41 Comments
since the "a" article is there, would a homework assignment be an acceptable translation? If not, why?
Yes, A homework assignment is the most common form I encounter; it is an accepted translation for this exercise.
English doesn't really use the indefinite with "homework" that way. You might say instead "an assignment."
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After learning other languages from english jag förstod hur många undantag är det i engelska. Jävla full av undantag.
I typed "a homework" as that is the translation and it correvted me to "a lesson"??? Why?
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.
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.
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I've just been marked wrong, being shown En läxa is ' a lesson' when I put 'homework'. Presumably this is a duolingo glitch?
Or I have the impression that "läxa" used as "lesson" is in the context "I am going to teach you a lesson!"
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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"
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.
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?
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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...
We don't say "a homework" in English, so does "en läxa" mean "a homework assignment" or "a night's homework"?
Ah, thank you. It could very well mean either, but it's idiomatic to pluralise the night's homework sense and say e.g. jag ska göra läxorna ("I'm going to do my homework"), even if you only have one assignment in one subject.
OK. Let me try (a second time, after your suggestions):
"Jag har [en] läxa i litteratur i kväll." I have a homework assignment for my Literature class tonight.
"Jag har för många läxor denna vecka." I have too much homework this week.
"Jag hatar läxorna." I hate (all) this homework.
"Jävla läxor!" Damn homework (in general)!
Ja eller nej? Tack!
- "Jag har en läxa i litteratur i kväll." - perfectly fine, although some would remove the article, like in English.
- "Jag har för många läxor i denna vecka." - the läxor part is spot on, but the "i" is superfluous.
- "Jag hatar läxorna." - would mean some specific homework since it's in definite form, whereas "Jag hatar läxor." means what you want.
Why is the question not just 'läxa' by itself? Unless we are supposed to also learn it is an en noun?
Seems to me this enables demonstration that läxa is countable while homework is uncountable.
Yes, that makes sense, but what does not so much is the translation "homework" instead of "a homework assignment" however that is also an accepted translation, though I would think it should be the main one.
So when i say "jag har en läxa idag" that means i have one piece of homework, not many correct? So läxa is similar to Hausaufgabe (which is countable also)? So the translation to homework should be "läxor" and translating en läxa as homework instead of a piece of homework is incorrect?
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.
It's not that rare a letter, really. :) For instance: byxor - pants, sax - scissors, lax - salmon, and so on.
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. :)
So what's the difference between "en läxa" and "läxor" because it seems English fails to show it?
A single läxa is a single assignment, whereas läxor in the plural is your entire body of homework - all assignments.
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'Läxa' means homework in Scadinavien and is not so important what it is in English. This is swedish language course not english course !!!
As we are learning to translate between English and Swedish in this course, I will beg to differ on that last point!
