Learn how to make requests
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Elin: Hej allihopa! I’m Elin. |
| Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky. Welcome back to SwedishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 3 - Getting a Swedish Massage. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make requests. |
| Elin: That’s right. And the conversation takes place at Emma and David’s apartment. |
| Becky: It’s between Emma and her partner David, and they are using informal Swedish because they are a couple. |
| Elin: Great! Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| David: Du ser trött ut. Mår du bra? |
| Emma: Nej, jag har ont i axlarna och en fruktansvärd huvudvärk. |
| David: Är det något jag kan göra? |
| Emma: Massera mina axlar, är du snäll. |
| David: Visst! Känns det bättre nu? |
| Emma: Ja, det känns bättre i axlarna, men jag har fortfarande ont i huvudet. Hämtar du en huvudvärkstablett, är du snäll? |
| David: Självklart. Här har du. |
| Emma: Tack! |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| David: Du ser trött ut. Mår du bra? |
| Emma: Nej, jag har ont i axlarna och en fruktansvärd huvudvärk. |
| David: Är det något jag kan göra? |
| Emma: Massera mina axlar, är du snäll. |
| David: Visst! Känns det bättre nu? |
| Emma: Ja, det känns bättre i axlarna, men jag har fortfarande ont i huvudet. Hämtar du en huvudvärkstablett, är du snäll? |
| David: Självklart. Här har du. |
| Emma: Tack! |
| Becky: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| David: Du ser trött ut. Mår du bra? |
| David: You look tired. Are you okay? |
| Emma: Nej, jag har ont i axlarna och en fruktansvärd huvudvärk. |
| Emma: No, I have sore shoulders and I have a terrible headache. |
| David: Är det något jag kan göra? |
| David: Poor you! Is there anything I can do? |
| Emma: Massera mina axlar, är du snäll. |
| Emma: Rub my shoulders, please. |
| David: Visst! Känns det bättre nu? |
| David: Sure! Does it feel better now? |
| Emma: Ja, det känns bättre i axlarna, men jag har fortfarande ont i huvudet. Hämtar du en huvudvärkstablett, är du snäll? |
| Emma: Yes, my shoulders feel better, but I still have a headache. Will you get me a painkiller, please? |
| David: Självklart. Här har du. |
| David: Of course. Here you go. |
| Emma: Tack! |
| Emma: Thanks! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Wow, David really seems to be concerned about Emma not feeling well, giving her a massage and fetching things for her. Elin, is this the kind of partner Swedish women usually go for? |
| Elin: Well, generally, you could say that Swedish women value qualities in their partners like being considerate, supportive, honest, and having a sense of humor. |
| Becky: So things like appearance aren't that important? |
| Elin: Appearance, fashion sense, or financial situation aren’t unimportant, but they aren’t as important as the other qualities I just mentioned. |
| Becky: I’ve heard that Swedish women are quite picky when it comes to finding a partner. |
| Elin: I’m not sure how true that is, but a recent study revealed that 40 percent of single women believed the main reason they were single, was because their expectations of a partner were too high! |
| Becky: Hmm, that’s interesting. But now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is... |
| Elin: att må [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to feel |
| Elin: att må [slowly - broken down by syllable] att må [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: axlar [natural native speed] |
| Becky: shoulder |
| Elin: axlar [slowly - broken down by syllable] axlar [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: fruktansvärd [natural native speed] |
| Becky: terrible |
| Elin: fruktansvärd [slowly - broken down by syllable] fruktansvärd [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: huvudvärk [natural native speed] |
| Becky: headache |
| Elin: huvudvärk [slowly - broken down by syllable] huvudvärk [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: att massera [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to massage |
| Elin: att massera [slowly - broken down by syllable] att massera [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: är du snäll [natural native speed] |
| Becky: please |
| Elin: är du snäll [slowly - broken down by syllable] är du snäll [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: ont i [body part] [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sore [body part] |
| Elin: ont i [body part] [slowly - broken down by syllable] ont i [body part] [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: fortfarande [natural native speed] |
| Becky: still |
| Elin: fortfarande [slowly - broken down by syllable] fortfarande [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next |
| Elin: att hämta [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to get |
| Elin: att hämta [slowly - broken down by syllable] att hämta [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last... |
| Elin: huvudvärkstablett [natural native speed] |
| Becky: painkiller |
| Elin: huvudvärkstablett [slowly - broken down by syllable] huvudvärkstablett [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Elin: First up is the phrase “är du snäll”. |
| Becky: I remember that phrase - it appeared several times in this lesson’s dialog. What does it mean? |
| Elin: Well, “är du snäll” literally translates to “are you kind”, but more naturally it’s “please” or “will you”. |
| Becky: Okay, and when do you use it? |
| Elin: You add the phrase “är du snäll” at the end of a request. |
| Becky: Maybe we should illustrate this with an example from this lesson’s dialog. Emma said “rub my shoulders please” |
| Elin: Which was, “massera mina axlar, är du snäll”. |
| Becky: Great! What’s next? |
| Elin: Next we have another phrase, and this was used in the dialog when Emma was complaining about pain. |
