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Swedish: Känna vs. vet | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Tyr Senior Member Sweden Joined 5781 days ago 316 posts - 384 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish | Message 1 of 9 22 January 2010 at 4:25pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Hej all.
I'm wondering if anyone could possibly guide me as to when one would use känna for know and when one would use vet? In practice most people seem to use kän but all academic sources seem to say vet....I'm confused. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 2 of 9 22 January 2010 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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In general I don't think there is a lot of difference between feel and know in English vs Swedish. If in doubt stick with whatever you'd use in English.
The only difference that I can think of is when you are talking about whether you KNOW a person. Then you should use "känna", not "veta" Känner du honom? (Do you know him?) Vill du lära känna henne? (Would you like to get to know her?) De har känt varandra i många år (They have known each other for many years.) Alla känner apan, apan känner ingen (Everyone knows the monkey, the monkey knows no-one - a saying.) Jag känner ingenting! (I feel nothing!) Hur känns det? (How does it feel?) Känner du dig bättre nu? (Are you feeling better now?) Han är känd i hela Sverige (He is famous in all of Sweden). Hon blev kändis på 1990 talet (She became a celebrity in the 1990s) Känner du till något om Grönland? (Do you know anything about Greenland) This can also be said Vet du något om Grönland? Jag råkar känna till att du fyller år imorgon (I happen to know that it's your birthday tomorrow. This can also be said Jag råkar veta att det är din födelsedag imorgon. "Vet" is used in the same way as know with this one exception (when you are talking about knowing different people or being aware of something. Hope this helps. Edited by cordelia0507 on 22 January 2010 at 6:39pm 2 persons have 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 3 of 9 22 January 2010 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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That depends... Assuming you're asking from a "know" context, it can be translated to 'känna', 'veta' and 'kunna'. "Känna" is used for people and places you know, "veta" for facts and "kan" for (acquired) skills, e.g.:
Do you know him? Känner du honom? Yes, I know him. Ja, jag känner honom. Do you know any German? Kan du (någon) tyska? No, I don't. Nej, det gör jag inte. No, I don't know any German. Nej, jag kan ingen tyska. Do you know who broke the world record yesterday? Vet du vem som slog världsrekordet igår? Do you know the name of the capitol of India? Vet/kan du namnet på Indiens huvudstad? Do you know what - I won a million dollars this morning! Vet du vad - jag vann en miljon dollar i morse! In which contexts have you heard people use 'känna'/'känner' more than 'vet'? Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 22 January 2010 at 6:34pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5520 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 4 of 9 22 January 2010 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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"känna" means know as in knowing a person. "känna till" is a complex form that is more general, but meaning something like "being acquainted with (the fact that)", either used as in
Känner du till Beethoven - Do you know about Beethoven Känner du till att Berlin ligger i Tyskland - Do you know that Berlin is in Germany? In any case, plain känna is used as Känner du honom? - Do you know him? In some more or less set expressions, it is used as a general "know" Jag känner din typ - I know your type [of person] (and it's not good) Veta is the general know, the word is kin to Latin and Greek (and Slavic) vid-, meaning see (in Greek the sense is 'have seen', which is interesting - you know what you have seen). It is mostly used with "att" or a question word, as in Jag vet att du är tysk - I know you're German or Jag vet vad du gjorde förra sommaren - I know what you did last summer. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Impiegato Triglot Senior Member Sweden bsntranslation. Joined 5432 days ago 100 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Italian Studies: Spanish, French, Russian | Message 5 of 9 23 January 2010 at 3:37am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The question should be extended like this:
