Breakdown of Kan du förklara skillnaden i längd och vikt?
du
you (singular)
och
and
i
in
kunna
to be able to, can
förklara
to explain
längden
the height / the length
vikten
the weight
skillnaden
the difference
Questions & Answers about Kan du förklara skillnaden i längd och vikt?
The word for height is längd. Is that related to the adjective lång (tall/long)?
Yes! You are currently learning about stem vowel changes in adjectives, like how lång becomes längre (taller) and längst (tallest). The noun längd (length or height) is built from that exact same mutated ä vowel. Swedes use längd to talk about a person's height.
Why use vikt for weight instead of a word related to tung (heavy)?
Vikt comes from the verb att väga (to weigh) and is the standard word for a person's weight. The adjective tung does have a related noun with a vowel mutation: tyngd (from tung, tyngre, tyngst). However, tyngd usually means heaviness or gravity, while vikt is used for everyday measurements.
Why do we say skillnaden i here? Can I use other prepositions?
Just like in English, which says difference in, Swedish uses i for dimensions and measurements. If you were instead comparing two distinct things, like the difference between the boys, you would use mellan instead (skillnaden mellan pojkarna).
Why doesn't the verb förklara (explain) end in -r like a normal present tense verb?
It follows the modal verb kan (can). A helpful rule to remember is that modal verbs always force the next verb into its infinitive (dictionary) form, which typically ends in -a. That is why we write kan du förklara and not kan du förklarar.
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