Breakdown of Kocken delar köttet i fyra bitar.
i
in
köttet
the meat
kocken
the chef
fyra
four
dela
to divide / to share
biten
the piece (portion, chunk)
Questions & Answers about Kocken delar köttet i fyra bitar.
In English we say 'divides into', but the Swedish sentence uses 'i'. Is that the standard preposition for dividing things?
Yes! In Swedish, you divide things i (in) a certain number of pieces, rather than 'into'. You will often see dela i when talking about fractions or splitting things up, like dela kakan i tre bitar (divide the cake into three pieces).
Since the chef is dividing the meat into four pieces, how would I talk about one of those 'quarters'?
You would use the fractional word en fjärdedel. If you want to say 'a quarter of the meat', you would say en fjärdedel av köttet. Remember that fractional words in Swedish usually combine the number with -del (part).
Does 'delar' always mean to physically cut or divide something?
delar can mean physically dividing something, like the meat here, but it also means sharing something in a general sense, like an apartment (vi delar lägenhet). If you mean sharing something with someone generously, you usually use the phrasal verb dela med sig av.
Could I use 'stycken' instead of 'bitar' for 'pieces'?
Not quite. While both translate to 'pieces', en bit refers to a physical chunk of something larger (like a piece of meat or cake). stycken is mostly used as a counting word for whole, individual items. Since the chef is cutting a larger piece of meat into smaller chunks, bitar is the natural choice.
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