Breakdown of Är avståndet till scenen drygt femtio meter?
vara
to be
till
to (direction, destination)
femtio
fifty
scenen
the stage
drygt
just over
avståndet
the distance
metern
the meter
Questions & Answers about Är avståndet till scenen drygt femtio meter?
What exactly does drygt mean in this sentence, and how is it different from ungefär?
Drygt specifically means "just over" or "a little more than". If the distance were roughly fifty meters (where it could be slightly more or slightly less), you would use ungefär (approximately). If you wanted to say "just under" fifty meters, you would use the opposite word, knappt.
Why is it femtio meter and not a plural form like femtio metrar?
In Swedish, many common units of measurement (like meter, mil, kilo, and liter) do not take a plural ending when they come directly after a number. You say en meter and also femtio meter.
Why do we use the preposition till here?
When talking about the distance from an implied starting point to a specific destination, Swedish uses till (to). This matches English perfectly: "the distance to the stage" is avståndet till scenen.
Why are both avståndet and scenen in their definite forms?
The speaker is asking about a specific situation: "the distance" to "the stage" at the venue they are currently discussing. Because both are specific, the neuter noun ett avstånd and the "en" word en scen take their definite endings to become avståndet and scenen.
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