"Familjen brukar äta frukost tillsammans."
Translation:The family usually eats breakfast together.
35 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
No it's ok. It varies a bit whether things like 'family' are seen as singular or plural in English. (regional variation)
533
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".
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Except in special cases, English would not use the -ing form of the verb in the sentence here. See the (animated) discussion below.
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.
Why is the form "...tends to eat breakfast together" not accepted for this? Is there a nuance I'm missing?
I got this right but have a question about the structure. Why does brukar - an adverb - precede the verb äta? What happens to V2?
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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).
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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.
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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
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sorry if this was already answered, but why is it äta instead of äter? and why is äta translated as 'eats'? ty
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The form "äta" is the infinitive form of the verb. Just as in English, the infinitive form is used to complement (complete the thought) after the conjugated (finite) form of the verb. Compare English:
I like to eat [here "like" is the conjugated/finite verb, "to eat" is the infinitive]
He tries to eat [here "tries" is the conjugated/finite verb, "to eat" is the infinitive
In the Swedish sentence here, "brukar" is the conjugated/finite verb, "äta" is the infinitive.
Compare the following English sentences:
1. He used to eat eggs.
2. He usually eats eggs.
Sentence 1 follows the conjugated verb + infinitive pattern. In Sentence 2 the pattern is different. It is adverb + conjugated verb. In other words, in 2 there is only one verb, and it is conjugated.
In the exercise here, the Swedish uses the pattern of Sentence 1. In other words, "brukar" is a conjugated verb, and it is complemented by an infinitive. But the translation into English here uses the pattern of Sentence 2. That is, "usually" is an adverb, there is only one verb ("eats"), and that verb is conjugated in the English translation.
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That is not the correct English word here. The word you want here in English is "together".
The English word "altogether" is an adverb that means "entirely" or "on the whole". It is NOT a synonym of "all together" or "together".
"All together" would be closer to the mark than "altogether". But even "all together" would be wrong here. For one thing, it would not be an accurate translation of the Swedish we are given.
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The conjugated verb here is "brukar", which already has the -r ending. The conjugated verb is then followed by a complement in the infinitive form. The infinitive form is "äta", not "äter".
Although the Swedish is translated into English using the adverb "usually", it is important to realize that in the Swedish itself "brukar" is a verb, not an adverb.
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Usually the family eats / has breakfast together... What is wrong with that sentence?
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There is nothing wrong with your suggested sentence. I would choose "eats" rather than "has" because the Swedish we are given first uses "äta".