Learn how to compare different options
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha:Hi Everyone! This is Alisha, and welcome back to SwedishPod101.com! This is season 1, lesson 15 - Sending a Package from Sweden |
| Satsuki:Hej allihopa! I’m Satsuki. |
| Alisha:In this lesson we’ll continue to learn how to compare options. |
| Satsuki:This conversation takes place at the post office. |
| Alisha:It’s between Lisa and a post office clerk. They’ll be using formal Swedish since they don't know each other. |
| Satsuki:Let’s listen to the conversation! |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Lisa Hej, jag vill skicka det här paketet till USA. Hur mycket kostar det? |
| Postbiträde Med båt, 200 kronor. Med flyg, 400 kronor. |
| Lisa Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt. |
| Postbiträde Ja, men det tar mer än en månad. |
| Lisa Och med flyg? |
| Postbiträde Det tar mindre än en vecka. |
| Lisa Då vill jag skicka det med flyg, tack. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Lisa Hej, jag vill skicka det här paketet till USA. Hur mycket kostar det? |
| Postbiträde Med båt, 200 kronor. Med flyg, 400 kronor. |
| Lisa Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt. |
| Postbiträde Ja, men det tar mer än en månad. |
| Lisa Och med flyg? |
| Postbiträde Det tar mindre än en vecka. |
| Lisa Då vill jag skicka det med flyg, tack. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Lisa Hej, jag vill skicka det här paketet till USA. Hur mycket kostar det? |
| Hi, I would like to send this package to the US. How much does it cost? |
| Postbiträde Med båt, 200 kronor. Med flyg, 400 kronor. |
| By boat, 200 crowns. By air, 400 crowns. |
| Lisa Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt. |
| I see, it’s cheaper to send the package by boat? |
| Postbiträde Ja, men det tar mer än en månad. |
| Yes, but it takes more than a month. |
| Lisa Och med flyg? |
| And by air? |
| Postbiträde Det tar mindre än en vecka. |
| It takes less than a week. |
| Lisa Då vill jag skicka det med flyg, tack. |
| Then I want to send it by air, please. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha:I’m glad Lisa managed to send her package. Satsuki, what can you tell us about the post office system in Sweden? |
| Satsuki:Well, it used to be state-owned, but that changed in 1994 and it’s now only partially owned by the government. |
| Alisha:I see, and are there many post offices around? |
| Satsuki:Well actually, the post doesn’t have any offices of their own anymore, which might seem a bit weird for someone visiting Sweden. Instead, they use something called ‘postombud’, which can be in grocery stores or gas stations. From there, you can send or collect packages. |
| Alisha:That sounds a bit complicated, how would I know where to go? |
| Satsuki:There’s usually a ‘postombud’ in your local area. Your safest bet is probably to visit your local ICA, which is very common grocery store in Sweden. |
| Alisha:Do you need to go there if you just want to send a letter or a postcard? |
| Satsuki:No, for those kinds of errands, you usually just need to buy a stamp from a grocery store or kiosk. Mailboxes are usually not hard to find either. |
| Alisha:Okay, that sounds fairly simple. Now, let’s move on to the vocabulary! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| att skicka [natural native speed] |
| to send |
| att skicka [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| att skicka [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| paketet [natural native speed] |
| the package |
| paketet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| paketet [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| USA [natural native speed] |
| the US |
| USA [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| USA [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| båt [natural native speed] |
| boat |
| båt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| båt [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| med flyg [natural native speed] |
| by air |
| med flyg [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| med flyg [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| billig [natural native speed] |
| cheap |
| billig [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| billig [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| att ta [natural native speed] |
| to take |
| att ta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| att ta [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| mer än [natural native speed] |
| more than |
| mer än [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| mer än [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| månad [natural native speed] |
| month |
| månad [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| månad [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| mindre än [natural native speed] |
| less than |
| mindre än [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| mindre än [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Satsuki:Let’s start with how Swedes refer to the United States of America. |
| Alisha:And how is that? |
| Satsuki:They either use the abbreviation ‘USA’ or ‘Amerika’. |
| Alisha:Is either more common than the other? |
| Satsuki:I guess ‘USA’ is used more frequently than ‘Amerika’. But Swedes can be a bit careless when they pronounce ‘USA’ sometimes, and it ends up sounding like ‘UVSA’. |
