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- "Familjen brukar äta frukost …
"Familjen brukar äta frukost tillsammans."
Translation:The family usually eats breakfast together.
27 Comments
1371
No it's ok. It varies a bit whether things like 'family' are seen as singular or plural in English. (regional variation)
- 213
Bilgeska, your sentence is correct English. It would also be correct if you had written "have" (plural) instead of "has".
But your sentence is NOT a correct translation of the Swedish we are given here, in my opinion. The Swedish sentence uses äta, and so the English should use "eat".
It's not wrong per se but it is a little uncommon, in my experience of speaking English my entire life. It's much more usual for me to hear things like e.g.:
Her mother constantly checks up on her.
Why do you continually criticise me?
"Why are you always criticizing me?!" (see?)
Right, and I said it's a more uncommon use these days, but it is valid. It's more used for things like
"Ugh, my mom is ALWAYS yelling at me!"
or
"Hey, want to meet up tomorrow morning?"
"Well, we're usually eating around 7 and then I have to take a shower, but after 9 would be fine."
Things that happen habitually, either 'always' or 'usually' or 'continually'. Yes, you can also say "My mom always yells at me" or "Well, we usually eat around 7" but English allows for both.
Hej M.r Kelly as you mentioned the word (brukar) is a habitual verb, so what is wrong with using the verb (used to) that fits and is based on the V2 regel instead of using (usually) which is in fact an adverb.Maybe native english can explain the use of (used to) better that i can understand
In another thread, someone suggested that 'brukar' might better be understood as "tends" - thus making the sentence "The family tends to eat breakfast together." Makes the structure more apparent.
I wasn't asking for help, I was actually answering Laski-Julle's question. I understand "brukar" but thank you anyway.
What I was saying is that, as a native English speaker, "The family is usually eating breakfast together" seems like a very strange way to phrase that sentence and that I don't think you can really say it in that way.
(Can't reply to your last so...)
"Where are they now?"
"The family is usually eating together at this time."
As I said, context makes the difference. It may not be the most common way of expressing it, but it is certainly correct in (US) English.
I couldn't think of a context where it made sense but there's definitely at least one! In most contexts I could think of, it didn't seem to fit.
I admit defeat! :P
Sorry, I misunderstood what your intent was.
I disagree, then, that "The family is usually eating breakfast together" is wrong. Not necessarily the most common way of putting it, but not wrong. The context would be important, of course, but you certainly can say it that way.
- 1010
Why is the form "...tends to eat breakfast together" not accepted for this? Is there a nuance I'm missing?
- 1003
I got this right but have a question about the structure. Why does brukar - an adverb - precede the verb äta? What happens to V2?
- 213
Gary, in Swedish "brukar" is a verb, not an adverb.
The verb means "to be in the habit of", and for that reason sentences that contain "brukar" are often translated into English using the English adverb "usually".
So there is no violation of V2 in the Swedish here.
Ok M.r kelly this is what i mentioned abow before reading this answer but why DUEO dose not accept using verb (used to)instead of (brukar).
- 213
Be careful with the tense when moving between English and Swedish. The English past tense form "used to" corresponds to the Swedish past tense form "brukade" but not to the present tense form "brukar":
Han brukar äta = He usually eats
Han brukade äta = He usually ate = He used to eat
I think it's simpler to forget about "used to" and just use the adverb "usually", either with the present tense or past tense verb, as needed.
- 213
Forget about "get used to". In English, "get used to" does not mean the same as "to be in the habit of". The Swedish "bruka" means the latter.
But rather than translate into English as "He is in the habit of eating", "He was in the habit of eating" etc., it is simpler to translate the Swedish verb as if it were the English adverb "usually":
1. Han brukar äta = He usually eats = He is in the habit of eating
2. Han brukade äta = He usually ate = He was in the habit of eating
