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Translation - Swedish-English - Sprit löser inga problem . Men de gör nt mjölk...

Current statusTranslation
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Category Fiction / Story

Title
Sprit löser inga problem . Men de gör nt mjölk...
Text
Submitted by linnnnea
Source language: Swedish

Sprit löser inga problem,
Men det gör inte mjölk heller.

Title
Alcohol doesn't solve any problem...
Translation
English

Translated by lilian canale
Target language: English

Alcohol doesn't solve any problem
But milk doesn't either.
Validated by lilian canale - 10 December 2008 19:53





Last messages

Author
Message

10 December 2008 17:28

superfaco
Number of messages: 29
Since 'Problem' in Swedish is the word for both indefinite singular and indefinite plural, the only way to know if it's the plural form is the adjective, in this case 'inga' which indicates that 'problem' is actually plural here. I would use 'problems' for this translation.

10 December 2008 19:29

lilian canale
Number of messages: 14972
Hi superfaco,

Thanks for your input. Actually 'inga' is usually translated as "no", in this case "Alcohol solves no problems".
However since "no" can be changed by "not any" it was just a matter of choice.
In English the result is the same.

10 December 2008 18:30

lilian canale
Number of messages: 14972
Oops! When giving some suggestion on a translation, please check the box of notifications (I want to be notified...) under the message field, otherwise you may not get the email with the answer to your proposal.

CC: superfaco

10 December 2008 19:16

superfaco
Number of messages: 29
Thanks for the tip. I generally do check that box, I suppose I didn't just then.
Even though you're right about 'no'-'not any' being just a matter of choice, 'inget' would have been the word to be used if 'problem' had been singular... In my opinion, the sentence should be "Alcohol doesn't solve any problems" or "Alcohol solves no problems".
And even though the effect in the language is similar, it's still not the same. 'Problem' sounds to me as though you're using alcohol for a specific problem one may have (though we don't know which one it is), whereas 'problems' sounds more general: one's got issues->one drinks alcohol.
That was just my point of view in response to your response, not asking you to change it though.