Questions & Answers about Du ska inte säga emot chefen.
How does säga emot translate to "contradict"?
Säga means "say" and emot means "against". Together, they form a phrasal verb that literally means "say against", which is how you say "contradict" or "argue with" in Swedish.
When pronouncing säga emot, which word gets the emphasis?
Like most Swedish phrasal verbs, the emphasis goes on the little particle word. So you should stress emot rather than säga.
The translation says "should not", so why use ska instead of borde?
While ska often means "will" for future plans, it also expresses rules or strong expectations. Du ska inte is a firm "You are not to" or "You must not". If this were just friendly, optional advice, you would use borde (ought to/should) instead.
Why is inte placed between ska and säga?
In a normal main sentence, the word inte (not) usually goes right after the first verb. Here, the first verb is ska, so inte jumps in right after it, pushing the second verb (säga) further along in the sentence.
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