Breakdown of Vi brukar beställa tre ton ris.
vi
we
tre
three
beställa
to order
bruka
to usually do
tonnet
the ton
riset
the rice
Questions & Answers about Vi brukar beställa tre ton ris.
Why isn't there a word for 'of' in tre ton ris?
In Swedish, when you use a noun of measure or quantity, you put it directly before the substance it measures. You drop the preposition entirely. So while in English you say 'three tons OF rice', in Swedish it is just tre ton ris. This is the same pattern as en kopp kaffe (a cup of coffee) or ett glas vatten (a glass of water).
Since it is three tons, why doesn't the word ton have a plural ending?
The word for a unit of weight is an ett-word ending in a consonant: ett ton. In Swedish grammar, ett-words that end in a consonant do not change their form in the indefinite plural. Therefore, one ton is ett ton and three tons is tre ton.
Doesn't ton also mean a musical note in Swedish?
You might be thinking of the en-word en ton, which means a tone, pitch, or musical note, and has the plural form toner. The unit of weight used in this sentence is a completely separate ett-word, ett ton.
Why is brukar beställa translated as 'usually order'? Is brukar an adverb?
brukar is actually a verb, not an adverb. It is a helping verb that means 'to have the habit of doing something'. Whenever you want to say you 'usually' do an action in Swedish, you use brukar followed by the infinitive form of the main verb. Here, that gives us brukar beställa (usually order).
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