Archive for the year 2008
Swedish Verbs, part 1 Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 12, 2008
Long, long time ago, I think in one of my earliest posts, I said that Swedish verbs are easier than English. And for the most part, that is indeed true. There is no goofy “–s” in the third person singular, no irregular “to be”, the auxiliary “do” is gone altogether, and “have/has” is simply “har”…
Finland Swedish – Finlandssvenska Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 9, 2008
I’m sorry this post is a bit late. But I have a good excuse. I’ve been away. I went to Finland! Oh yes, I can just feel your excitement in the air like static electricity. But wait a second now! There is a reason why I am writing about Finland here. You see, they also…
Real Gender Specific Nouns Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 4, 2008
In my last post, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I showed you a Swedish noun with a “real” gender. A noun that has both a male and a female version. That word was “skådespelare” which means an “actor”. This is actually a bit similar to what happens in English as well. We have an actor…
A Little Bit About Greta Garbo Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 2, 2008
I had to go to Stockholm recently to take care of some very boring business. But because I arrived there about 5 hours before my meeting, I decided to visit Skogskyrkogården – the Woodland Cemetery. Why? It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and if that’s not enough for you, then Greta Garbo is buried there…
Partikelverb Part 1 Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 29, 2008
Adrienne asked a question about partikelverb, and because I’m such a good sport, I decided to blog about it today. Now say, I know it’s an impossible task to make partikelverb interesting, but hey, we can give it a shot, right? So, what’s a partikelverb anyway? As the name suggests, it’s a verb and a…
Nollning Already? Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 27, 2008
Earlier this week I was sitting in my bedroom, reading a book and trying very hard to ignore the party going on outside. My apartment building is surrounded by student housing (or “corridors” as they’re called here), and if you want to keep your sanity, you learn very quickly to ignore whatever is going on…
Crayfish Parties Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 25, 2008
Arsh asked a while back about the traditional Swedish crayfish party and wanted to know if I participated in one this year. And I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t eat crayfish. No particular reason, I just don’t like the buggers. And I’m not fond of paper hats, either. Most of my friends know about…