Är du färdig med boken?

Are you finished with the book?

Breakdown of Är du färdig med boken?

• vara: to be
• du: you
• boken: the book
• med: with
• färdig: finished

Questions & Answers about Är du färdig med boken?

Why is the verb att vara (to be) used here instead of att ha (to have)?

In English you ask “Have you finished…” using have, but Swedish expresses the result state “finished” with vara + adjective. Here färdig is an adjective, so you pair it with är (the present of att vara) to mean “are you finished.”

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What does färdig med mean? Is it a fixed expression?

Yes, vara färdig med is a common construction meaning “to be finished with” something. You always use the preposition med to link färdig to the object:

• Jag är färdig med arbetet. (I’m finished with the work.)

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What’s the difference between färdig and klar?

Both can mean “ready” or “finished,” but:

• färdig focuses on having completed something.
• klar can also mean “clear” or “understood.”
  In many contexts they’re interchangeable:
• Är du klar med maten? or Är du färdig med maten? both mean “Are you done with the meal?”

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Why is the preposition med necessary? Can I say Är du färdig boken?

No, you need med. Swedish uses färdig med to show completion with an object. Without med it sounds ungrammatical—there’s no direct adjective–noun link here.

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Why is the word order Är du färdig med boken? instead of du är …?

Swedish yes/no questions use verb–subject inversion. In a statement you’d say:

• Du är färdig med boken.
  For a question, you flip verb and subject:
• Är du färdig med boken?

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Why is the noun in the definite form boken instead of bok?

Using boken (“the book”) indicates you’re talking about a specific book you both know about. If you said en bok it would be “a book” in general, which doesn’t fit most contexts where you ask about a particular text.

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Why isn’t there a verb like “read” (läsa) in this sentence?

Swedish often lets färdig med imply the action is complete. If you need to be explicit you can add att läsa:

• Är du färdig med att läsa boken?
  But it’s usually clear you mean reading.

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How do I pronounce färdig correctly?

• ä sounds like the “e” in bed.
• rd is a Swedish retroflex cluster—roll or tap your r, then lightly touch the tongue tip behind your teeth for d.
• The g at the end is soft, almost like an English y sound.
Altogether: [ˈfɛɖːi], roughly FEHR-dyee.