LESSON NOTES

Beginner S1 #15
Sending a Package from Sweden

CONTENTS
2 Swedish
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
6 Cultural Insight

# 15
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 SWEDISH

1. Lisa: Hej, jag vill skicka det här paketet till USA. Hur mycket kostar det?

2. Postbiträde: Med båt, 200 kronor. Med flyg, 400 kronor.

3. Lisa: Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt.

4. Postbiträde: Ja, men det tar mer än en månad.

5. Lisa: Och med flyg?

6. Postbiträde: Det tar mindre än en vecka.

7. Lisa: Då vill jag skicka det med flyg, tack.

ENGLISH

1. Lisa: Hi, I would like to send this package to the United States. How much
does it cost?

2. Post clerk: By boat, 200 crowns. By air, 400 crowns.

3. Lisa: I see; it's cheaper to send the package by boat?

4. Post clerk: Yes, but it takes more than a month.

5. Lisa: And by air?

6. Post clerk: It takes less than a week.

CONT'D OVER

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7. Lisa: Then I want to send it by air, please.

VOCABULARY

S w e dish English C lass

mindre än less than phrase

månad month noun

mer än more than phrase

att ta to take verb

billig cheap adjective

med flyg by air phrase

paketet the package noun

att skicka to send verb

USA the US noun

båt boat noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Det är minder än en månad tills Lisas Det är mindre än en vecka tills skolan
födelsedag. börjar.

"It is less than a month until Lisa's "It is less than one week until school starts."
birthday."

Nu är det december månad. Det är mer än ett år sen David föddes.

"Now it is the month of December." "It is more than a year since David was
born."

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Det är svårt att ta dig på allvar. Det var en billig middag.

"It is difficult to take you seriously." “It was a cheap dinner.”

Det är alltid billigare att åka buss än flyg. Jag skickade paketet med flyg.

"It is always cheaper to go by bus than by " I sent the package by air mail."
air."

Vad är i paketet? Det är dyrt att skicka packet till USA.

"What is in the package?" "It is expensive to send a package to the

US."

Jag åker till USA nästa år. Det är roligt att åka båt.

"I am going to the US next year." "It is fun to travel by boat."

Båten åker genom vattnet.

"The boat is moving through the water."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

"USA" ("the United States")

When Swedes refer to the United States of America, they most commonly do so by using the
abbreviation USA or the word Amerika. Out of those two, the first one is more frequently used.
Swedes, however, tend to pronounce it quite carelessly, and it often sounds like they are
saying UVSA instead of USA, which might confuse non-native speakers.

med flyg ("by air")

Med flyg corresponds to the English "by air" but needs some extra explanation since the
preposition that we use, med, literally translates to "with" instead of "by." In Swedish, we use
the preposition med in front of a means of transportation. For example, if you want to say "Lisa
went to school by bus," you would say Lisa åkte till skolan med buss. We can also use the
preposition med when we talk about someone doing something together with someone. For
example, for the sentence "Lisa went with Anna to school," you would say Lisa åkte med

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Anna till skolan.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is to Continue to Learn How to Compare Different Options.
Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt.
"I see; it is cheaper to send the package by boat."

In this lesson, we will learn how to compare different options by using sentences like the one
above. In a previous lesson, we have already learned how to use comparative adjectives by
using sentence structures like the one below.

For Example:

1. Kycklingsalladen är större än tonfisksalladen?

"The chicken salad is bigger than the tuna salad?"

2. Jaha, det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt.

"I see; it is cheaper to send the package by boat."

There are two significant differences between the two sentences above. First, in the sentence
that appears in this lesson's dialogue, options described by verbs are being compared, while
in the previous lesson, nouns like "the chicken salad" and "the tuna salad" were the object for
comparison. Second, in the sentence from this lesson's dialogue, the option that the "to send
it by boat" is compared against, namely "to send by air," is not explicitly expressed. Omitting
the option that something is compared against is usually a more natural way of expressing
yourself, at least when it is clear from the context what you are referring to. However if you
want to explicitly state the option that something is being compared against, you simply add
än med flyg ("than by air") to the end of the sentence.

For Example:

1. Det är billigare att skicka paketet med båt, än med flyg.

"It is cheaper to send the package by boat, than by air."

Now let us examine more closely the structure of the sentence that appears in this lesson's

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dialogue. We will start with the first part of the sentence, det är billigare ("it is cheaper"). The
word billigare is the comparative form of the adjective billig ("cheap"). It is a regular adjective,
and therefore we conjugate it in its comparative form by adding the ending -are. The
statement det är billigare ("it is cheaper") is then followed by what it is actually referring to:
namely, att skicka paketet med båt, ("to send the package by boat"). Notice how the verb att
skicka ("to send") is in its infinitive form. Now let us look at some other examples of similar
sentences.

For Example:

1. Det är dyrare att skicka paketet med flyg.

"It is more expensive to send the package by air."

2. Det är snabbare att skicka paketet med flyg.

"It is faster to send the package by air."

3. Det är långsammare att skicka det med båt.

"It is slower to send it by boat."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

How to Send Mail in Sweden

Until 1994, the Swedish Posten ("Post") was a state enterprise that then became a partially
governmentally owned joint-stock company. This brought with it a lot of changes, and one of
them was that the post offices were closed down and some of the services previously
provided by them, such as sending packages, were moved to so-called postombud, which
can be gas stations or food stores. So when you need to send a package, your safest bet is to
visit your local ICA, a famous grocery chain in Sweden, which will often provide this kind of
service. If you only want to send a letter, there is really no need to visit the post office; you can
usually buy stamps at grocery stores and, in some cases, in kiosks. They you only need to
find a mailbox where you can send your letter. They are usually not that hard to find, but it
might be a good idea to ask when you are buying your stamps.

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