"Familjen brukar äta frukost tillsammans."
Translation:The family usually eats breakfast together.
20 Comments
56
No, English would not use the -ing form of the verb for a habitual action.
- 196
http://www.grammaring.com/present-continuous-for-frequently-repeated-actions-in-the-present Yes, English does.
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?
- 196
"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.
- 196
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.
- 196
(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
- 56
No, most native speakers would say, "The family usually eats ..." The progressive tense (-ing) is not used for habitual (repetitive) actions. True, some native speakers might use -ing here, but it would nevertheless be a small error.
- 196
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.
Just because you can say it that way, that doesn't make it right and "is usually eating" is ridiculously awkward sounding and as far as I can tell not even correct.
No one would say it that way (not in British English, at least) they would say "usually eats".
If you add e.g. "seen" or "found" e.g. "The family is usually seen eating together" then it becomes correct, in my eyes.
- 837
No it's ok. It varies a bit whether things like 'family' are seen as singular or plural in English. (regional variation)
- 475
Why is the form "...tends to eat breakfast together" not accepted for this? Is there a nuance I'm missing?
- 452
I got this right but have a question about the structure. Why does brukar - an adverb - precede the verb äta? What happens to V2?
- 56
Gary, in Swedish "brukar" is a verb, not an adverb.
The verb means "to be used to" or "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.
