Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Alisha:Hi Everyone, I’m Alisha, and welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Beginner season 1, lesson 8 - Going on a Date in Sweden.
Satsuki:Hej allihopa! I am Satsuki.
Alisha:In this lesson, you’ll learn to describe how something was, by using the preterite tense.
Satsuki:The conversation takes place at Lisa’s apartment, and it is between Lisa and her friend Anna.
Alisha:Because they know each other, they’ll be using casual Swedish.
Satsuki:Let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Lisa Jag var på en dejt i lördags, med Johan, från Karins middag.
Anna Hur var det?
Lisa Det var trevligt, men lite stelt.
Anna Jaha. Vad gjorde ni?
Lisa Vi åt middag på en restaurang.
Anna Hur var middagen?
Lisa Maten smakade bra, men det var dyrt.
Anna Betalade inte Johan?
Lisa Nej.
Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Lisa Jag var på en dejt i lördags, med Johan, från Karins middag.
Anna Hur var det?
Lisa Det var trevligt, men lite stelt.
Anna Jaha. Vad gjorde ni?
Lisa Vi åt middag på en restaurang.
Anna Hur var middagen?
Lisa Maten smakade bra, men det var dyrt.
Anna Betalade inte Johan?
Lisa Nej.
Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Lisa Jag var på en dejt i lördags, med Johan, från Karins middag.
Alisha:I went on a date Saturday, with Johan, from Karin’s dinner party.
Anna Hur var det?
Alisha:How was it?
Lisa Det var trevligt, men lite stelt.
Alisha:It was nice, but a bit awkward.
Anna Jaha. Vad gjorde ni?
Alisha:I see. What did you do?
Lisa Vi åt middag på en restaurang.
Alisha:We ate dinner at a restaurant.
Anna Hur var middagen?
Alisha:How was the dinner?
Lisa Maten smakade bra, men det var dyrt.
Alisha:The food tasted good, but it was expensive.
Anna Betalade inte Johan?
Alisha:Didn't Johan pay?
Lisa Nej.
Alisha:No.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Alisha:Nice, so Lisa got to go on a date! Tell me Satsuki, what’s the dating scene like in Sweden.
Satsuki:Alisha, that is a good question, but it is actually not that easy to answer.
Alisha:Really? Why not? People *do* date, right?
Satsuki:Yes, Swedes do date, but it doesn’t really work the same way as it does in the US, for example.
Alisha:Okay, so what does Swedes do when they date then?
Satsuki:Well some people do go out and eat together, or watch a movie, but it is not that common.
Alisha:Wait, I’m confused!
Satsuki:Yes, it can be a bit confusing for non-Swedes. And, to be honest, it is confusing for us Swedes as well, because there is no particular thing that Swedes do on dates. And there are no real rules for how to behave either.
Alisha:So...how do you know you’re on a date or not?
Satsuki:Well, Swedes don’t even seem to like using the word “date”. Even if they ask someone out on a date, and go on dates, they are still reluctant to say the word itself.
Alisha:So it seems like dating is a lot more casual and informal in Sweden.
Satsuki:Yes, I think that is true.
Alisha:Ok, let’s move on to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Alisha:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Satsuki:dejt [natural native speed]
Alisha:date
Satsuki:dejt [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:dejt [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:att vara [natural native speed]
Alisha:to be
Satsuki:att vara [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:att vara [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:trevlig [natural native speed]
Alisha:nice
Satsuki:trevlig [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:trevlig [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:stelt [natural native speed]
Alisha:awkward
Satsuki:stelt [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:stelt [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:att göra [natural native speed]
Alisha:to do
Satsuki:att göra [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:att göra [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:att äta [natural native speed]
Alisha:to eat
Satsuki:att äta [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:att äta [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:men [natural native speed]
Alisha:but
Satsuki:men [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:men [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:mat [natural native speed]
Alisha:food
Satsuki:mat [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:mat [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:att betala [natural native speed]
Alisha:to pay
Satsuki:att betala [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:att betala [natural native speed]
Next:
Satsuki:dyr [natural native speed]
Alisha:expensive
Satsuki:dyr [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Satsuki:dyr [natural native speed]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Alisha:Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Satsuki:Let us start with word ‘dejt’!
Alisha:It sounds almost exactly like the English “date”!
Satsuki:Well, that is because the Swedish word ‘dejt’ is actually borrowed from English!
Alisha:But it is not spelled the same, right?
Satsuki:No, in Swedish it is spelled D-E-J-T.
Alisha:D-E-J-T, I see. So, is it also used exactly the same way as in English too?
Satsuki:Well, in Swedish, the word ‘dejt’ is usually used to describe a meeting between two people, where there might be romantic interest.
