"Artisten sjunger och spelar piano."
Translation:The artist is singing and playing piano.
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Wouldn't "the piano" be "pianot"? Also, in English you could say "plays piano" without the use of "the", but I got it marked as wrong! :)
In Swedish, it's unnatural to refer to the played instrument in the definite, whereas English prefers the definite for referring to the actual skill.
Okay, thank you! But, you could say "pianot står i hallen" or is it still "piano"?
I was interpreting as she is singing and playing piano right now, at this moment, in which case it wouldn't be "plays the piano" but just "plays piano". If it's she has the skills to do them both then yes, it'd be "sings and plays the piano" but not if she's sitting across the room performing for her friends at this moment. Is there some way in Swedish to distinguish between the two, or is that just a context thing?
In British English it would still be "plays the piano", regardless of context. I believe American English is more likely to use just "plays piano" :)
I grew up in Idaho and live now in California. In my experience, "plays the piano" is much more common. Both are used in American English.
