Det finns…

Are you ready for your next Swedish Boost? I sure hope so! 🙂

This week we will work with a structure that you use very often in English. And by the way, lucky you! Because there are learners who do not speak any language that has this structure and for them it is one really difficult thing to understand, learn and use!

So you have a great advantage here 🙂 You have already seen the expression “det finns” showing up here and there among the practice sentences for weeks now. This will be this week’s topic. It means „there is / there are.” The phrase “det finns” is translated to “there is” or “there are” and says, just like in English, that something exists. (Actually, the verb “att finnas” means “to be, to exist, to occur” -in case you were interested in exactly how Swedes think 🙂 ) And even where something or some things exist(s) –a lot more often than we use it in English for this latter reason. Naturally, it can be negated and has other tenses, too, to show that something existed in the past or has existed (for a while). We will show these towards the end of this Boost.
Det finns tre sovrum på övervåningen. = The are three bedrooms upstairs. This sentence can be the answer to several questions:
Finns det något på övervåningen? = Is there anything upstairs? Or:
Finns det några sovrum på övervåningen? = Are there any bedrooms upstairs? Or:
Vad finns det på övervåningen? = What is upstairs? Or:
Hur många sovrum finns det på övervåningen? = How many bedrooms are there upstairs?
You have now even learnt from this short list above how we create questions. You simply change the order of the words in “det finns” and if you have a question-word as well, such as “what, where, how many” etc then it stands first. Just like in English! And again, just like in English when you ask a “yes/no” question with this structure,you have to add a little word after “finns det”: “något” = anything or “någon” = anybody/anyone, as we are asking about the existence of something or somebody/someone.
Finns det något på övervåningen? = Is there anything upstairs?
Finns det någon i huset?= Is anybody in the house?
Finns det något på bordet? = Is there anything on the table? If your question is more concrete than this, then you ask this way:
Finns det några sovrum på övervåningen? = Are there any bedrooms upstairs?
Finns det några barn i huset? = Are there any children in the house?
Finns det några tallrikar på bordet? = Are there any plates on the table? If you ask about a noun that cannot be counted (so called “uncountable nouns”)
Finns det bröd på hyllan? = Is there any bread on the shelf?
Finns det vatten i flaskan? = Is there any water in the bottle?
Det finns vatten i flaskan. = There is water in the bottle.
Det finns lite vatten i flaskan. = There is a little water in the bottle. And from here, negation is just one step away:
Det finns ingen i huset. = There is nobody in the house.
Det finns inga barn i huset. = There are no children in the house.
Det finns inga tallrikar på bordet. = There are no plates on the table. Have you noticed that the singular and plural forms of “det finns” are the same?
While in English we have both “there is” and “there are” depending on if one or more things / people we are talking or asking about, in Swedish there is only one way. You are doning really well! It is time for practise! You know the drill 🙂
Stretch your arm out in front of you, put a huge smile on your face and praise yourself “Well done studying so hard, thinking so much and practising!” and tap yourself on your shoulder!

The uncountable nouns do not have a plural form like countable ones do:
one table –singular;
three tables –plural.
We do not have “airs” or “cheeses” when we talk about “cheese” the substance. And because of this, we use the words “ingen” and “inget” when we negate:
Det finns inget vatten i flaskan. = There is no water in the bottle.
Det finns inget bröd på hyllan. = There is no bread on the shelf.
Det finns ingen luft i ballongen. = There is no air in the balloon.
Det finns ingen ost i korgen. = There is no cheese in the basket.

The last small thing is how we express “there was/there were” and “there has been/there have been”: we use the correct translation of “att finnas” :
There was/were = det fanns;
There wasn’t / weren’t any = det fanns inga
There has / have been= det har funnits
Was there any… ? = Fanns det några … ?
Has / have there been any …? = Har det funnits några …?
Det fanns några kanelbullar i påsen igår. = There were some cinnemon buns in the bag yesterday.

Or if you want to emphasise that it was YESTERDAY that there were some cinnamon buns in the bag then you say:
Igår fanns det några kanelbullar i påsen. = Yesterday there were some cinnamon buns in the bag.
Even when you speak or read in another language than Swedish, listen to yourself and others when these phrases, this structure comes up in discussions or in written form and translate it into Swedish for yourself, as practice.

.

You find the tests on the following site: https://student.swency.com/  Please, use Google Chrome browser! Thank you! You can copy the codes quickly, if you click in the number itself. Then you can paste it into the code field of the practice site.

1. Code: 44252454 Lesson 2 / Quiz 2/A
2. Code: 59021682 Lesson 2 / Quiz 2/B
3. Code: 50005387 Lesson 2 / Test 2/A
4. Code: 53276710 Lesson 2 / Test 2/B
5. Code: 74718159 Lesson 2 / from English to Swedish 2.

You find the tests on the following site: https://student.swency.com/  Please, use Google Chrome browser! Thank you! You can copy the codes quickly, if you click in the number itself. Then you can paste it into the code field of the practice site.

1. Code: 44252454 Lesson 2 / Quiz 2/A
2. Code: 59021682 Lesson 2 / Quiz 2/B
3. Code: 50005387 Lesson 2 / Test 2/A
4. Code: 53276710 Lesson 2 / Test 2/B
5. Code: 74718159 Lesson 2 / from English to Swedish 2.