Saying there is in Swedish with finns

So, to say "there is, there is water in the glass", we need to learn how to say "there is". And you may wonder, but wait a minute, we've already learned that, we know how to say "is", right? "is" is är, är. So we know how to say "there", right? So how do you say "there"?

Där. Right, the där. If it's about movement, you say dit, but, generally speaking, it's där. And "is", how do you say "is"?

Är. So, if you want to translate this as "Där är vatten i glaset", it would actually be incorrect, even though you made a word-by-word translation. So, what we need to do is not think about the word-by-word translation, but instead trying to think about it how you would in Swedish. So, in Swedish, you actually have a separate word when you want to talk about something being, like "there is", something exists.

It's not unique to Swedish, you have this in other languages. So, for instance, in Spanish, you say "hay", in Arabic, you have "hunaka". And that's a word for "there is". So, there actually exists a separate word for "there is" in many languages. So, English is a bit different in that you don't have a separate word for "there is" and "there are".

But in Swedish you do, and that word that you need is finns, finns. So what you would say is, "Det finns vatten i glaset." "Det finns". So when you say "det finns", it means "there is". "There exists" is also a possible translation.

"There exists water in the glass." So it's about the state of being of the water. "Det finns vatten i glaset." There is water in the glass. And, of course, glaset is the glass. Ett glas - a glass.

Glaset - the glass. So there is a difference between finns and är. So let's see if we can demonstrate this. What was the word for a book in Swedish, a book?

En bok, en bok. So it's the same word, except you remove one of the O's. To say "there is a book", how would you say that?

Det finns en bok. So not "där är en bok", no. You would say "det finns", there is. Att finnas, the dictionary form literally mean to exist, or to be, but you're talking about the existence of something. "It is a book", how would you translate that?

Det är en bok. Det är en bok.

It is a book. Okay, so to say table in Swedish, you would say bord, ett bord.

So you may not have heard this word before, bord, but there is actually a small chance that you have heard it before, because there is a famous Swedish word in English to describe when you have a large plethora of food on a table. You say smorgasbord.

So, I don't know if you've heard that before, smorgasbord. It's actually very funny to hear for Swedish people, because it's a Swedish word pronounced in a very English way. So smorgasbord actually means smörgåsbord. So the board is bord, smörgåsbord, literally sandwich table.

So, table is bord. So, if you try to remember the name for table, think about this word, smorgasbord, which is smörgåsbord. So anyway, the book is on the table. So, bord is ett bord, so how would you say "the table"?

bordet, bordet. So, altogether now: "The book is on the table." Boken är på bordet.

So, på was the only one that we looked at which was significantly different than the English counterpart of on. So, how would you say "There is an insect in my food"? "An insect", you would say: en insekt, insekt, spelled with a k. "There is an insect in my food." How would you say that?

Hopefully it's not a statement you ever want to say, but if you were to say that, how would you say, "There is an insect in my food"?

Det finns en insekt i min mat. And of course, the word for "food" was mat. And if you're unsure about "my", if it should be min or mitt, well, in this case, maten, that's an -en word, but if you're unsure, you should always go with min, if you're unsure, min.

Or whatever feels right. If you feel that it should be mitt, then go with mitt. And hopefully some you will notice, or someone else will correct, or you will notice the way other people talk and you will self-correct. But when you're unsure, go with min. So, det finns en insekt i, that's "in", i min mat.

Okay, so insekt is actually a very good word to look at, because "insect", it ends with -ect, ect, insekt. And these types of words, they actually do exist in Swedish. So we have insekt, we have "effect", "defect", "object", "project", "respect", "perfect", "correct", all of those, they end with -ect.

And if you want to make them into Swedish words, all you have to do is remove the c and add a K. So, you exchange the C for a K, and you get insekt, and then you have effekt. And how would you pronounce defect?

Defekt.

What about object?

Objekt. Objekt. So, not object, objekt. Objekt sounds like an English Y, so, objekt.

What about project? And here, the J, just like in Spanish, it takes on a sort of a "ch" sound, but not as harsh as that. So, project, how would you say that?

Projekt. Projekt, -jekt.

So, respect, how would you say that?

Respekt. Respekt. And you have a bit of a rolling R in the beginning, and it's not always easy for English speakers, it's easier for people who have the rolling R in their languages. You can try to sort of roll it, r, r, so respekt. If you say "respekt," "respekt," it's understandable as well, but it the pronunciation is not perfect.

So, respekt. Perfect. Perfekt. Perfekt. Respekt, perfekt.

And then correct should be korrekt.

So, that's good. So, we have even more words that we know in Swedish now. So, you can for instance say my project. How would you say my project? So, projekt is ett projekt.

Ett projekt, so how would you say my project? Mitt projekt. What about his project? Hans projekt. Very good. So, how do you say it is perfect?

And you say det, so it is perfect.

Det är perfekt. Det är perfekt.