Breakdown of Hur kan jag låta bli att bita på naglarna?
jag
I
hur
how
att
to
kunna
to be able to, can
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
låta bli
to refrain
bita
to bite
nageln
the nail (fingernail, toenail)
Questions & Answers about Hur kan jag låta bli att bita på naglarna?
What is the literal translation of låta bli att and how is it used here?
It literally translates to "let be to". As a fixed phrase, låta bli att means to refrain from doing something, to avoid doing something, or to stop oneself from doing something. Because it comes after the modal verb kan (can), the verb låta stays in its bare infinitive form.
Why do we use att bita (to bite) instead of an "-ing" word like in English?
Swedish doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English "-ing" verb form (the gerund) for this type of phrasing. Where English says "keep from biting", Swedish uses the infinitive marker att followed by the infinitive verb, making it låta bli att bita.
Why do we need the preposition på after bita?
In Swedish, the habit of nail-biting is expressed as biting "on" your nails (bita på naglarna). If you dropped the på and just said bita naglarna, it would sound like you are biting them entirely off or eating them as food, rather than just chewing on them.
Why does the sentence use naglarna (the nails) instead of mina naglar (my nails)?
When referring to body parts, Swedish normally uses the definite form like naglarna (the nails) instead of a possessive pronoun like mina (my) as long as it is completely obvious whose body parts are being talked about.
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