"Jag går till affären."
Translation:I am going to the store.
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I imagine that "affären" meaning both affair and store creates some awkward misunderstandings from time to time...
I'm guessing they both come from "affaire", which is the bunching of "à faire", French for "to do".
Contextually it’s probably pretty clear, I’m guessing ii’s the basis for some punny jokes though :)
I wouldn't write 'to the store' in British English, 'to the shops' is much more common even if you are only going to one shop, and even if you don't buy anything. 'Going shopping' usually means you have something you need to buy, unless it's 'window shopping' when you don't mean to buy anything - just look.
This sentence refers to a grocery store, though - would you really ever say "to the shops" for that?
Also a british english speaker - I'd say 'to the shop' if I'm going to buy something specific, if there was only one shop in the area, or only one specific shop that was relevant in the context.
If it's a specific type of shop I might name it (e.g. greengrocer, supermarket, corner shop).
I'd say 'to the shops' if there were more than one in the area and the context didn't specify one shop (e.g. 'I need to get a few things, I'll go to the shops').
I do know people that will say 'to the shops' when they talk about going out to the nearest shop, usually one where you can buy a variety of things. I gather it's a bit more coloquial.
Sorry about the late reply - "to the shop" is accepted, I assume, I just don't think "to the shops" is a good translation when the Swedish sentence has a specific single shop.
It's also worth noting that the Swedish sentence means you're going to the grocery store, not that you're going shopping in general - which makes "to the shops" (in the plural) an even worse translation.
Soooo... is the reason the same word is used for grocery store and affair due to what Silsool says about French origin? If not, I'm curious to know some etymology behind this...
Yes, that's correct. The etymology is a bit mixed between different languages but the French phrase is the focal point.
Yes! It's also pretty common to say "I'm going down the shop(s)", and in very informal English, "(I'm) going shop(s)", usually followed by "want anything?"
We do sometimes say 'store', but it's mostly an Americanism. We'd also say we're 'shopping around' if we're looking for a specific item but going into several shops to get the best deal (this applies in a more abstract context too, for example online shopping, or something like houses... it could even stretch to online dating in a colloquial setting!).
I think using shops plural to mean one shop is too specific a dialect for Duolingo which can expose any of its accepted translations as the right one and potentially confuse newbs to the term.
I don't think it's too specific given that it's also said in Australia (and probably NZ). It's a common Britishism. But I can understand how it could be confusing.
How come you go /på bio/ but /till affären/ ? Both imply you go /into/ a specific building and do something...
There's a difference in implication. gå på bio doesn't just mean walking to the cinema, it includes the whole visit. If you don't enter the building and see a movie, you haven't gått på bio. By contrast, you can gå till affären, turn around at the doors and go back home again, and you will have gått till affären.
If you just walk to the cinema, that is går till bion.
Affär will rarely translate to boutique. Usually affären refers to a grocery store, or some other retail store.
Yes, actually it is "butiken" that has similar meaning to "affären" , not "the boutique".
Is there a similar concept to "the shops" a place where one usually does shopping? i.e. the highstreet?
I'm not entirely sure how "the shops" is used in English, but there is the verb "shoppa", meaning to do shopping for the fun of it.
(Also, I love your username. Have a lingot.)
:) tack. It's used as a noun referring to an area where the shops are... I think it is probably translates to marknad.
But what if you don't do it for the fun of it but as a weekly chore, i.e. to "do the shopping"? What the Dutch call "bodschappen doen".
I dont understand why store is given as a translation here. I thought it was a business; not a storage location.