| Becky: You mean when Emma says, “I have sore shoulders”?. |
| Elin: That’s right! And the reason we need to spend some time on this phrase, is that the way you’d express it in Swedish is different to English. |
| Becky: And how does it differ? |
| Elin: In Swedish, the phrase “ont i” literally translates to “pain in”, which is then followed by the name of the body part that’s sore. |
| Becky: So how would I say “I have a sore hand”? |
| Elin: You would say, “jag har ont i handen”. |
| Becky: And what if I wanted to say, “I have a sore knee”? |
| Elin: “Jag har ont i knät”. |
| Becky: I think I’ve got it! Now let’s move on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Elin: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make requests similar to the ones made by Emma in this lesson’s dialog. |
| Becky: Great, where do we begin? |
| Elin: Well, we’ll actually be learning how to make two types of requests. |
| Becky: Two types? That sounds complicated! |
| Elin: Well their structure is quite similar, so it won’t be that difficult. |
| Becky: Okay, if you say so! What type of request shall we start with? |
| Elin: Let’s start with a request like the one Emma used when she asked David to get her a painkiller. |
| Becky: You mean when Emma says, “will you get me a painkiller, please”? |
| Elin: Exactly! And in Swedish that was, “hämtar du en värktablett åt mig, är du snäll”. |
| Becky: I’m not sure I understand the structure here just yet. |
| Elin: Ok, let’s take a closer look at the first part of the sentence. Hopefully that will make it clearer. |
| Becky: You mean the “will you get me a painkiller” part? |
| Elin: Yes, and that was, “hämtar du en värktablett åt mig”. |
| Becky: There is only one verb in the Swedish sentence, while there is both a main verb and an auxiliary verb in the English sentence. |
| Elin: That’s right. In the Swedish sentence, we only use the present tense of the verb “att hämta”, “hämtar” which means “to get”. And “hämtar” is put at the beginning of the sentence, and then followed by the subject. |
| Becky: But there is also something else that makes the Swedish sentence different from the English one. |
| Elin: Yes, after the subject in the Swedish sentence, in this case “du” which means “you”, the thing that you are asked to get is specified, in this case, “en värktablett” meaning “a painkiller”. |
| Becky: And then? |
| Elin: The sentence then finishes with the phrase “är du snäll”. |
| Becky: Which, as we have already learned, means “please”. |
| Elin: That’s right! |
| Becky: I think I've kind of got it now, but let’s practice this a bit. How, for example, would I say, “will you turn off the lights, please”? |
| Elin: Remember it’s a question, so you’ll have to start with the verb “to turn off” in its present tense, which is “släcker”. |
| Becky: And then? |
| Elin: The subject of the sentence, in this case “du” meaning “you”, then follows the verb. That’s followed by the name of the thing that you want turned off, in this case, “lampan”, meaning “the lights”. |
| Becky: And then you just have to add “please”. |
| Elin: Yes, exactly! You add the “är du snäll” part to the end of the sentence. So “can you turn off the light, please” becomes “släcker du lampan, är du snäll”. |
| Becky: Listeners, repeat after Elin. |
| Elin: “släcker du lampan, är du snäll”. [pause] |
| Becky: Okay, let’s do one more. How would you say, “will you open the window, please? |
| Elin: Just like before, you need to start with the verb for “to open” in its present tense, which is “öppar”. Then this is followed with the subject “du”. |
| Becky: And then the thing that you are asked to open, in this case “the window” follows that. |
| Elin: Exactly and that in Swedish is “fönstret”. And finally you finish the sentence with the “är du snäll” part, meaning, “please”. |
| Becky: So “will you open the window, please” altogether is? |
| Elin: “Öppnar du fönstret är, du snäll”. Listeners, repeat after me! |
| Elin: “Öppnar du fönstret är, du snäll”. [pause] |
| Elin: Now let’s move on and learn the second way we can make a request. |
| Becky: Okay, and what’s that? |
| Elin: Another way to make a request is to use the same pattern as Emma in this lesson’s dialog. |
| Becky: You mean when she says, “rub my shoulders, please”? |
| Elin: Yes, and that was, “massera mina axlar, är du snäll”. |
| Becky: Hmm...There is something familiar with this sentence pattern. |
| Elin: Well spotted! It’s the same sentence pattern as we saw in a previous lesson, when we learned how to give orders and instructions using the imperative. The only difference is that when we want to make a request, we add the “är du snäll” meaning “please” part to the end of the sentence. |
| Becky: That’s great news! But let’s practice that a bit. How would you say “close the door, please”? |
| Elin: As in any sentence using the imperative, you’ll start the sentence off with the verb in the imperative form, in this case, the verb “to close”, “stäng”. This is followed with the thing that you want to close, in this case, “dörren” which means “the door”. |
| Becky: And then you just add the “please” part. |
| Elin: Exactly! You add the “är du snäll” to the end of the sentence. |
| Becky: And if we put that together? |
| Elin: “close the door, please” in Swedish is, “stäng dörren, är du snäll”. |
| Becky: Great! Listeners, repeat after Elin! |
| Elin: “Stäng dörren, är du snäll”. [pause] |
| Becky: I just have one more question. What’s the difference between these two ways of making requests? |
| Elin: Good question! Making a request using the imperative is a less gentle way of making a request, so you might want to be cautious about how and when you use it. |
| Becky: So keep that in mind, listeners! |
Outro |
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| Becky: Okay that’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Elin: Bye! |
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