"He stopped answering the telephone."

Translation: Han slutade svara i telefon.

[Sjodni]

Why is "i" being used as the article "the" here?

[HelenCarlsson]

It's just way we say it in Swedish:
answer the phone - svara i telefon

[Taldust]

Maybe, because you can think of using the telephone as speaking "into" the telephone. And therefore you also answer "into" the telephone.

[asarnoh]

I have memorised it by using this tip, it really makes sense

[Edwin558763]

can one say.... Han slutade att svara i telefonen?

[devalanteriel]

Yes, if you mean a specific phone.

[Tingstaden]

Kan jag saga
"Han slutade svara telefonen"
?

[devalanteriel]

No, svara requires a preposition whenever transitive, and Swedish uses the indefinite.

[Charles697505]

why not telefonen

[devalanteriel]

It's not really about a specific phone but about the act of answering, so Swedish prefers not to use the definite. Similar constructions make it more obvious - for instance:

• jag jobbar på bank = I work at a bank
• jag jobbar på banken = I work at the bank

[chiara2824]

Why is "han stoppade svara telefonen" incorrect,?

[devalanteriel]

We don't use stoppa with verbs, and it would have used an att. It's also idiomatic to use i telefon rather than telefonen.

[WilliamEld3]

where does the 'i' come from?

[Marcin204065]

han slutade att svara mobilen why is it wrong?