Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Morten: Hej och välkomna, Morten here! And welcome to SwedishPod101.com, Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 25 - Review Part 3: Weighing Swedish Transportation Options.
Jasmine: Hej allihopa! This is Jasmine.
Morten: In this lesson, we are repeating some earlier vocab and especially modals.
Jasmine: We are at the flat at Ostkupan.
Morten: It’s early evening and James and Nils are planning a night out.
Jasmine: The tone is casual and they are chatting about how to get to town and back.
Morten: Let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

James: Okej Nils, hur tänker du åka in till stan ikväll?
Nils: Jag vet inte än. Först måste vi bestämma när vi ska åka.
James: Nejmen, var det inte kl 11 vi måste vara framme?
Nils: Jo, men kanske man skulle ta en bärs på ölhallen.
James: Okej, då kan vi ju ta 9.47 bussen.
Nils: Men hur gör vi senare, på vägen tillbaka? Ska vi inte ta cykeln?
James: Alltså min cykel är trasig...
Nils: Men om vi tar en taxi tillbaka, kostar det jättemycket.
Morten: And now, the slow version.
Jasmine: Och nu den sakta versionen.
James: Okej Nils, hur tänker du åka in till stan ikväll?
Nils: Jag vet inte än. Först måste vi bestämma när vi ska åka.
James: Nejmen, var det inte kl 11 vi måste vara framme?
Nils: Jo, men kanske man skulle ta en bärs på ölhallen.
James: Okej, då kan vi ju ta 9.47 bussen.
Nils: Men hur gör vi senare, på vägen tillbaka? Ska vi inte ta cykeln?
James: Alltså min cykel är trasig...
Nils: Men om vi tar en taxi tillbaka, kostar det jättemycket.
Morten: And now with the English translation.
Jasmine: Och nu med den engelska översättningen.
Nils: Okej Nils, hur tänker du åka in till stan ikväll?
Morten: Okay, Nils, how do you plan to get into town tonight?
Nils: Jag vet inte än. Först måste vi bestämma när vi ska åka.
Morten: I don't know yet. First we have to decide when we will go.
James: Nejmen, var det inte kl 11 vi måste vara framme?
Morten: No but, wasn't it at 11 we should be there?
Nils: Jo, men kanske man skulle ta en bärs på ölhallen.
Morten: Sure, but perhaps we should have a bevvy at the Ölhalle before.
James: Okej, då kan vi ju ta 9.47 bussen.
Morten: Okay, then we could take the 9.47 bus.
Nils: Men hur gör vi senare, på vägen tillbaka? Ska vi inte ta cykeln?
Morten: But how shall we do it later, on the way back? Why don't we go by bike?
James: Alltså min cykel är trasig...
Morten: My bike is broken...
Nils: Men om vi tar en taxi tillbaka, kostar det jättemycket.
Morten: But if we take a taxi back, it costs very much.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Morten: It sounds like James and Nils have quite a night ahead of them, as soon as they can resolve their transportation issues.
Jasmine: Yes. In Sweden, people do enjoy their Friday and Saturday nights.
Morten: Okay. So weekends are big. And we’ve also gone over a few festivals. I hear this one which can really turn into quite a big party.
Jasmine: You mean Valborgsmässoafton and the first of May?
Morten: Well, no mistaking when the latter takes place, but yes that sounds about right.
Jasmine: Let’s translate it first. In English, it can be called Walpurgis Night and it’s always the 30th of April.
Morten: The night before the 1st of May. And what do people do in that day? Who celebrates what?
Jasmine: This is not so easily answered. There are heaps of overlapping traditions – from pagans, Christians, and modern times.
Morten: I was told students do a lot of celebrating, especially in Lund and Uppsala.
Jasmine: Oh, yes. Students spend the day out picnicking, singing, and sometimes racing.
Morten: Racing?
Jasmine: Yes. In Uppsala, they’re racing home-made boats in the river Fyrisån.
Morten: And I suppose people eat and drink.
Jasmine: Yes, they drink a lot. But there are also bonfires on that night.
Morten: Officially, the first of May is a bank holiday in Sweden, isn’t it?
Jasmine: Yes, a bank holiday which many marches and political demonstrations by unions and leftists parties.
Morten: But people also have their own traditions of celebrating the night before – dancing on bonfires and maypoles, don’t they?
Jasmine: They do indeed. All in all, it’s a day to be enjoyed. And the student’s antique should be witness. It’s a once in a lifetime thing.
