Learn how to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Kellie: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 16 - A Bad First Day at Work in Sweden. Kellie here. |
| Vicky: Hej! I'm Vicky. |
| Kellie: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize and respond to apologies in Swedish. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Vicky: It's between Lennart and Annie. |
| Kellie: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll use both formal and informal Swedish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Annie: Hej! Ursäkta att jag är sen! Vägen var inte snöröjd, så bussen åkte i diket! |
| Lennart: Oj då! Men det är lugnt. Du borde ha ringt mig. Jag hade kunnat plocka upp dig med bilen. |
| Annie: Ja, jag provade att ringa dig en gång, men du svarade inte. |
| Lennart: Jaså? Det märkte jag inte. Sorry! Det var dåligt av mig. |
| Annie: Nej nej, det var inte ditt fel! Det känns dock lite pinsamt att vara sen första dagen på jobbet. |
| Lennart: Du är här nu i alla fall. Ingen skada skedd. |
| Annie: Nej, men jag ber verkligen om ursäkt. Det ska inte hända igen. Jag lovar. |
| Lennart: Jag tror dig. Jag har en arbetsuniform till dig förresten. Jag är ledsen om den är för stor, men vi har ingen mindre storlek. |
| Annie: Åh, tack! Det gör inget. Jag går och provar den nu! Du råkar inte ha ett par extra strumpor att låna ut? Mina blev blöta i snön. |
| Lennart: Jo, det har jag. Vänta lite. |
| Kellie: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Annie: Hi! I'm sorry I'm late! The road hadn’t been cleared of snow, so the bus went into the ditch! |
| Lennart: Wow! But it's cool. You should have called me. I could’ve picked you up in the car. |
| Annie: Yes, I tried to call you once, but you didn't answer. |
| Lennart: Really? I didn't notice. Sorry! That was bad of me. |
| Annie: No no, it wasn't your fault! It does feel a bit embarrassing to be late on the first day of work though. |
| Lennart: You're here now at least. No harm done. |
| Annie: No, but I do truly apologize. It won't happen again. I promise. |
| Lennart: I believe you. I've got a work uniform for you by the way. I'm sorry if it's too big, but we don't have a smaller size. |
| Annie: Oh, thank you! It's alright. I’ll go and try it on now! You don't happen to have an extra pair of socks I can borrow? Mine got wet in the snow. |
| Lennart: Yes, I do. Wait just a minute. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Kellie: Vicky, does it snow a lot in Sweden? |
| Vicky: Oh, yes. We have about six months of snow a year! We also have an expression for "the year's first snow," årets första snö |
| Kellie: I see. |
| Vicky: The inner city of Stockholm has very narrow streets, and when it snows and the streets are cleared it means that big portions of the streets disappear under the wall of snow along the sides. |
| Kellie: I guess it makes driving in the city center a bit dangerous. |
| Vicky: Yes. You should also be sure that your car has winter tires because the roads are very dangerous, and car accidents are common during the winter in Sweden. |
| Kellie: I’ve heard that another issue in the winter is that animals end up crossing the streets in search of food... |
| Vicky: That's true, you may even encounter a deer in front of your car! |
| Kellie: I suppose that Sweden is well prepared to face the snow... |
| Vicky: Actually, everyone who knows Sweden well is aware that the public transportation system suffers greatly when the snow arrives. We have long delays, cancellations, and problems with getting to and from work. But even though these problems are well known and happen every year, most companies and schools still have no tolerance for latecomers. |
| Kellie: That’s an interesting cultural quirk. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Kellie: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Vicky: snöröja [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: clear of snow |
| Vicky: snöröja [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: snöröja [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: dike [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: ditch |
| Vicky: dike [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: dike [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: att plocka upp [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: to pick up |
| Vicky: att plocka upp [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: att plocka upp [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: pinsam [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: embarrassing |
| Vicky: pinsam[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: pinsam [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: Ingen skada skedd [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: No harm done |
| Vicky: Ingen skada skedd [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: Ingen skada skedd [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: att hända [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: to happen |
| Vicky: att hända [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: att hända [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: arbetsuniform [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: work uniform |
| Vicky: arbetsuniform [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: arbetsuniform [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: Next we have.. |
| Vicky: att märka [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: to notice |
| Vicky: att märka [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: att märka [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: And lastly.. |
| Vicky: jo [natural native speed] |
| Kellie: yes |
| Vicky: jo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Vicky: jo [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Kellie: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Vicky: att plocka upp |
| Kellie: which means “to pick up.” You can use this word in both formal and informal situations when picking something up or when speaking about getting something or someone. |
