"De har helt olika personligheter."
Translation:They have completely different personalities.
8 Comments
I like: -they have quite different personalities-, but I did not tempt fate.
i think 'ganska' instead of 'helt' would be more appropriate if you want to use quite.
Thanks Isabel. My dictionary gives for -ganska-: fairly, rather and quite. I believe that the English usage of -quite- is closer to -helt-. -Quite different- is -really different-, since the English tend to understate relative to the Germanics.
I guess in that context it sounds kind of sarcastic (ex: 'Are grapes and grapefruits the same thing?' 'No they're quite different' or 'I wouldn't quite call it true love'). Normally, however, I think 'quite' is pretty subtle (ex 'Its quite warm in here' or 'It tastes quite like strawberries.'
Thanks again, Isabel. I had not noticed the note of sarcasm in the use of -quite- as I proposed. Perhaps I am just not very sensitive. Perhaps it is also present in the Swedish -helt- in the above phrase. -Quite warm- would clearly be: -ganska varmt-.