| Alisha:Okay, that’s worth remembering! Let’s move on to the next expression, “by air”. |
| Satsuki:Which is ‘med flyg’. But keep in mind that the preposition ‘med’ literally translates to “with”. It’s used in front of the names for methods of transportation. |
| Alisha:So how would I say “Lisa went to school by bus”? |
| Satsuki:‘Lisa åkte till skolan med buss’. You can also use the preposition ‘med’ when you’re talking about someone doing something with somebody. |
| Alisha:Okay, how would you say “Lisa went with Anna to school”? |
| Satsuki:‘Lisa åkte med Anna till skolan’. |
| Alisha:Great! Let’s move on to the grammar now. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha:In this lesson, we’ll continue to learn how to compare different options. |
| Satsuki:You may remember that we learned how to use comparative adjectives in an earlier lesson. |
| Alisha:Yes, we learned how to say things like “the chicken salad is bigger than the tuna salad”. |
| Satsuki:Exactly, and that was ‘kycklingsalladen är större än kycklingsalladen’. But in this lesson, we’ll learn how to compare options, by using the sentence structure that appears in this lesson’s dialog. |
| Alisha:It’s the sentence where Lisa says “I see, it is cheaper to send the package by boat?” |
| Satsuki:In Swedish, ‘jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt’. |
| Alisha:And this type of sentence is quite different from the one we learned before. |
| Satsuki:Yes, that’s right. In this sentence, the options being compared with each other are described by verbs. |
| Alisha:Whereas in the sentence from the earlier lesson, “the chicken salad is bigger than the tuna salad”, we were comparing nouns. |
| Satsuki:That’s right. Also, in the sentence from this dialog, the option that “to send by boat” is being compared to is not explicitly expressed. That other option is “to send by air”. |
| Alisha:Why’s that? |
| Satsuki:Well, omitting the option that something is being compared to, is often a more natural way of expressing yourself. Especially when it’s clear from the context what you’re referring to. |
| Alisha:I see! But I don’t fully understand the structure of this sentence just yet. |
| Satsuki:Don't worry, we’ll break it down in two parts to make it easier. |
| Alisha:Great! We’ll start with the first part, “it is cheaper”. |
| Satsuki:Which is ‘det är billigare’. ‘Billigare’ is the comparative form of the adjective ‘billig’. |
| Alisha:Does that adjective conjugate regularly? |
| Satsuki:Yes, so to switch it to comparative form, you simply add ‘–are’ to ‘billig’ and you get ‘billigare’. |
| Alisha:Okay, that wasn’t too difficult. How about the second part of the sentence, “to send the package by boat”? |
| Satsuki:Yes, that’s the part that ‘det är billigare’ (“it is cheaper”) is referring to, and “to send the package by boat” is ‘att skicka paketet med båt’. |
| Alisha:Is the verb “to send” in the second part of the sentence in its infinitive form? |
| Satsuki:Yes, the Swedish verb for “to send”, ‘att skicka’ is in the infinitive. Now, let’s practice forming other sentences using the same structure. |
| Alisha:How would I say “It’s more expensive to send the package by air”? |
| Satsuki:Let’s start with the first part of the sentence “It’s more expensive”. |
| Alisah Firstly, how do you say “expensive”? |
| Satsuki:It’s ‘dyr’, and since this is also an adjective that conjugates regularly, we just add the ending ‘–are’ to make it into the comparative form. |
| Alisha:And how would that sound? |
| Satsuki:‘Dyr’ becomes ‘dyrare’. And the first part of the sentence, “it’s more expensive”, is therefore ‘det är dyrare’. |
| Alisha:Okay, now let’s talk about the second part of the sentence, “to send the package by air”. |
| Satsuki:Well, since we’re still talking about sending something, the verb we’ll use is ‘att skicka’, followed by the “the package by air” part, which is ‘paketet med flyg’. |
| Alisha:Okay, now let’s put that together. “To send the package by air” in Swedish is |
| Satsuki:‘Att skicka paketet med flyg’. |
| Alisha:And the whole sentence “it’s more expensive to send the package by air” would be… |
| Satsuki:‘Det är dyrare att skicka paketet med flyg’. Listeners, repeat after me ‘Det är dyrare att skicka paketet med flyg’ [pause] |
| Alisha:Okay, let’s try another one! How would I say “It’s *faster* to send the package by air”? |
| Satsuki:Again, let’s start with the first part of the sentence. |
| Alisha:Okay, how do you say “faster” in Swedish? |
| Satsuki:Well “fast” in Swedish is ‘snabb’ and it also conjugates regularly, so to make it into comparative form, you just add ‘–are’. ‘Snabbare’. |
| Alisha:And the second part of the sentence? |
| Satsuki:The second part of the sentence is the same as we used last time. “to send the package by air”, which translates to ‘att skicka paketet med flyg’. |
| Alisha:Okay, let’s put it together! “It’s faster to send the package by air” in Swedish is? |
| Satsuki:‘Det är snabbare att skicka paketet med flyg’. Now, listeners repeat after me! |
| Satsuki:‘Det är snabbare att skicka paketet med flyg’. |
| Alisha:Great! I think that’ll do it for this lesson. |
| Satsuki:Yes, great work everyone! |
| Alisha:Make sure you check the lesson notes, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Satsuki:Hej då! |
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