Morten: Thanks a lot for those insights.
VOCAB LIST
Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First we have…
Jasmine: Tänka [natural native speed].
Morten: To think.
Jasmine: Tänka [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Tänka [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have…
Jasmine: När [natural native speed].
Morten: When.
Jasmine: När [slowly - broken down by syllable]. När [natural native speed].
Morten: And next…
Jasmine: Framme [natural native speed].
Morten : “In front” or “to have arrived.”
Jasmine: Framme [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Framme [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have…
Jasmine: Tillbaka [natural native speed].
Morten: Back (again).
Jasmine: Tillbaka [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Tillbaka [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have..
Jasmine: Inte [natural native speed].
Morten: Not.
Jasmine: Inte [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Inte [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have…
Jasmine: Cykel [natural native speed].
Morten: Bicycle.
Jasmine: Cykel [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Cykel [natural native speed].
Morten: Next…
Jasmine: Trasig [natural native speed].
Morten: Broken.
Jasmine: Trasig [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Trasig [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have…
Jasmine: Kosta [natural native speed].
Morten: To cost.
Jasmine: Kosta [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Kosta [natural native speed].
Morten: Next we have…
Jasmine: Ska [natural native speed].
Morten: Shall, will, or have to.
Jasmine: Ska [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Ska [natural native speed].
Morten: And finally we have…
Jasmine: Skulle [natural native speed].
Morten: Should.
Jasmine: Skulle [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Skulle [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Morten: Let's now take a closer look at the words and phrases for this lesson. Several of the words in this lesson need some special attention.
Jasmine: Yes. First stop is the word tänka.
Morten: To think.
Jasmine: It seems straightforward…
Morten: But its usage have some peculiarities. First, tänka can be used as a quasi modal.
Jasmine: Which means together with another verb. In that case, it means “planning to”, “intending to.” Jag tänker åka med bussen.
Morten: “I’m intending to go by bus.” And what else is difficult about tänka?
Jasmine: Well, if you want to use tänka as freely and frequently as you use “think” in English, that doesn’t work.
Morten: Because it really only refers to the act of mental deliberation, doesn’t it?
Jasmine: That’s right. If you want to use “think” to introduce an opinion, the verb for that is tycka.
Morten: So be careful using tänka. Save it for when you’re actually contemplating something.
Jasmine: Next stop is the word “framme.” It literally means “in front” or “to have a ride.”
Morten: Sounds very Swedish to me.
Jasmine: Yes. Swedish have some remnants of endings that indicate either direction or being at a certain place.
Morten: Framme is for being somewhere, right?
Jasmine: Right. Jag är framme klockan sju which means, “I’m there at 7:00 o’clock.”
Morten: Listeners, please repeat after Jasmine.
Jasmine: Jag är framme klockan sju.
Morten: Well done, everybody. Jag är framme klockan sju.
Jasmine: Next, just a brief now on the word inte meaning “not.”
Morten: We’ve used that one a lot in our conversations and example phrases.
Jasmine: But we haven’t introduced it formally yet.
Morten: Then it’s time we did. As for where to put inte in a sentence, Swedish is fairly similar to English in that respect.
Jasmine: Han är inte här än.
Morten: “He’s not here yet.” Jag kan inte komma.
Jasmine: “I cannot come.” So dear listeners, how would say, “I cannot go” in Swedish?
Morten: Jag kan inte gå. Wonderful work, folks.
Jasmine: Last, we have the word trasig meaning “broken.”
Morten: How do we use it?
Jasmine: Well, it’s fine to use for objects, but difficult for abstract concepts like relationships.
Morten: And for people?
Jasmine: I suppose you could use it for a person, but calling a person trasig that person has been in a very sorry state indeed.
Morten: So it’s best to stick to objects when using trasig. Tack ska du ha!
Jasmine: Exactly. Tack själv!

Lesson focus

Morten: Let’s take a look at the grammar for this lesson. In this lesson focus, we’ll review the use of modals.
Jasmine: We’ll also look at some traffic-related vocab and colloquialisms.
Morten: Let’s start with the colloquialisms. How can we tell our dialogue as informal?
Jasmine: Well, for the word Bärs for instance, it’s a pretty slangy word.
Morten: So you should use it only with your good friends.
Jasmine: Exactly. Ska vi ta en bärs?
Morten: “Shall we have a bevy?”
Jasmine: Would also be pretty colloquial in English, right?
