# Swedish: Collocations with handel, butik and affär



## merryweather

I am learning Swedish mostly using a famous free site and have just come across the word "butik". I have already done a bit of searching on this forum and discovered that "butik" seems to mean a smallish shop, "affär" is a general word for shop, and "handel" collocates, for example, with "bok", producing "bokhandel".

I would be interested to hear from any Swedish nationals (and others proficient in Swedish, of course) about the most common collocates with the above three words. Sometimes - from my observations of the languages I know well - there is not really any logical reason for using one word or another, they just go together, that is it: they are collocations.

I was surprised to see that there was no discussion of collocations in the threads I looked at about these words, but viewing them from a purely semantic viewpoint didn't seem to be explaining everything.

Many thanks in advance for any input I receive on this.

amanda


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## DerFrosch

merryweather said:


> Sometimes - from my observations of the languages I know well - there is not really any logical reason for using one word or another, they just go together, that is it: they are collocations.



I'd say that applies to a great degree in this case too.

Beginning with *handel*, _bokhandel _is definitely the most used compound in contemporary Swedish. Others are:

- _pappershandel _(stationer's/paper shop)
- _färghandel _(paint shop)
- _blomsterhandel _(flower/florist shop)

_Handel_ has a formal and somewhat archaic sound to it, and many, especially young people and including myself, would probably be more prone to use _färgbutik _(or -affär) and _blomsterbutik _(or -affär) - in everyday speech, at least (_pappershandel _is far more common than the alternatives, though).

It should be noted that far from every compound with _-handel_ refers to a shop. Other possible translations is "trade", "trading". _Detaljhandel _for example is retailing, _konsthandel _is art dealing - although the latter also may refer to an shop, or art gallery.

To be continued...


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## merryweather

Thank you very much, Mr Frog!!!

This is just the thing I was hoping for!


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## DerFrosch

Glad to be of service. 

As you probably noted in the other thread, there was some disagreement regarding the use of *affär *and *butik*. Depeding on who you're asking, you will get varying answers, but here's my take on it:

The size of the store is definitely of importance. A very small shop, where you don't have much space to walk around, is to me almost always a _butik_. A bit bigger, and it could also be an _affär_. So the bigger it is, the more likely you are to call it _affär _instead of _butik_. And very large shop, in other words a store, is usually called a _varuhus. _Ikea stores are in Swedish always known as _(Ikea-)varuhus_, never _Ikea-affärer_. But between a very small shop and a _varuhus_, it might be said that we have a gray area. This is where those collocates you speak of come into the picture. It was suggested in the other thread that _skoaffär _is much more common than _skobutik_, which I agree with (although I think saying it's never used is over-exaggerating). Let's see what else we can find:

- _presentbutik _(gift shop) rather than _presentaffär
- souvenirbutik _(souvenir shop) rather than _souveniraffär

_- _fiskaffär _(fishmonger's) rather than _fiskbutik
_- _järnaffär_ (hardware shop/store) rather than _järnbutik_
- _tobaksaffär _(tobacconist's that also sells newspapers and many other miscellaneous products) rather than _tobaksbutik_
- _zooaffär _(pet shop) rather _zoobutik

_Actually, I find it hard to find examples where _-butik_ sounds decidedly better than _-affär_. So my recommendation would be, when in doubt, go for _affär _(unless the shop is very small). You can hardly go wrong.


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## AutumnOwl

DerFrosch said:


> Actually, I find it hard to find examples where _-butik_ sounds decidedly better than _-affär_.


Godisbutik, smörgåsbutik, tebutik. My guess is that I would use butik about a small shop where most of the items are sold over the counter instead of picking them up and paying for them to a cashier.


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## merryweather

I think I have come to the right place; I love this kind of stuff, thanks Autumn Owl and Der Frosch!


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## DerFrosch

AutumnOwl said:


> My guess is that I would use butik about a small shop where most of the items are sold over the counter instead of picking them up and paying for them to a cashier.



Does that mean you would say _tobaksbutik_, then? 

Never in my life have I been in a _smörgåsbutik_, by the way. I don't think we have many of those here in Stockholm...


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## MattiasNYC

DerFrosch said:


> Does that mean you would say _tobaksbutik_, then?
> 
> Never in my life have I been in a _smörgåsbutik_, by the way. I don't think we have many of those here in Stockholm...



I'd say _tobaksaffär _would be an exception then as they tend to be small, right?

And I'd also agree with Wilma in the other thread that it appears to be more a matter of "habit, tradition and convenience".

I _would _however agree that there's something special about a "butik", but only if its meaning would be translated into "boutique" which to me implies some sort of exclusivity or higher quality, or it being a smaller store within a larger one.


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## DerFrosch

MattiasNYC said:


> I _would _however agree that there's something special about a "butik", but only if its meaning would be translated into "boutique"



I don't think it ever should be translated as "boutique". _Butik _doesn't in any way carry connotations of luxury or exclusivity – we have the word _boutique _for that in Swedish, too.


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## AutumnOwl

DerFrosch said:


> Never in my life have I been in a _smörgåsbutik_, by the way. I don't think we have many of those here in Stockholm...


It's more common down in Skåne and there are some in the Göteborg area.


DerFrosch said:


> Does that mean you would say _tobaksbutik_, then?


Perhaps not for the little shop around the corner that sells "everything" but why not for a shop that exclusively sells different tobacco products, en cigarrbutik for example.


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## MattiasNYC

DerFrosch said:


> I don't think it ever should be translated as "boutique". _Butik _doesn't in any way carry connotations of luxury or exclusivity – we have the word _boutique _for that in Swedish, too.



Well I looked it up and saw definitions that implied a usage closer to "boutique", but I confess that it's probably older Swedish and not commonly used currently.

I still agree with Wilma though.


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## Ben Jamin

merryweather said:


> I am learning Swedish mostly using a famous free site and have just come across the word "butik". I have already done a bit of searching on this forum and discovered that "butik" seems to mean a smallish shop, "affär" is a general word for shop, and "handel" collocates, for example, with "bok", producing "bokhandel".
> 
> I would be interested to hear from any Swedish nationals (and others proficient in Swedish, of course) about the most common collocates with the above three words. Sometimes - from my observations of the languages I know well - there is not really any logical reason for using one word or another, they just go together, that is it: they are collocations.
> 
> I was surprised to see that there was no discussion of collocations in the threads I looked at about these words, but viewing them from a purely semantic viewpoint didn't seem to be explaining everything.
> 
> Many thanks in advance for any input I receive on this.
> 
> amanda


I wonder if these are actually collocations or compound words.


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## DerFrosch

Ben Jamin said:


> I wonder if these are actually collocations or compound words.



Well, they are undoubtedly compound words. The question is, are compound words considered to be collocations? I believe they are. In _Nationalencyklopedin_'s article on _kollokationer_, compound words are mentioned as examples, for example _bokstöd_.


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## merryweather

DerFrosch said:


> Well, they are undoubtedly compound words. The question is, are compound words considered to be collocations? I believe they are. In _Nationalencyklopedin_'s article on _kollokationer_, compound words are mentioned as examples, for example _bokstöd_.



Yup, these are collocations, too, in my opinion.


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