{"id":4116,"date":"2011-09-06T21:09:25","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=4116"},"modified":"2011-09-06T21:09:25","modified_gmt":"2011-09-06T21:09:25","slug":"infinitives-in-swedish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/infinitives-in-swedish\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinitives in Swedish"},"content":{"rendered":"

When learning Swedish vocabulary, you will come across many different types of words, and naturally, many of these words are verbs – action words. For example, springa<\/em> – to run – is a verb.<\/p>\n

Verbs can be shown to students of Swedish in many different forms, but for memorization, the most common form is the infinitive form, otherwise known as the ‘to’-form:<\/p>\n

to<\/span> run – att springa<\/em><\/p>\n

For instance:<\/p>\n

I like to run<\/span>. – Jag gillar att springa<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>As you can see here, att<\/em> is the same as ‘to’ in English in this context. That is why you might think that the following is also a logical, correct sentence:<\/p>\n

I want to run<\/span>. – Jag vill att springa<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Unfortunately, Swedish has a tendency to drift from its own patterns. Jag vill att springa<\/em> is not a correct sentence. What happens is something that simply does not make sense in English:<\/p>\n

I want to run<\/span>. – Jag vill springa<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

One does not say ‘I want run’. No, you say ‘I want to<\/span> run’, right? Well, springa<\/em>, without the att<\/em>, can mean ‘to<\/span> run’ just as well as with it, as you can see in this example. This rule – or lack thereof – does not only apply to springa<\/em>, but applies to all other verbs as well. One difference that may help you to understand, though, is that att springa<\/em> can also be interpreted as ‘running’. So, if the ‘-ing’ form of the verb (in other words, ‘running’ instead of ‘to run’) works in the sentence, you will most likely need att<\/em> in front of the infinitive. For example, ‘I want running’ does not make sense – therefore, you leave out the att<\/em>, so the Swedish sentence becomes Jag vill springa<\/em>, not Jag vill att<\/span> springa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here are some common situations in which you should and should not use att<\/em>, for reference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Busschauff\u00f6ren
\n(The bus driver)<\/td>\n		vill (wants)
\nbeh\u00f6ver (needs)
\nska (will\/intends)
\nkan (can)
\nm\u00e5ste (must\/has)<\/td>\n		k\u00f6ra bussen.
\n(to drive the bus.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Busschauff\u00f6ren
\n(The bus driver)<\/td>\n		gillar (likes)
\nhatar (hates)
\nf\u00f6rs\u00f6ker (tries)
\n\u00e4r bra p\u00e5 *(is good at)
\n\u00e4r van vid *(is used to)<\/td>\n		att<\/span> k\u00f6ra bussen.
\n(to drive the bus.)
\n*(driving the bus.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I hope this helped all of you who are trying to learn Swedish. It looks very complicated but if you practice with these examples, you’ll get used to the concept and have an internal understanding of it in no time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When learning Swedish vocabulary, you will come across many different types of words, and naturally, many of these words are verbs – action words. For example, springa – to run – is a verb. Verbs can be shown to students of Swedish in many different forms, but for memorization, the most common form is the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,3079,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4116","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","category-swedish-language","category-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t