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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Har du tappat minnet?"
26 Comments
1453
Yes. Commonly, USB-minnet. Or like Jag måste köpa mer minne till datorn 'I need to buy more memory for my computer'.
1453
That's how we roll… Here's a link to a discussion about it: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/6014446
480
Im still not used to that yet, even after nearly a year of studying; using the definite to infer ownership.
1220
It was my impression that "att tappa" could only be used for physical objects (i believe the explanation was "things you could drop" and that "att förlora" was for more abstract things. Obviously I'm wrong, but then I'm not sure i understand the distinction.
1453
tappa is also used for abilities such as minnet and talförmågan ('the ability to speech'). förlorar isn't wrong either but slightly higher style.
If you tappar pengar, it only means that you drop it, if you förlorar pengar it means that you lose it, either in a game or like an unsuccessful venture.
1453
We generally prefer to speak about our own body parts (and similar things) as determinate rather than with possessive pronouns. In this case, there is the added complication that tappa minnet is like a set combination. So while it isn't really grammatically wrong to say Har du tappat ditt minne?, it sounds really really awkward. It also makes it sound like you're speaking about 1 specific memory, whereas the normal meaning of tappa minnet is 'lose one's memory' as in losing the ability to remember things. Therefore it's more OK to say tappat ditt minne about an usb stick than about what's in your head.
- Thread about determinate rather than possessive pronoun: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/6014446
- Thread about speaking about body parts: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/6094128
- Thread about nouns without an article: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/5824774
1453
Yes, in Swedish we feel it's so obvious from context that it sounds wrong to point out whose memory we're talking about here.
1453
I might use förlorat in a context like that. Most likely I'd just express it differently altogether. But I'd hardly say tappat about one specific memory.