Breakdown of Jag gissar att kön är knappt en kilometer lång.
jag
I
vara
to be
en
a, an (common)
lång
long / tall
att
that
kön
the queue
gissa
to guess
knappt
just under
kilometern
the kilometer
Questions & Answers about Jag gissar att kön är knappt en kilometer lång.
What is the exact difference between knappt and nästan in a sentence like this?
Both mean that the queue isn't quite a kilometer long, but knappt (just under / barely) puts a bit more focus on the fact that it falls short of the amount. It is specifically used for measurements and numbers as the exact opposite of drygt (just over).
Doesn't kön mean "the gender" in Swedish?
It can, but not in this context! Swedish has two very similar nouns. ett kön means "a gender," and its definite form is könet. However, en kö means "a queue" or "a line," and its definite form is kön. Since the sentence uses kön, we know it refers to people waiting in line.
How should I pronounce the k in kön?
Because k is followed by ö, which is a "soft" vowel in Swedish, it softens into a sound similar to the English "sh" or "ch" (like the first sound in "shoe" or "choose"), depending on the regional dialect. It is not pronounced with a hard "k" sound.
Why does the sentence use lång instead of långt?
The adjective describes the noun kön (the queue). Because en kö is an en-word, the adjective takes its basic form, lång. The word knappt does not change this, because it is acting as an adverb modifying the measurement en kilometer, not the queue itself.
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