"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 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.
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.
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!).
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.