Same word, different thing
Three words you already know have a second, everyday meaning around the house:
| word | the meaning you know | the new meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pæren | the pear | the light bulb |
| bakken | the hill | the tray |
| vægten | the weight | the scales |
| Can you change the bulb in the kitchen? | Kan du skifte pæren i køkkenet? |
You spiser a pear but skifter a bulb: the verb usually tells you which one is meant.
| Put the glasses on the tray. | Sæt glassene på bakken. |
You walk op ad bakken, but glasses and cups go på bakken, the tray.
| She weighs herself on the scales every morning. | Hun vejer sig på vægten hver morgen. |
You can worry about din vægt, but you stand på vægten.
Rum or værelse?
rummet is a room seen as a space: dark, cold, big or small. Værelset is a room you live in, such as a bedroom or a hotel room.
| The room was dark and cold. | Rummet var mørkt og koldt. |
A description of the space itself.
| There are no windows in the small room. | Der er ingen vinduer i det lille rum. |
Et rum, det lille rum: it is a neuter noun.
Settings
indstillingen is a setting on a machine: a phone, an oven, a washing machine. On a phone, the menu is simply called Indstillinger.
| The washing machine is on the hottest setting. | Vaskemaskinen står på den varmeste indstilling. |
A machine står på a setting.
| I have changed the settings on my phone. | Jeg har ændret indstillingerne på min mobil. |
The same word can also mean a person's attitude; next to a machine it usually means the setting.
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