32 Comments
If this sentence is a past sentence, why is not "är" instead of "var". " Jag var född på nittiotalet" is not correct?
954
Not unless you are speaking to us from the other side. We say är född for people who are still alive, and var född for people who are not. August Strindberg var född 1849 but Zlatan Ibrahimović är född 1981.
I realise that is hasn't been introduced at this stage yet, but it is more common to say Jag föddes... right? Does this verbform also change depending on whether the object is dead or alive? eg Can I say both Björn Björg föddes på femtiotalet och Michael Jackson föddes på femtiotalet? Tack
- 954
I don't have the impression that föddes is more common.
There's a difference in meaning, where är/var född focus on the 'result' but föddes is used in descriptive contexts where you want to talk about the circumstances around the birth or as a part of storytelling. So you might see that more often in stories, but when telling people what year you were born, är född is the most natural choice.
föddes works for both living and dead subjects, since there's no focus on the 'result' in this case, it's a 'process oriented' way of talking about it.
Tack! That's probably why I thought it was more common because I've been studying (basic) Swedish literature :)
- 1080
If I remember correctly, the two members of Icona Pop were born in the '80s, so their line about being a '90s b***h I think actually refers to them growing up in the '90s - like myself, as I too refer to myself as a '90s kid because that's when I grew up. :)
Jag försökte tio gånger att uttala "nittiotalet". Jag tror jag kan uttala det. Problem med systemet kanske? Har någon annan samma problem?
- 954
No, we just don't talk about centuries. nittonhundratalet is the same as 'the nineteen hundreds' in English. Which is also of course the 20th century if you count in centuries.
I've seen föddes much more than född and the question is which one to use when????
You can use either "föddes" or "är född" really. They're interchangeable. The important thing to remember is that "föddes" is past tense, whereas "är född" is present tense althtough they both describe a thing in the past.
Well. The verb is föds in present tense, so just fit it neatly into a sentence I suppose.
I would suggest bringing that up in the troubleshooting forums: https://forum.duolingo.com/topic/647
We have zero say over the voice recognition software in the course.
