Learn how to ask people to slow down, and to repeat themselves
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jasmine: Hej alla lyssnare och välkomna |
| Morten: Hej, allihopa. I'm Morten and welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 9 - Could You Say That Again in Swedish Please? In this lesson, we're looking at ways to get people to speak slower or repeat what they've just said. |
| Jasmine: Yes, the focus is on useful phrases and when and where to use which. |
| Morten: The conversation is taking place at Ostkupan again. It's early evening. |
| Jasmine: Our main character, James, is talking Nils, the Swedish flatmate. |
| Morten: The situation is very casual and Nils even used a somewhat slang like vocab, so James doesn't immediately understand. |
| Jasmine: Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Nils: Har du lust att följa med mig och mina kompisar till sjuans för ett par bärs ikväll? |
| James: Öh, ursäkta men kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Nils: Okej, har du lust att träffa mig och mina kompisar på sjuans ikväll? |
| James: Ja, absolut. Men snälla, kan du säga det en gång till, var ska ni träffas? Tack. |
| Nils: Inga problem, på sjuans ölhall vid saluhallen. |
| James: Jaha, okej. Javisst, jag kommer gärna. |
| Morten: And let's now listen to the slow version. |
| Jasmine: Nu ska vi lyssna på den sakta versionen. |
| Nils: Har du lust att följa med mig och mina kompisar till sjuans för ett par bärs ikväll? |
| James: Öh, ursäkta men kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Nils: Okej, har du lust att träffa mig och mina kompisar på sjuans ikväll? |
| James: Ja, absolut. Men snälla, kan du säga det en gång till, var ska ni träffas? Tack. |
| Nils: Inga problem, på sjuans ölhall vid saluhallen. |
| James: Jaha, okej. Javisst, jag kommer gärna. |
| Morten: And now the English translation. |
| Jasmine: Och nu med engelska översättningen. |
| Nils: Har du lust att följa med mig och mina kompisar till sjuans för ett par bärs ikväll? |
| Morten: Would you like to come with me and my pals to No.7 for a few scoops (bevvies) tonight? |
| James: Öh, ursäkta men kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Morten: Umm, I'm sorry, but could you speak a little slower? |
| Nils: Okej, har du lust att träffa mig och mina kompisar på sjuans ikväll? |
| Morten: OK, would you like to meet me and my friends at No.7 tonight? |
| James: Ja, absolut. Men snälla, kan du säga det en gång till, var ska ni träffas? Tack. |
| Morten: Yes, sure. But please, could you say the place where we shall meet once more? Thanks. |
| Nils: Inga problem, på sjuans ölhall vid saluhallen. |
| Morten: No problem—at No.7, beer hall, next to the market hall. |
| James: Jaha, okej. Javisst, jag kommer gärna. |
| Morten: All right. Sure, I'd be pleased to come. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Morten: Looks like our characters are getting ready to go out. What's it like going out in Sweden? |
| Jasmine: Well, that's a very broad question. Generally it's not as expensive as many people think. |
| Morten: Oh, in the UK Sweden has a reputation for being horrendously expensive. |
| Jasmine: Well it's not exactly cheap, but going out for food to say is no more expensive than other parts of Europe. |
| Morten: But what about drinks? |
| Jasmine: Those can be more expensive than Britain or the European countries, but there are some deals that we had. |
| Morten: I hear that food is a lot cheaper at lunch time. |
| Jasmine: It is and a lot of restaurants have cheap early bird menus too. |
| Morten: It probably pay to ask the locals. |
| Jasmine: Absolutely and you shouldn't miss the Friday night after work events. |
| Morten: Oh, where can I find those? |
| Jasmine: Many bars in Sweden offer a free buffet on Fridays and some do drink discounts as well. |
| Morten: Sounds too good to be true, the food is really free. |
| Jasmine: It is usually. You may have to pay the check your coat or bag, but the food won't cost you anything. |
| Morten: And the atmosphere be good with people getting ready for the weekend. |
| Jasmine: Oh for sure. Many Swedes still finish work a bit earlier on Fridays, so the bars may get busy even in the afternoon. |
| Morten: Do Swedes go out more on the weekends? |
| Jasmine: Definitely. Going out during the week is not too common. |
| Morten: But let's now move on to the vocabulary section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| First we have. |
| Jasmine: En kompis [natural native speed] |
| Morten: A pal, a buddy. |
| Jasmine: En kompis [slowly - broken down by syllable]. En kompis [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Träffa [natural native speed] |
| Morten: To meet. |
| Jasmine: Träffa [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Träffa [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: En bärs [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Bevvy (slang word for beer) |
| Jasmine: En bärs [slowly - broken down by syllable]. En bärs [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Kan du prata lite långsammare? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Can you speak a little slower? |
| Jasmine: Kan du prata lite långsammare? [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Kan du prata lite långsammare? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Kan du säga det en gång till? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Could/Can you say that once more? |
| Jasmine: Kan du säga det en gång till? [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Kan du säga det en gång till? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Snälla [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Please (lit. it means "kind one") |
