"Frågan fick inget svar."
Translation:The question received no answer.
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Got no answer is technically grammatically correct but it sounds like it would come from someone with a limited education. It does not mean people do not use that sentence form in English
True that! A more natural English eqivalent for this sentence would probably be "The question was not answered."
But I'd also say that this is probably one of those instances when we people of the discussion section spend too much time trying to develop elaborate philosophies that would hopefully make things more correct, when we know it's really best to let it be for the sake of simplicity and convenience in teaching a sentence:)
devalanteriel is correct in differentiating the meanings of "got" versus "had". Nevertheless, something sounds a little off about "The question got no answer". It is not a problem of grammar but one of semantics. Let me attempt to put my finger on it.
Suppose Person A asks Person B a question. If Person B gives an answer, it would go to Person A, not to the question. So, in the negative we would normally say "Person A got no answer", rather than "The question got no answer", although the latter version vaguely resembles the correct passive construction "The question did not get answered". To use "the question" as the subject in an active statement, it would be better to choose a more appropriate verb -- "The question elicited no answer".
Although "The question got no answer" is not the most natural way to express the idea in English, this direct translation of the Swedish is nevertheless grammatical, if we think of it as an active construction, rather than as a faulty passive construction. It is equivalent to "The question did not get an answer". In casual speaking, we can easily accept this statement, if we liken a question to a mailroom slot into which answers can be deposited like letters and messages. If an answer comes in for a question, then the question gets an answer. If no answer came, then the question got no answer.
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I'm a bit confused, why in the translation the negative is associated with the verb, I thought inget/ingen mean that you negate the object "the question got no answer"
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I just used "The question got no answer" and it was marked as correct, so I suppose they've added it now.
Just to "confuse the enemy", at our grammar school it was strictly forbidden to use "get" and "got" in our English language lessons. Should one creep into an essay or something, it meant writing hundreds and hundreds of "lines". Eg: "I must not write get nor got in my essays". Alltså strängt förbjudet!!!
We do accept that as well.
The problem is that both "got no" and "did not get an" are idiomatic in Swedish. So if we want to have exercises asking you to translate into both, we need to have versions using unidiomatic English. It's not optimal, but I think it's a sacrifice required to better teach the Swedish phrases.