Learn how to ask about someone's age
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| Becky: Welcome to 3-Minute Swedish Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Age. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone's age and to say yours in Swedish. |
| Body |
| Becky: Here's the way to ask 'How old are you?' in Swedish. |
| Carl: [Normal] Hur gammal är du? |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'how' |
| Carl: [Normal] hur [Slow] hur |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'old' |
| Carl: [Normal] gammal [Slow] gammal |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'are' |
| Carl: [Normal] är [Slow] är |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you' |
| Carl: [Normal] du [Slow] du |
| Becky: Listen again to the question meaning 'How old are you?' |
| Carl: [Slow] Hur gammal är du? [Normal] Hur gammal är du? |
| Becky: Here's the way to answer, 'I am seventeen years old.' |
| Carl: [Normal] Jag är sjutton år gammal. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'I' |
| Carl: [Normal] jag [Slow] jag |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'am' |
| Carl: [Normal] är [Slow] är |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'seventeen' |
| Carl: [Normal] sjutton [Slow] sjutton |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'years old' |
| Carl: [Normal] år gammal [Slow] år gammal |
| Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the question meaning 'I am seventeen years old.' |
| Carl: [Slow] Jag är sjutton år gammal. [Normal] Jag är sjutton år gammal. |
| Becky: Here's a response meaning 'I am seventeen.' |
| Carl: [Normal] Jag är sjutton. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'I' |
| Carl: [Normal] jag [Slow] jag |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'am' |
| Carl: [Normal] är [Slow] är |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'seventeen' |
| Carl: [Normal] sjutton [Slow] sjutton |
| Becky: Listen again to the response meaning 'I am seventeen.' |
| Carl: [Slow] Jag är sjutton. [Normal] Jag är sjutton. |
| Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'I prefer not to say.' |
| Carl: [Normal] Det vill jag helst inte säga. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'it' |
| Carl: [Normal] Det [Slow] Det |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'I want' |
| Carl: [Normal] vill jag [Slow] vill jag |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'rather not' |
| Carl: [Normal] helst inte [Slow] helst inte |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'say' |
| Carl: [Normal] säga [Slow] säga |
| Becky: Listen again to the response meaning 'I prefer not to say.' |
| Carl: [Slow] Det vill jag helst inte säga. [Normal] Det vill jag helst inte säga. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Carl: In Sweden, people's ages are not discussed that much, so don't use it as a conversation starter if you don't genuinely want to know. It is also considered rude to ask an older woman for her age, so be careful who you ask. |
Outro |
|---|
| Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
Comments
HideHi Listeners! How old are you?
Hej Maryna,
Haha, det är åldern i själen som räknas! 😁👍
(Haha, it is the age of the soul that counts!)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej
Hur gammal är jag?
Det vill jag helst inte säga.
Jag är sjutton år gammal i min själ
Hej Bruno,
Thank you for your comment.
"Det" means "it" in English and is used in the same way.
For example: Vad är det? (What is it?)
Usually in Swedish we say "Jag vill inte säga det." (I don't want to say it. ) This is the "normal" straightforward word order.
In this word order the noun comes first and the verb always comes second.
However, we sometimes use a reversed word order. In this case it's "Det vill jag inte säga." meaning the same thing.
In this word order the noun is not first, but the verb is still always second.
I hope this answers your question.
VickyT
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hello! In the last phrase, why do we need to put "jag" after the verb "vill"? And what is the use of the word det? Thanks!
Hej Adolf,
Du är full av energi för din ålder. (You are full of energy for your age.) :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
VickyT
Team Swedishpod101.com
Jag är ettusen år... ( hosta! hosta! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: