"The people want new roads."

Translation: Folket vill ha nya vägar.

[NatalieBoa3]

Why not människorna?

[degrasseme]

When you're talking about "the people" in an abstract sense of the general populace, that will pretty much always be "folket".

[Carol353382]

Folker, maniskor, personner. I cannot predict which synonym duolingo wants! Is there really a difference, for communication?

[Sven-Ska]

I wrote ... ... gator. Can I not say streets instead of roads? In English they are interchangeable. Tack.

[Zmrzlina]

But not completely interchangeable in neither Swedish nor English. All streets are roads, but all roads aren't streets. Roughly, gator are more what you'll find in the city, while vägar connect the cities.

[tf230]

What is the difference between folket and människor?

[Ortiz.Gab]

When should i use "vill" and when "vill ha"?

[Simon518062]

What about personaren rather than folket? Is it folket because we are talking about an uncountable number of people? Tack!

[degrasseme]

You use "personer" in plural in Swedish a bit more broadly than "persons" in English (which is extremely peculiar and stuffy), but you really can't translate it to "the people" in this sense. Not even människorna is abstract enough. Whenever you're talking about "the people" in the mass sense of the general populace, it's gonna be "folket".

[deactivated user]

I used 'manniskor' (i cannot type the a with umlouts), and it wasn't accepted but it is also in the hover over dictionary?

[jennifer856684]

i looked up vägar and it comes up as ways?

[Solo_BUNI]

Let me see if I understand right... Then "folk" is used in singular and plural - for one person and a group of people.

[Arnauti]

No, folk isn't used for a single individual. In the singular, ett folk is used like 'a people' – about a group of people. In the sentence above, most likely the population of a whole country or city, seen as a group.

[Solo_BUNI]

That is just what confused me, the idea of "a people" in "ett folk". But Thank you again! I feel like I owe you hundreds... =P... =)

[Riku_Laine]

Where does the "ha" in the translation come from? Should it be simply: "Folket vill nya vägar"? We do not know if they want to have them or simply want them.

[degrasseme]

"Vill" in Swedish can be directly followed by a verb. ex. Jag vill sova = I want to sleep.

But if you want an object, it has to be followed by "ha". "Jag vill ha glass" = I want ice cream.