"Kocken har semester."

Translation: The cook is on vacation.

[StephDegr]

Hope it will last less than a semester..

[Segwyne]

My children get Swedish semester between their American semesters. :)

[colecg20]

How then would you say "I have vacation" like having vacation days stored up at work that you haven't yet scheduled?

[HelenCarlsson]

Jag har semesterdagar kvar or Jag har sparade semesterdagar.

[Patti309623]

har sparat?

[devalanteriel]

• Jag har sparade semesterdagar = I have some vacation days which I've stored up
• Jag har sparat semesterdagar = I have been storing up vacation days

[Patti309623]

tack igen (och igen, igen...)

[BenjaminHu334362]

Would "Kocken är på semester" work as well?

[devalanteriel]

Sure. :)

[RowenaJane]

What is semester in Swedish?

[devalanteriel]

The English word semester, as in half of a school year, is termin.

[Metlieb]

"The cook is on holiday" is one of the suggested solutions. To me it would sound more natural to say "on holidays". Why is it wrong?

[HelenCarlsson]

Well, the course is still in beta so I suppose it's just missing. If you report it, A&A can have a look.

[Glennebanan]

Well, in American English it would nearly always be said 'on vacation,' and whenever we hear British English dialogue on TV or in movies it's always 'on holiday,' which sounds so much more spontaneous and fun. :)

I've never heard 'on holidays' before. Just out of curiosity, is it the norm somewhere in the English-speaking world?

[jhlouise]

I'm from nothern England and I have heard the phrase used before, though it's quite colloquial. To me "on holidays" would suggest that they were on some kind of extended break from school or work (i.e. "Dad's on holidays until the 15th") as opposed to going on a literal vacation abroad, which would just be 'holiday'. So whether or not it should be accepted as a translation really depends on the context of the Swedish sentence. :)

[jdfromdublin]

I reported it again. This answer is still not accepted.

19th Mar 2015.

[Dang-Vinh]

What would be the word-for-word translation, "Kocken är på semester"?

[devalanteriel]

Yes, that is correct.

[Dang-Vinh]

Forgive me, I didn't phrase that question clearly. I was actually asking if those sentences are synonymous? Thank you!

[devalanteriel]

Oh, sorry. Yes, pretty much. :)

[Charles697505]

From the USA 45th parallel. Holiday is a shorter term time off work or perhaps normal activities while vacation is viewed as a longer period, perhaps a week or more. Often the Christmas/New Year period is referred to as the "holidays"

[Debbie178207]

so, it sounds like the cook "has" vacation - meaning he is really "on" vacation? In English if you have vacation it doesn't really mean you are "on" vacation as it implies that you have it to use.

[CedSgm7N]

Is it more common to say, "Kocken har semester" or "Kocken ar pa semester?" I understand that the former is a phrase, in and of itself, but it really sounds strange in English.