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- "Swedes are a bit different."
"Swedes are a bit different."
Translation:Svenskar är lite annorlunda.
27 Comments
To my knowledge olika is used to show differences when comparing specific things (i.e. The sisters are different. One is tall the other is short). Annorlunda is a remark about the peculiarity of something rather than a comparison. If this isn't clear the article should help clarify.
Source: http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/theswedishteacher/tag/annorlunda/
I was under the impression that the definite form (Svenskarna) would be more idiomatic in a sentence like this. Am I mistaken in that?
Hi Lundgren8, thanks for answering. Just to be sure of what you mean by "this", were you saying that that Svenskarna or Svenskar sounds perfectly normal to you here?
Both. I find they correspond well to ”the Swedes” vs ”Swedes”. So, it depends on which one you want to say.
Right. But...
If I, as an Australian, said, "The Australians are a bit different," I would expect listeners to assume that I was talking a particular group of Australians (e.g. the members of one of our national sports teams). If I was determined to use the definite article when talking about Australians generally, I think I would pretty much have to say "The Australian people."
But Swedes (or the Swedes ;) would often use svenskarna to talk of the Swedish people in general, right? And some might even find it more natural to use svenskarna rather than svenskar in that case?
Right, I see what you mean, and it’s possible that we use svenskarna to refer to the entire population to a higher degree than you do in Australia, but I’d still say the most common way would be just svenskar.
Thanks very much. It seems I had a misconception so it's nice to clear that up.
1611
Back in the old days people were a bit more... racist. So they often saw themselves and each other as different peoples, not just as different nations of the same people. That's why many European countries have separate terms for nationality and place of origin, like Swedish and Swede.
I know it's a bit childish to point out, but it's quite amusing that the Android app had "dumt" and "dummaste" in the suggested words. Very magnanimous ;)
You mean as in "not very"? That would be e.g. Svenskar är inte särskilt annorlunda.
Annorlunda was translated as peculiar in an earlier example. I'm wondering whether a phrase "more peculiar" would work as "mer annorlunda"? Or "not that peculiar" as "inte så mycket annorlunda"?
I'd say the latter is better as inte särskilt annorlunda, but they're both sound.
- 702
I have often heard Swedes make these types of plural (non-definite in English) nouns definite in Swedish...just sayin...Svenskarna
In Minnesota we are known for saying that something is "different" when we don't really like it, because we don't want to be rude. That is part of the reason Minnesota is known as the "land of the Nice". :-) I wouldn't use different in that way about any of the many Swedes I met on my visits to Sweden though.
What I didn't know about swedes and I learned in Sweden: they gossip and they ask inappropriate questions without realising it. I thought that because they are not very social that this wouldn't be a thing but I guess you can't avoid it in any country.
What's appropriate is culture-dependent. I'm sure you could easily have said something you didn't know was inappropriate to others as well. :)
