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Stlla in or instlla

Hello everyone,
One of my followers, Mike, has a question about particle verbs vs compound verbs. Heres Mikes question:
Hej Sara! Ive asked this before but got no answer
what is the difference between Stlla in and Instlla for example? Ive noticed many verbs have these two
forms but dont understand when to use which? thank you
Well, this is a quite tricky question to answer since there isnt one rule that applies to all these verbs (particle
verbs) and many of them have more than one, often three or maybe four different meanings.
First of all I want to point out that most of the particle verbs dont have a corresponding compound verb. There
is for example no such verb as omtycka, only tycka om. For the particle verbs with a corresponding
compound verb I can find at least three different scenarios:
1) The meaning of the compound version of the verb is completely different from the version with a separate
particle.
bryta av (different variations of break or tear)
Anna brt av en bit brd och doppade i soppan.
Hulken ville visa hur stark han var och brt av en stor gren.
Avbryta (interrupt)
Nisse avbryter alltid andra nr de pratar. Han lter aldrig ngon prata klart.
bja av (turn/swing)
Nr du har krt ngra kilometer bjer vgen av till vster.
Avbja (decline, refuse)
Leif Pagrotskyblev erbjuden posten som partiledare men han avbjde.
dela med sig (share)
Oskar delade med sig av sitt godis till de andra barnen.
meddela sig (communicate, send a message)
Telefonntet i Japan var utslaget s mnga meddelade sig via e-post.
g an (be proper, allowed or possible)
- r det okej om jag rker hr inne? Nej, det gr verkligen inte an!
Ang (be someones business)
- Hur mycket fr du i ln p ditt nya jobb? Det angr inte dig.
g av (get off, alight from or break)
Nr tget anlnde till Stockholm frskte alla passagerare g av samtidigt.
Nr katten klttrade upp trdet gick en gren av.
Avg (depart or resign)
Tget avgr frn plattform 3.
Mona Sahlin ska avg frn posten som socialdemokraternas partiordfrande.
g fram (walk up to)
Niklas tycker att det r pinsamt att g fram till en tjej och brja smprata.
Framg (be clear/evident from)
Det framgr av forskningsrapporten att tobak r skadligt fr hlsan.
g p (get on)
Jag brukar g p bussen vid sjukhuset.
Pg (go on/continue/last)
Det hr problemet har pgtt i mnga r nu.
gra av (put)
Var har jag gjort av min plnbok?
gra av med (spend/use)
Olle gjorde av med mycket pengar p sin semester.
Avgra (determine/decide)
Det var TV-tittarna som avgjorde vem som skulle vinna Melodifestivalen.
hlla inne (keep to oneself)
Om man blir riktigt arg kan det vara svrt att hlla inne sina knslor.
Innehlla (contain)
Chokladen kan innehlla spr av ntter.

hra upp (listen up)
Hr upp nu! Jag har ngot viktigt att bertta.
Upphra (cease/come to an end/be discontinued)
Den allmnna vrnplikten upphrde 2012.
komma om (pass)
Kr fortare s att du kommer om den dr Volvon!
Omkomma (be killed in an accident or in a natural disaster)
Man vet nnu inte hur mnga som har omkommit i samband med jordbvningen.
ta av (turn off/turn off)
Nr du har krt 3 kilometer ska du ta av till vnster p vg 37.
I Sverige tar man av sig skorna inomhus.
Avta (decrease)
Regnet kommer att avta p kvllen.
2)In some cases the compound verb and the particle verb have more or less the same meaning and the only
difference is that the compound version is more common in more formal Swedish, especially formal written
Swedish, for example a letter from Skattemyndigheten (tax authority).
driva in/indriva (collect debt)
Less formal: CSN fr lttare att driva in skulder, sa Anders.
More formal: Av artikel 25 i avtalet med Sydafrika framgr att erhllna uppgifter inte fr yppas fr andra
myndigheter n de som faststller, uppbr eller indriver skatter som omfattas av detta avtal.
komma fram/framkomma (come out/turn out/appear)
Less formal: Det kom fram att Annelie gmt pengar i madrassen.
More formal: I utredningsarbetet har fljande information framkommit.
Komma fram can mean arrive as well:
Vi kom fram till Linkping klockan tta p kvllen.

stlla in/instlla (cancel)
Less formal and in this case, spoken Swedish:
Anna-Lena r sjuk s vi mste stlla in mtet idag, sa Bertil nr han ringde.
More formal and written in a newspaper: Finnair vill undvika instlla flyg.
Stlla in also has a number of other meanings like put:
Stll in juicen i kylskpet, r du snll.
3) In some cases it seems like the particle verb is more concrete so to speak while the compound version is
more figurative and abstract. In the English translations the words often dont look the same at all:
reda ut
(straighten out more concrete)
Det kan vara svrt att reda ut plsen p lnghriga katter.
Oj! Det hr brket mste vi reda ut.
utreda
(investigate or analyze more figurative and also used in more formal situations)
I dag fick Trafikverket ett regeringsuppdrag att utreda behovet av kad kapacitet i det svenska
jrnvgssystemet.
stryka under
(underline more concrete)
Stryk under alla adjektiv i texten.
understryka
(point out or emphasize more figurative)
Professorn understryker betydelsen av traditionell bildning.
If you are interested in learning more about the wonderful particle verbs there is a nice little book called Se
upp. It has an alphabetical list of the particles and different meanings of them and also a list of verbs and what
particle you can combine them with. A bit boring but very useful book!
Sara the Swedish Teacher

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