Swedish, so that other important parts of the sentence very often go between them.
Arnauti, why theses verbs made of two words like ser ut and tycker om accept a word between them ? I dont understant, when therei s a word between them, and makkes the sentence confused :/
I am not Arnauti :), but I have some hints.
If the verb comes before the subject, then the subject splits the verb and the particle:
Tycker du om honom? (question)
Naturligtvis tycker jag om honom. (v2-rule)
If there is an adverbial after the verb, then it splits the verb and the particle:
Jag tycker inte om honom. (inte)
Du tycker kanske om mig. (kanske).
If the verb comes before the subject and you have an adverbial inside the sentence, then both the subject and the adverbial are placed between the verb and the particle:
Tycker du kanske om honom? (question + kanske)
Naturligtvis tycker jag inte om honom. (V2-rule + inte).
Thank you so much. ❤ I have been looking for an explanation like this for two years.
The latter works, the former is funny but incorrect :)! The particle (here "ut") can never be placed before the verb.
I wrote, "Vem likar han?" The response was that I had a "typo", and then gave the above as the correct translation. I was given credit, though. Am I correct, or am I wrong?
liknar is correct, yes, so the system is right. It just shows you the default translation no matter what you get wrong.
