"En läxa"

Translation: Homework

[Gymnastical]

since the "a" article is there, would a homework assignment be an acceptable translation? If not, why?

[thorr18]

Yes, A homework assignment is the most common form I encounter; it is an accepted translation for this exercise.

[seaeagle5]

or we might say ' a piece of homework', but it's more usually 'homework'.

[Jonathan606349]

English doesn't really use the indefinite with "homework" that way. You might say instead "an assignment."

[Sophie261170]

I typed "a homework" as that is the translation and it correvted me to "a lesson"??? Why?

[thorr18]

The same reason you can't say "a sand" or "an air"; Because that's an uncountable English noun. There are some comments on this page explaining ways you can say it correctly.

[use_her_name]

Apparently, this translates to 'a lesson' as well?

[Zmrzlina]

Only in the specific idiomatic expression of "lära sig en läxa" meaning "to learn a lesson" as in bitterly having to learn something from necessity of dealing with it.

[drcmann]

I've just been marked wrong, being shown En läxa is ' a lesson' when I put 'homework'. Presumably this is a duolingo glitch?

[CRISTIANTH18]

x 2

[CRISTIANTH18]

Or I have the impression that "läxa" used as "lesson" is in the context "I am going to teach you a lesson!"

[Zmrzlina]

Let's hope so.

[Jason158996]

Hi! Thanks for your comment, would you (or anyone else) be able to check this sentence?

"Den där är en läxa jag vill inte att lära mig igen"

[devalanteriel]

Det där är en läxa jag inte vill lära mig igen.

[StuartFras5]

How do I tell the difference between "en läxa" and "en leksak", other than by working out if the speaker sounds remotely interested in the topic?

[ninady1980]

I made the same mistake. I'm guessing that in person it would be easier to hear whether the final 'k' in 'leksak' is there or not, but with the computer lady it's hard to tell. I think the final vowel sound would be a bit different too - longer in 'leksak' - but perhaps a Swedish speaker could confirm that...

[csabishev]

now it only accepts "a lesson" but not "a homework" :(

[thorr18]

You can't say "a homework" in English. It's an unaccountable noun. There are several ways you could say it, which you might find in the comments.

[SunnySundquist]

Interesting the use of the letter x. I think it's the first here for me. I've seen my cousin use åxo which I assumed was slang.

[devalanteriel]

It's not that rare a letter, really. :) For instance: byxor - pants, sax - scissors, lax - salmon, and so on.

[SunnySundquist]

But is åxo slang for också, or acceptable now?

[devalanteriel]

It is very much slang. I'd say it's as acceptable in normal writing as "r u ok?" for "Are you okay?" would be in English. :)