Morten: That it would! Listeners, repeat after Jasmine.
Jasmine: Ska vi ta en bärs?
Morten: Very good indeed. Thank you.
Jasmine: And there is another give-away that this lesson’s dialogue is colloquial. It’s the word Nejmen...
Morten: Before translating this, let’s look at some of the constructions like it.
Jasmine: Jamen, jajamen, jajamensan. All three of those words combined Ja, yes, with men, but.
Morten: And all those words are pretty informal, right?
Jasmine: That’s right. They’re used to demonstrate appreciation of what the other person has said.
Morten: Or that it’s dedicated to doing what it required.
Jasmine: Nejmen, may sound like it should mean the opposite of those words, but it’s actually even more reassuring that you are indeed with the other person on something.
Morten: So if I ask you, “are we still going out tonight” in Swedish, you might respond with…
Jasmine: Nejmen absolut, meaning something along the lines of “but of course!”
Morten: Lovely. Thank you very much. Let’s now take a look at some more vocab.
Jasmine: In this lesson’s dialogue, we heard several words related to transportation.
Morten: The question that brought that topic was Hur ska du åka till universitetet?
Jasmine: “How will you get to the university?”
Morten: And the verb you use, those of riding various forms of transportation is ta, isn’t it?
Jasmine: Correct. Jag tar bussen.
Morten: “I take the bus.” You use the definite form of the noun after ta just that.
Jasmine: Yes, but the noun after ta is not always definite. You can see that in the last line of the dialogue, Men om vi tar en taxi tillbaka, kostar det jättemycket.
Morten: “But if we take a taxi back, it costs so very much.”
Jasmine: Here, taking a taxi, any taxi, not one specific cab, is too expensive to consider seriously as an option.
Morten: Ah. And that’s why we use the indefinite article there.
Jasmine: Yes. So if I ask you the question from above, Hur ska du åka till universitetet?
Morten: And you, dear listeners, wanted to say “by bike,” you’d say…
Jasmine: Jag tar cykeln. Excellent. And what about a taxi?
Morten: Jag tar en taxi. Very good.
Jasmine: Finally, let’s take another look at the modals we’ve covered so far.
Morten: Incidentally, we introduced two new ones in this lesson, although they had been used before in dialogues or example phrases.
Jasmine: Ooh, sneaky. Those two modals are ska…
Morten: “Shall, will, or have to.”
Jasmine: And skulle
Morten: “Should.” Previously, we had introduced Måste
Jasmine: “Have to.”
Morten: And kan.
Jasmine: “Can.” Yes. Those are pretty straightforward for English speakers.
Morten: Not every Swedish is as obvious in meaning as those two…
Jasmine: But most modals in Swedish behave the same way English modals do.
Morten: To be precise, they come before another verb in the infinitive.
Jasmine: As in this line from the dialogue, Först måste vi bestämma när vi ska åka.
Morten: “First, we have to decide when we will go.” But they may also stand on their own as in Jag måste hem.
Jasmine: “I have to go home.” Come to think of it, the dialogue this time had lots of modals.
Morten: And there is also the quasi modal Tänka We have used plenty of quasi modals up to now.
Jasmine: Like Hinna and Behöva verbs that can act as modals but usually stand as full verbs on their own.
Morten: Let’s take a look at some of the examples from our dialogue.
Jasmine: Starting with this one, Hur tänker du åka?
Morten: “How do you plan to go?” Listen to Jasmine and repeat.
Jasmine: Hur tänker du åka?
Morten: Great. And Man skulle ta en bärs.
Jasmine: “One should have a bevy.” Yes. Please listen and repeat, Man skulle ta en bärs.
Morten: Spot on. Thank you! Or Ska vi inte ta cykeln?
Jasmine: “Why don’t we take the bike?” Listen again and repeat after me, Ska vi inte ta cykeln?.
Morten: Very good, everyone. I think we have to wrap it up now.
Jasmine: Please bear in mind that semantically, when it comes to what words mean, modals in Swedish can be very different from English ones.
Morten: So it may take time to get used to them.
Jasmine: Just look at how both Ska and Måste can mean “have to” in their own contexts.
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Jasmine: Let us know…
Morten: By clicking the button next to lesson or series. Everyone, thanks very much for joining us this season. We hope you enjoyed it.
Jasmine: Yes. And that you’ll be with us again for series two. Tack så jättemycket!
Morten: Tack tack, hej då!
Jasmine: Hej då, vi ses!

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