"Vi köper en leksak till barnet."

Translation: We buy a toy for the child.

[SrMarien]

I like this language, it is relatively easy i think, but man... 'för' 'till' 'på' and 'i' have too many meanings!

[Synthpopalooza]

That they do, tho I am learning this example. When you are buying a gift, it's always "till", as in the above example. When you are performing for an audience, it is "för" (Han sjungar för oss). When you are doing someone a favor, it is "åt" (Kocken lagar mat åt oss). I'm sure there are other examples, but these are the three I have learned so far.

[juan7911]

I've found a very interesting article about these prepositions
http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/theswedishteacher/2010/10/12/at-till-eller-for/.

It is clear but difficult to use them.

[Synthpopalooza]

That blog has been an essential tool for me in learning Swedish!

[S.M.94]

Tack så mycket
Det är klart nu :)

[Lundgren8]

Prepositions are hard in every language. I still struggle with prepositions in English sometimes after 15 years, so it’s not exclusive to Swedish.

[IHaveABonheur]

Leksak = leker+sak = play+thing = toy

[JohnMcConn7]

Exactly, and 'plaything' is another word for toy yet Duolingo likes it not!

[devalanteriel]

Added it to this sentence now.

[NilsWel]

In Dutch the word 'leksak' sounds wrong

[Lupolina7]

In German too

[Trilby16]

Why am I being corrected to "buy 1 toy for the child"?

[devalanteriel]

Because we accept "one" and Duolingo thinks it's being helpful.

[BarbaraMorris]

I wonder if "our child" would be a better translation here. I asked my Swedish husband about this, and he thinks it would be natural to say "barnet" in cases where we would say "our child". But he always gives the caveat that he hasn't really spoken Swedish since he was 9.

So my question is: would "barnet" here only refer to some child that has been previously discussed, or could it also mean the speaker's child, without a prior reference to some child?

[7CtJz0Sd]

Strange, broken, inaudible robotic sound.