|
 |
Swedish: Indefinite/definite form | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| chirel Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5309 days ago 125 posts - 159 votes  Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: French | Message 1 of 2 16 June 2010 at 3:24pm | IP Logged |
|
I'm trying to learn when and how to use these and got confused by two examples in my grammar. I'll try to
translate the related rules from Finnish. 1. Indefinite form - as a representative of a class/group (lajinsa edustajana): Ett barn behöver mycket kärlek. 2. Definite form - as a representative of a whole group (koko ryhmän edustajana): Blåsippan är fridlyst. --> So what is the difference? How do I know which group an expression should belong to? Also I'm confused about when to use definite form with den/det and when not. In the book these are presented as separate categories, but more than half of the categories that aren't under "without den/det" actually are without it. (Solen sken från den klara himmlen and that blåsippan example.) How come? Actually there's a separate article only in the example with an adjective: Den lilla flickan... Could someone please help me and explain these problems to me? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6908 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 2 16 June 2010 at 6:25pm | IP Logged |
|
I don't have any good suggestions, but often we can find matching patterns in related languages, even distantly related such as English (or German):
Ett barn behöver mycket kärlek. - A child needs a lot of love. Saying "the child" (or 'barnet') would somehow imply a certain child, while the indefinite form 'barn' (or definite 'barnen') in fact could be used (in my opinion). Now, why doesn't 'blåsippan' imply a certain flower, but a representative of a group? I don't know, but let us think of a similar pattern: Telefonen uppfanns i slutet av 1800-talet. (The phone was invented in the late 19th century.) Solen sken - The sun was shining - Die Sonne scheinte Hopefully others will add their thoughts. Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 16 June 2010 at 6:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