| Vicky: Right. For example...Plocka upp tröjan från golvet. |
| Kellie: “Pick the sweater up off of the floor.” |
| Vicky: Kan du plocka upp mig från tågstationen? |
| Kellie: “Could you pick me up from the train station?” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Vicky: att hända |
| Kellie: which means “to happen.” |
| Vicky: att means “to” and hända means “happen.” Once more, att hända |
| Kellie: You can use this word when something will happen, has happened, or is happening. |
| Vicky: Right. For example...Inget kommer att hända förrän tre på eftermiddagen. |
| Kellie: “Nothing will happen until three o'clock in the afternoon.” |
| Vicky: Slappna av, vad är det värsta som kan hända? |
| Kellie: “Relax, what's the worst thing that could happen?” |
| Vicky: There’s also a more formal word meaning the same as att hända, which is inträffa, |
| Kellie: “to take place” or “to happen.” |
| Vicky: For example, När inträffade rånet? |
| Kellie: “When did the robbery take place?” Okay, what's the last word? |
| Vicky: att märka |
| Kellie: which means “to notice,” or “to mark.” |
| Vicky: att means “to” and märka means “mark, notice.” Once more, att märka |
| Kellie: This word is mainly used in informal situations, but sometimes you can also find it in business language. You can use it when talking about marking an object or noticing things. |
| Vicky: For example...Kan du prismärka de här varorna? |
| Kellie: “Could you mark the price on these products?” |
| Vicky: Lade du märke till den underliga mannen? |
| Kellie: “Did you notice the odd man?” |
| Vicky: Jag märkte att du såg extra glad ut idag. |
| Kellie: “I noticed you looked extra happy today.” |
| Vicky: Lägg märke till att det har blivit en schemaändring. |
| Kellie: “Notice that a change in the schedule has been made” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kellie: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize and respond to apologies in Swedish. Let’s start with an example from the dialogue. |
| Vicky: In the dialogue, Annie apologizes by saying Jag ber verkligen om ursäkt. Det ska inte hända igen. |
| Kellie: which means "I do truly apologize. It won't happen again." Vicky, what are some of the most common phrases used for apologizing? |
| Vicky: Usually you would start the sentence with förlåt, meaning “I’m sorry,” and then add an explanation, for example Förlåt. Det är helt och hållet mitt fel. |
| Kellie: which means "I’m sorry. It’s all completely my fault." |
| Vicky: You can also start the explanation with the expression Jag borde inte ha, |
| Kellie: which means "I shouldn’t have." |
| Vicky: Since it’s in past tense, the following verb will also be in past tense. For example, Jag borde inte ha druckit upp all mjölk. |
| Kellie: meaning "I shouldn’t have drunk all the milk." |
| Vicky: You can use the present tense with other expressions, such as Jag ber om ursäkt för |
| Kellie: meaning “I apologize for…” |
| Vicky: For example, Jag ber om ursäkt för väntan. |
| Kellie: which means "I apologize for the wait." |
| Vicky: Another expression that can be used with the present tense is Jag är hemskt ledsen för, |
| Kellie: Meaning “I’m terribly sorry for..” |
| Vicky: for example, Jag är hemskt ledsen för misstaget. |
| Kellie: "I’m terribly sorry about the mistake." |
| Vicky: Another similar expression is Jag skulle vilja be om ursäkt för, |
| Kellie: Meaning “I’d like to apologize for...” |
| Vicky: For example, Jag skulle vilja be om ursäkt för att jag är sen. |
| Kellie: "I’d like to apologize for being late." |
| Vicky: Notice that all these expressions are normally followed by a noun in the definite form. For example, vänta becomes väntan, "to wait." |
| Kellie: Can we use these expressions with verbs in the past tense, too? |
| Vicky: Yes, we can. For example we can say, Jag ber om ursäkt för att du fått vänta. |
| Kellie: which means "I apologize for your having had to wait." |
| Vicky: These expressions can also be followed by a verb in the infinitive form, but it’s rare. For example, Jag är hemskt ledsen för att jag är sen. |
| Kellie: which means "I’m terribly sorry for being late.” Ok, the next grammar point is accepting apologies. |
| Vicky:There are a lot of expressions you can use when you are receiving an apology. |
| Kellie: In this lesson we’ll focus on some expressions that are commonly used by native speakers in informal situations. For example, the English “no problem” has three Swedish equivalents. |
| Vicky: Right. They are...Det är lugnt, Inga problem and Ingen fara. |
| Kellie: Vicky, what do they literally mean? |
| Vicky: Well, the literal translation might seem a bit funny for someone learning Swedish. Det är lugnt means “It is calm.” Inga problem means “No problem” and Ingen fara means “No danger.” |
| Kellie: Listeners, you don't need to remember literal translations, just remember that they all mean “No problem” and you can use them to accept an apology. |
| Vicky: Right. You can also use other expressions. For example, Glöm det. |
| Kellie: which means “Forget about it,” |
| Vicky: Oroa dig inte. |
| Kellie: which is “Don’t worry”. |
| Vicky: And Inget att prata om. |
| Kellie: Meaning “Don’t mention it.” Ok, let’s wrap up this lesson by giving a quick language tip. |
| Vicky: It’s about the difference between ja and jo. |
| Kellie: They are both used to mean “Yes.” |
| Vicky: That’s right. Ja means “yes” and is used for answering questions, showing your consent, or agreeing. For example in the dialogue we have, Ja, jag provade att ringa dig en gång, men du svarade inte. |
| Kellie: which means "Yes, I tried to call you once, but you didn't answer." |
| Vicky: While Jo has two different meanings. First of all, we use jo when answering a question that has some kind of negation in it. For example inte "not," aldrig "never," and knappast or knappt, which means "hardly." |
Outro |
| Kellie: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Vicky: Bye! |
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