| Jasmine: Snälla [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Snälla [natural native speed] |
| Morten: And finally, we have. |
| Jasmine: Gärna [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Readily/willingly. |
| Jasmine: Gärna [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Gärna [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Morten: Let's now take a look at some words and phrases in this lesson. We've picked out some very useful phrases for this lesson. |
| Jasmine: That's right. Let's get cracking. |
| Morten: If I had problems understanding someone's speech, what could I say? |
| Jasmine: You could use the phrase, Kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Morten: Can you speak a little slower? Actually, could I get you to say that a little slower, please? |
| Jasmine: Kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Morten: Thank you, tack. Now, let's listen again at native speed and repeat. |
| Jasmine: Kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Morten: Very good. Another way to ask for a clarification is? |
| Jasmine: Kan du säga det en gång till? |
| Morten: Can you say that once more? Let's hear that a bit slower, too. |
| Jasmine: Kan du säga det en gång till? |
| Morten: Tack så mycket. Let's listen again at native speed and repeat. |
| Jasmine: Kan du säga det en gång till? |
| Morten: Well done. Time to recap. |
| Jasmine: When you want someone to slow down, you say? |
| Morten: Kan du prata lite långsammare? That's right. |
| Jasmine: And when you would like someone to repeat something, you would say? |
| Morten: Kan du säga det en gång till? Nice. Now, you're all prepared. |
| Jasmine: We've already looked at how tack in Swedish can mean please when it's tacked on the end. |
| Morten: But if you really want to beg, you can also use? |
| Jasmine: Snälla. It literally means kind one, but we use it to mean please. |
| Morten: How can we use snälla in a conversation? |
| Jasmine: We could use it to upgrade one of the sentences we just covered. |
| Morten: Such as, men snälla kan du prata lite långsammare? |
| Jasmine: But please, could you speak a little slower? That's the way it works, yeah. |
| Morten: Can you also add Snälla at the end? |
| Jasmine: Sure you can, Kan du säga det en gång till, snälla? |
| Morten: Can you say that again, please? Okay, thanks a lot. |
Lesson focus |
| Jasmine: Let's move on to the grammar section. |
| Morten: In this lesson, we had to look at some immensely useful phrases for learners of Swedish. |
| Jasmine: Yes, phrases that can get people to slow down their speech or repeat what they've said. |
| Morten: That's right, but what do native speakers do in these situations? |
| Jasmine: Well, native speakers don't normally ask each other to slow down. |
| Morten: Unless there's some kind of noise interference or someone's mumbling in an unintelligible voice. |
| Jasmine: Correct, however you will hear native speakers ask for repetition. |
| Morten: For native speakers, these requests are favored shorter, aren't they? |
| Jasmine: Yeah. For instance you'll often hear Swedish ask Vad? |
| Morten: That means what just like in English. It signals disbelief or a failure to understand what's been said. |
| Jasmine: They may also say Vad sa du? |
| Morten: Meaning, what does he say? But can't that sound a bit pushy or aggressive? |
| Jasmine: Depending on how it's said, it can. |
| Morten: Like so many other phrases, in a neutral voice, it's fine. With the rising intonation, it might start to sound a little threatening. |
| Jasmine: It's also common to hear Förlåt? |
| Morten: Meaning, sorry? That on its own tells the other person he didn't understand. |
| Jasmine: It's perfectly polite too. |
| Morten: But learners should probably stick to the longer phrases we've covered, right? |
| Jasmine: Yes, that's safest and it will show people the effort you're putting in to learn Swedish, they'll appreciate that. |
| Morten: So don't be afraid to ask Swedes to slow down. They will be patient. |
| Jasmine: And even native speakers sometimes have to ask each other to slow down if there's noise interference or something as you said. |
| Morten: How do they ask that? |
| Jasmine: They would probably say lite långsammare tack? |
| Morten: Meaning, a little slower please? Could you also use Snälla here, the word we just learned? |
| Jasmine: Absolutely, that would make it even more polite, Snälla lite långsammare. |
| Morten: Meaning, Please, a little slower. This puts more emphasis on the please, doesn't it? |
| Jasmine: Yes, let's recap a little. If you want to ask, what did you say, in Swedish, you would say? |
| Morten: Vad sa du? And if you want to clip it to sorry, you would say? |
| Jasmine: Förlåt. That's right. |
| Morten: And just like in English, what, you can also say? |
| Jasmine: Vad? And when you'd like someone to slow down a little, you'd use? |
| Morten: lite långsammare tack or Snälla, lite långsammare. |
| Jasmine: With that, it was nicer and more personal. Please bear that in mind. Now you know how to ask people to slow down or repeat things. |
| Morten: And how natives deal with the same situation. Thanks a lot, Jasmine and we'll catch you next time, listeners. Like our podcasts? |
| Jasmine: Then like our Facebook page too. |
| Morten: Get lesson updates our Swedish word of the day and news on Facebook. |
| Jasmine: Just search for SwedishPod101.com and like our fan page. |
| Morten: And if you like a lesson or a series on SwedishPod101.com. |
| Jasmine: Let us know… |
| Morten: …by clicking the button next to the lesson or series. Tack så mycket. Hejdå. |
| Jasmine: Tack tack. Hejdå |
Comments
HideAre you a party person or do you prefer staying home?
