More about asking questions

In Swedish, just like in English, we emphasize different words in a question to make it very clear what we are exactly asking:
Vet du det? = Do you know that?
Vem vet det? = Who knows that?
Vet du det? = Do you know that?
Vem vet det? = Who knows that?
Vet du det?= Do you know that?
Vem vet det? = Who knows that?
In the question “Vem vet det?” the word “Vem” is called a “question-word” and it means both “Who” and “Whom” in English. It’s easy, isn’t it?

Vem står där? = Who is standing there?
Vem ser du? =Whom do you see?
The question-word “Vad” is the direct translation of “What”:
Vad gör du? = What are you doing? Vilken? Vilket? Vilka? –all these three question-words mean “Which?”

You need to use the one that matches the noun it refers to:
En bil ===> Vilken bil är din? = Which car is yours?
Ett hus ===> Vilket hus köpte ni? = Which house did you buy?

Plural:
Vilka barn vill gå på bio? = Which kids want to go to the movies?
När? = When? När börjar filmen? = When does the movie start?
Var? = Where? Var bor du? = Where do you live?
Varifrån? = Where … from? Varifrån kommer han? = Where is he from?

You see, this is a good example of why it is good to learn phrases and sentences. If I wanted to ask “Where is he coming from (right now)?” (kommer= is coming) –from home, from work, from the beach? I would ask it like this: „Varifrån kommer han nu?”

In Swedish, we understand that something is happening right now or regularly from the context or through some words added right into the question. In English we can do it with the form of the present tense we are using: “I drink tea.” vs “I am drinking tea.” = “Jag dricker te på morgnarna.” vs “Jag dricker te just nu.”

The question-word „Hur?” means (and is used similarly to)
“How? = ”Hur mår du? = How are you? How are you feeling?
Hur mycket? = How much?
Hur mycket vatten vill du ha? = How much water do you want?
Hur många? =How many?
Hur många böcker köper du? = How many books are you buying?
Hur lång? = How long?
Hur gammal? = How old?
That’s all for today about questions.

A plus to this lession, how to use “tack”.
“Tack” means both “please” and “thank you” which is, strangely enough, not even confusing, as it is always clear from the context which one we mean:
Tack på förhand! = Thank you in advance.
Tack för senast! = Thank you for last time! – We say this when we talk to someone for the first time after spending time together, like a dinner, a party or a date.
Tack för att du hjälper mig med datorn. = Thank you for helping me with the computer.
Tack så mycket! = Thank you very much!
Kan du hålla dörren, tack? = Could you hold the door, please?
Kan du säga det igen, tack? = Could you say that again, please? ☺