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- "Varför går du dit?"
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Could this also apply to a figurative question meaning, "Why are you bringing this subject up?" As in, you're going there in our conversation and I don't know why.
1454
No, we're not using it like that – at least yet, English expressions do have a way of seeping into the language sooner or later.
While that lingo hasn't been used for centuries, that's definitely how I remember här/hit and där/dit—the difference between here (locational) and hither (directional), and between there (locational) and thither (directional).
(The parallel breaks down a bit with var/vart, though, but at least it keeps that ending -t to indicate whither...)
- 1454
Hope this won't confuse you, but we also have the words hitåt and ditåt which are even closer to 'hither' and 'thither' in meaning.
"Why are you going there?" Duolingo said this was not a correct translation. What is the difference between "Why do you go there? and Why are you going there?" I don't see it.
No, you need dit with direction and där with location. (And to conjugate gå to går)
Is this what you would ask someone in Swedish for the specific, present purpose of going in a certain direction? In English - and I don't know the correct grammatical terms - it suggests the person the question is directed at has a history of going in this direction, and we are asking them why they choose to go that way in general, inferring it's a repeated action. I think it is there in this way to show how it appears and is maybe a bit more versatile in Swedish? But just wanted to make sure. Thanks.
Jag skrev "Why are you going there?" och det var fel enligt Duolingo och skulle ha varit "why do you go there?" istället. Är det nån svensktalande person här som han förklara varför? Tack i förväg!
That's actually accepted. If you were marked wrong for writing that, there was a bug.
Wait, so from reading these comments, am I correct in assuming that här and där are locational words, while hit and dit are directional?
If i wanted to say "why are you going there?" " would i also use "varför går du dit?"
åker also works as a translation of "going", assuming you're going by vehicular means.
So, does this literally mean ' why are you going in that direction?' When I think of why are you going 'there' ... I think of using 'dar' instead of 'dit.' Is that correct?
Yes, pretty much. Although it's usually not really just a direction but rather a direction with a target.
If you mean "why are you walking there?" as in "in that place", you'd use där, yeah.
Ok, I thought it might mean "why do you walk there?" as opposed to drive, take the train...
No, 'Varför är det där?' is Why is it there?
Could a native Swedish speaker verify that it could or could not translate to Why is that? Google translate suggests it, but I'm not sure it's actually idiomatic.
- 1454
I'd just translate Why is that? to Varför det?, or maybe Hur kommer det sig? (which is closer to 'How come?') I'd translate Varför är det där? just like you said, into Why is it/that there?