1. Känna - känna till 2. Veta - veta OM - VETA om (stressing the verb or the particle "om" mean different things) I would say that "veta" is more definite than "känna till", but sometimes the English word "know" will correspond to both. Compare the following phrases: Do you know anything about this? - Vet du något om detta? (or: Känner du till något om detta?) Both the Swedish translations are OK. One of the examples below (the second) is a little bit strange in Swedish: Do you know how to drive a car? - Vet du hur man kör bil? - Känner du till hur man kör bil? The first one is better than the second, but I would prefer a third alternative: "Kan du köra bil?" As to persons, the use of "känna till" or "veta" will result in two different meanings, whereas "veta" is impossible to use: Compare: Do you know Jessica? - Känner du Jessica? (this means that you know her well) - Känner du till Jessica? (this means than you know who she is, but you don't know her in person) - Vet du (om) Jessica? (this one is not correct) Veta OM (the second word stressed) and VETA om (the first word stressed) are different: Do you know anything about this? - VET du något om det här? (you cannot stress the particle "om" in this case) Did you know that she was late? - Visste du OM/Kände du TILL att hon kom för sent? As outlined above: "veta" - "känna till" are closely related. "Känna" is used about persons and the word forms its own category. "Känna" is also polisemiotic, because it can also mean that you feel something physically, for instance something on your skin, cold or warmth. In concluson, "veta" and "känna till" are often synonyms, but not always: Do you know where he put the key? - Vet du var han la nyckeln? - Känner du till var han la nyckeln? I prefer the first option above. Edited by Impiegato on 23 January 2010 at 3:43am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Tyr Senior Member Sweden Joined 5781 days ago 316 posts - 384 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish | Message 6 of 9 26 January 2010 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I've heard of kan being used when you know people rather than other things, at first I thought it was just meant for knowing people since all else used vet but then I heard so many using kan- it confused me at first as I forgot ä makes k sh.
Vet du om Jessica- to me this reads like do you know about Jessica. Like if you were talking to a friend about her and saying 'do you know what she did (presumably recently and shockingly)' But its totally wrong huh?...hmm One example where this came up that I remember was roughly like- Someone: Blah blah blah xxxxxx blah blah (In Swedish) Me: Sorry? Jag vet inte xxxxxx. Vad heter xxxxxx i Engelska S: Du känna inte xxxxxx? Me: ...errr.....yeah, jag känna inte det. So känna is totally the right word to use in instances of possessing knowledge whilst vet is asking about solid facts? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5520 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 7 of 9 26 January 2010 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
You're thinking of KÄNNA, not KUNNA (from which KAN is the present tense). KUNNA means "know how to, be able to". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 8 of 9 26 January 2010 at 1:33pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
"Vet du OM" is generally followed by a fact. "Vet du OM att Jessica är kär i dig?" ("Do you know / are you aware that Jessica is in love with you?"). Of course, there's also "VET du om Jessica har kommit hem ännu?" ("Do you know if Jessica has come home yet?").
This should be "Jag känner inte TILL det" (emphasis on "till", not on "känner", is important). EDIT: Additionally, it should be "Vad heter xxxxxx på Engelska".
Again, this should be "känna TILL". "Känna" is used for knowing people. "Jag känner Jessica" ("I know Jessica") vs. "Jag känner TILL Jessica" ("I know about Jessica"). And to add to the confusion: * "KÄNNA sig" means to feel an emotion or physical sensation. "Jag känner mig trött/frusen/som en idiot" ("I fell tired/cold/like an idiot"). Exception: "Att känna sig fram" means to go forward by feel, because you can't see, or metaphorically to try something one step at a time, carefully. * "KÄNNA på" means to touch something, have a feel. "Jag KÄNNER på väggen" ("I'm feeling the wall"). * "Känna PÅ" means to try something out, but it's not very commonly used. It's synonymous to the more common forms "Prova PÅ", "Pröva PÅ" and "Testa PÅ". * "Känna AV" means to assess a vibe, situation or similar. "Jag får försöka känna av stämningen" ("I'll have to try and assess the general mood"). * "Känna IN" is more or less equal to "Känna PÅ" and is probably a bit more common, but might be used to mean "Känna AV", as well. * And simply "Känna" is also used for emotions, as in "Jag känner vrede" ("I'm feeling wrath"). It's not that common, though. The "KÄNNA sig" construction is far more common. Edited by Ari on 26 January 2010 at 1:37pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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