Alisha:So what word do you use for a meeting between two friends, for example?
Satsuki:In that case, it is probably more common to use the word ‘träff”. So, for example, if I wanted to say “I will meet up with Anna tonight” in Swedish, I would say ‘jag har en träff med Anna ikväll’.
Alisha:Okay I see, that will be good to know!
Satsuki:Now, let’s move on to the next word, ‘stelt’.
Alisha:That means “awkward”, right?
Satsuki:Well actually, the word ‘stelt’ literally means “stiff”, but a better translation is “awkward”.
Alisha:I see, so you can use it to describe a feeling or a situation, as Lisa does in the dialog, when she says “it was nice, but a bit awkward”.
Satsuki:Yes exactly. She says ‘det var trevligt, men lite stelt’.
Alisha:But can you also use this word to describe something physical, right?
Satsuki:Yes. For example, if I want to say “my leg is stiff” in Swedish, I would say ‘mitt ben är stelt’.
Alisha:Okay, got it. Now, let’s move on to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Alisha:In this lesson, you will learn how to describe how something was, using the preterite tense.
Satsuki:That is right. And it might be helpful to know that this tense is used to describe both completed and uncompleted actions.
Alisha:I see, so the ending doesn’t change depending on whether something did or did not happen.
Satsuki:Exactly! Now let’s look at some of the verbs in preterite tense that were in the dialog.
Alisha:There are six of them - “Was”, “did”, “ate”, “tasted” and “paid”.
Satsuki:Yes, that is absolutely right. And the first three of them, ‘var’ (“was”), ‘gjorde’ (“did”) and ‘åt’ (“ate”), are irregular verbs, or strong verbs, as they are also known.
Alisha:And that means that they’ll conjugate irregularly.
Satsuki:Yes, but we will leave the irregular verbs for another time, and focus on the verbs that conjugate regularly instead.
Alisha:Ok, so what about the other two verbs “tasted” and “paid”?
Satsuki:Well, in Swedish, regular verbs – or weak verbs, as they are usually called – are divided into three sub-groups. Each of these conjugate differently.
Alisha:And we’ll look at how verbs from each of these groups conjugates in the preterite tense. Let’s start with the sub group that includes “tasted” and “paid”.
Satsuki:In Swedish, these translate to ‘smakade’ and ‘betalade’, respectively.
Alisha:Okay! So how do we recognize them?
Satsuki:Good question! The stem of the verbs belonging to this group ends in an ‘–a’.
Alisha:Okay, and how do we change them into their preterite tense?
Satsuki:It is simple, you just add the ending ‘–de’. So the verb ‘smaka’ (“ taste”) changes to ‘smakade’ (“smakade”).
Alisha:I see, and with the verb “pay”?
Satsuki:The stem of the verb “to pay” in Swedish is ‘betala’ so it changes to ‘betalade’.
Alisha:Oh, that was simple! But what about the other two subgroups of verbs?
Satsuki:The next group has a verb stem that ends in a consonant. But these are divided into two groups.
Alisha:Hmm, this is starting to get confusing!
Satsuki:I know, but bear with me, I will explain!
Alisha:Okay!
Satsuki:First, you have verbs with stems that end in a voiced consonant, and they take the ending ‘–de’.
Alisha:Do you have an example?
Satsuki:Of course, let us look at a verb that has appeared in a previous lesson. The verb ‘beställ’, which means “order”.
Alisha:So you simply add a ‘–de’ to the stem?
Satsuki:Yes, so ‘beställ’ becomes ‘beställde’, which means “ordered”. Okay, so next we have verbs whose stem ends in a unvoiced ‘k’, ‘p’, ‘s’, or ‘t’.
Alisha:And how do they change?
Satsuki:They take the ending ‘–te’.
Alisha:Doesn’t the Swedish verb for “buy” belong to this group?
Satsuki:That is right, the verb ‘köp’ changes to ‘köpte’, meaning “bought”, in the preterite tense.
Alisha:I see. And how about the last subgroup of weak verbs?
Satsuki:The third and final group of verbs, are the ones with a stem that ends in a vowel other than ‘–a’.
Alisha:Like the Swedish verb for “live”?
Satsuki:Yes, “live”, which translates to ‘bo’ in Swedish is an example of these types of verbs. They take the ending ‘–dde’. So ‘bo’ changes to ‘bodde’ in the preterite tense.
Alisha:That’s a –D-D-E ending.
Satsuki:Yes, that is right.
Alisha:Wow, that was a lot of information!
Satsuki:Yes, but it is good to know, and you will soon get the hang of it!
Alisha:Well that’s it for this lesson! Thanks for listening, and come back soon to learn more useful phrases in Swedish!
Satsuki:Hej då! See you next time!

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