<\/p>\n
Hejhej<\/em>, Swedish learners!<\/p>\n One of many things that we generally need to know how to talk about in a language is how something or someone looks<\/strong>. In English, there are two common patterns with “look”<\/strong> which are very much alike:<\/p>\n Pattern 1:<\/span>\u00a0 That cloud looks<\/strong> like a dog<\/span>. As you can see, the first pattern uses “like” and a noun to describe how the cloud looks, whereas the second pattern uses a simple adjective.<\/p>\n Well, great news! Swedish uses the very same patterns.<\/strong> There is one difference<\/strong>, though, and it has to do with clause structure relating to the verb meaning “to look\/appear”. Let’s take a look<\/em>!<\/p>\n The verb which means “to look” or “to appear” in Swedish is att se ut<\/em><\/strong>. At first glance, it might look like a three-part verb, but it’s only really a two-part verb – att<\/em> simply means “to”. Att se<\/em>, as you may very well know already, means “to see”, and ut<\/em> means “out”. So technically, att se ut<\/em> literally means “to see out” – but no Swede hears it that way. Two-part verbs (also known as\u00a0phrasal verbs<\/strong>) are very common in Swedish and consist of one verb and one verb particle<\/strong>, which can take the form of a preposition (such as\u00a0p\u00e5<\/em> “on”) or an adverb (such as ut<\/em> “out”). Don’t fret, though – we have them in English, too!<\/strong> “Throw out” and “hold on” are examples of phrasal verbs in English.<\/p>\n (German speakers:<\/span> If you know German, I’m sure you recognize the similarity to aussehen<\/em>. The main difference is that in Swedish, it’s not *utse<\/em>, but se ut<\/em>.\u00a0Utse<\/em> means something else!)<\/p>\n So, se ut<\/em> works the same way as “look” in English, but the grammar is different, because se ut<\/em> is a phrasal verb and “look” is not<\/strong>. At first glance, there appears to be no difference. Let’s take Pattern 1 as an example<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Det d\u00e4r molnet ser ut<\/strong> som en hund<\/span>.<\/em> But what happens if we make this a question?<\/p>\n Ser<\/em><\/strong> det d\u00e4r molnet ut<\/strong> som en hund<\/span>?<\/em> Se<\/em> and ut<\/em> split from each other! Blasphemy! But wait – isn’t that exactly what happens to “does” and “look” in the English translation? Think about it for a second.<\/p>\n Pattern 2<\/strong> also features a split verb:<\/p>\n Det d\u00e4r molnet ser<\/strong> m\u00f6rkt<\/span> ut<\/strong>.<\/em> Whenever you are making a statement with Pattern 2<\/strong>, i.e. not using inverted word order such as in direct questions, the verb se<\/em> and the verb particle ut<\/em> are separated by the adjective<\/strong>. So what happens if you turn it into a direct question?:<\/p>\n Ser<\/em><\/strong> det d\u00e4r molnet m\u00f6rkt<\/span> ut<\/strong>?<\/em> When you make a direct question with a phrasal verb, the only thing that moves is the verb part of the phrasal unit.<\/strong> You’ll notice that this is the same for both Pattern 1 and Pattern 2. In fact, the verb part of a phrasal verb unit works just like a normal verb – it’s the particle you have to keep track of. In most cases, the particle will be placed as in Pattern 1.\u00a0Se ut<\/em> is a special case, and what you really have to keep track of is where to put the ut<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is kind of a complicated matter, so here’s a simple summary<\/strong>:<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0 When you’re saying something looks “like a dog” (i.e., “like” + noun), the formula is se<\/em> + ut<\/em> + som<\/em><\/strong> + [noun]<\/strong>. Keep in mind that moln<\/em> “cloud” is of neuter gender, so the adjective m\u00f6rk<\/em> “dark” gets a -t<\/em> (m\u00f6rkt<\/em>). If the subject is hunden<\/em> “the dog”, the adjective, for example\u00a0glad<\/em> “glad, happy”, remains in common gender form: Hunden ser glad<\/span> ut<\/em> (not glatt<\/em>).<\/p>\n Deep breaths. Lycka till!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hejhej, Swedish learners! One of many things that we generally need to know how to talk about in a language is how something or someone looks. In English, there are two common patterns with “look” which are very much alike: Pattern 1:\u00a0 That cloud looks like a dog. Pattern 2:\u00a0 That cloud looks dark…<\/p>\n
\nPattern 2:<\/span>\u00a0 That cloud looks<\/strong> dark<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nThat cloud looks<\/strong> like a dog<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nDoes that cloud look<\/strong> like a dog<\/span>?<\/p>\n
\nThat cloud looks<\/strong> dark<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nDoes that cloud look<\/strong> dark<\/span>?<\/p>\n
\n2.\u00a0 When you’re saying something looks “dark” (i.e., adjective only), the formula is se<\/em> + [adjective] + ut<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n