Hej,
jag är inte en partyperson. Jag tycker om att träffas med mina vänner för att fika.
Jag tycker om att stanna hemma och läsa böcker eller rita en bild.
Ibland gillar jag också att gå på konserter. Speciellt när min kompis spelar med sitt band. 😎
Tack så mycket för det intressant lektionen.
Kate
Hello Ann Pacelli,
Thanks for taking the time to post.👍
We're glad to have you with us!
Please feel free to shoot through any questions you have throughout your studies.
Sincerely,
Ali
Team SwedishPod101.com
👍
Hej Sarah,
Ja, visst är det intressant. 😄
(Yes, isn't it interesting. 😄)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej!
Ja ha! Vad intressant. Swedes restrang har gratis mat på fredag! Jag förstår nu
Hej Ružica,
Close! You can say: "Ursäkta, men jag förstod inte det" (Sorry, but I didn't understand that). Or you could simply say: "Jag förstod inte det" (I didn't understand that). 😁 Hope that helps!
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej, allihopa! Hur är det? Jag gilla att träffa med mina kompisar för kaffe/öll. Men jag också gilla att läsa.
How would I say: I didn't understand that? Would it be something like: Ursäkta, men jag förståde det inte? Tack så mycket!
Hej Marcel,
Well spotted! You are correct, we can form the future tense by using "ska" + an infinitive. So, your example "Jag ska träffa kompisar" is correct. There is however a reason why there is an "s" at the end of the question in the dialogue. In Swedish, an "s" can sometimes be added to a verb to express "each other", making it a reciprocal verb. For example:
"Vi ska träffas" (We will meet), could also be expressed "Vi ska träffa varandra" (We will meet each other).
"Var ska ni träffas?" (Where will you meet) could also be expressed "Var ska ni träffa varandra?" (Where will you meet each other?). So in this case, the "s" replaces "varandra" (each other).
You will likely come across this often when you are first learning Swedish, for example, in expressions like:
"Vi ses!" - This expression is the equivalent of "See you!", but literally expresses the meaning "We will see each other!"
Hope that answers your question! 😁
Hej,
I thought ska + infinitive was the appropriate future tense (like the first sentence), then there was the question in the dialog (second sentence). Is this correct? Tack!
Jag ska träffa kompisar.
Var ska ni träffas?
Hej Sharon,
Det låter som en perfekt hobby på vintern! 😮👍
(That sounds like a perfect hobby for the winter!)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Jag tycker om att stanna hemma och läsa böcker och måla bilder,
Hej Alexei,
Tack för din kommentar! Jag är nog en hemmaperson. 😜
(Thank you for your comment! I think I'm a staying at home kind of person.)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej,
Hur står det till? Ibland med en bra kompis och han inte kan då ibland ensam.
Vi ses.
Hej Khalil,
Let us know if you have any questions! 😇
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Tack sa mycket
Hej Gary,
Precis, det skulle jag också göra! (Exactly, that's what I would do too!) 😇
VickyT
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej VickyT
Tack så mycket för ditt svar !
Skulle jag använda uttrycket, "Har du lust att förla..." mer om jag var bara prata med mina kompisar och familj ? Det låter mindre formell att mig ?
(Would I use the phrase, "Do you feel like..." more if I was just talking to my friends and family? It sounds less formal to me?)
Hälsningar
Gary
Hej Gary,
Yes, you can say "Skulle du vilja följa med mig..." (Would you like to come with me...) 😇
The only difference is that the word "lust" in a sentence means something like "feel like".
So "Har du lust att följa med mig..." translates to "Do you feel like coming with me..."
VickyT
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej SwedishPod101
"Har du lust att följa med mig och mina kompisar till sjuans för ett par bärs ikväll?"
In the above sentence, is it very common to use the expression, "Har du lust att förla..." to mean, "Would you like to come..." ?
Would it be acceptable to say, "Skulle du vilja förla..." ?
Hälsningar
Gary
Hej Maria,
Du har helt rätt. Det är inte korrekt att säga "sakta" i det här sammanhanget, utan rätt ord är "långsam". (You're absolutely right. It is not correct to say "sakta" in this instance, the correct word is "långsam".
Det har helt enkelt blivit en miss. (It's just a mistake.) Vi ska åtgärda det så fort som möjligt. (We're going to fix this as soon as possible.)
Tack för att du pekat ut detta. (Thank you for pointing this out.)
VickyT
Team Swedishpod101.com