# Swedish: He is eating vs He eats



## Prital

Hi, I have just started to learn swedish on my own and I am studying it in Duolingo.
It gives you a phrase like

Han äter and it is translated as He is eating but if the phrase is 
Han äter bröd it means He eats bread.
So, how would you say that in gerund?

Thank you so much, I am really kind on learning swedish


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## DerFrosch

There is no direct equivalent in Swedish to the English construction seen in "He is eating"; we simply use the simple present instead. Only context can tell you if a verb in the simple present refers to an ongoing or a habitual action.

So, theoretically, "_Han äter._" may be translated as both "_He eats._" and "_He is eating._". However, in the vast majority of cases "_He is eating._" will be the translation you're looking for. Why? Our knowledge about the world tells us so. Since we all need to eat, the statement "_He eats._", standing alone, is pretty meaningless. That someone is eating right now and at this very moment, on the other hand, is of course something we need to express far more often.


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## Prital

DerFrosch said:


> There is no direct equivalent in Swedish to the English construction seen in "He is eating"; we simply use the simple present instead. Only context can tell you if a verb in the simple present refers to an ongoing or a habitual action.
> 
> So, theoretically, "_Han äter_" may be translated as both "He eats" and "He is eating". However, in the vast majority of cases "He is eating" will be the translation you're looking for. Why? Our knowledge about the world tells us so. Since we all need to eat, the statement "He eats" is pretty meaningless. That someone is eating right now and at this very moment, on the other hand, is of course something we need to express far more often.


Thank you, you have been really usefol!


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## cocuyo

En el sueco el gerundio se usa sólo como sustantivo, así como usamos en infinitivo en castellano (el comer), y entonces la traducción de "está comiendo" será "han äter" - el presente, sencillamente.


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## Prital

cocuyo said:


> En el sueco el gerundio se usa sólo como sustantivo, así como usamos en infinitivo en castellano (el comer), y entonces la traducción de "está comiendo" será "han äter" - el presente, sencillamente.


Pero si el gerundio se expresa con el presente  el infinitivo es "äter" no?


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## cocuyo

I'll go back to English. 

The Swedish infinitive is "äta" - att äta - and in Swedish, the present is used where Spanish as well as English often will use gerund. 

We also have the gerund form, but it is not used to express present time as Spanish "esta comiendo" or English "he is eating". In Swedish, we use present tense:"han äter".

English and Swedish share the noun usage of gerund, but in Spanish, the infinitive form is used to express a verb as a noun. This cannot be done in Swedish or English.


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## Prital

cocuyo said:


> I'll go back to English.
> 
> The Swedish infinitive is "äta" - att äta - and in Swedish, the present is used where Spanish as well as English often will use gerund.
> 
> We also have the gerund form, but it is not used to express present time as Spanish "esta comiendo" or English "he is eating". In Swedish, we use present tense:"han äter".
> 
> English and Swedish share the noun usage of gerund, but in Spanish, the infinitive form is used to express a verb as a noun. This cannot be done in Swedish or English.


Much clear now, thank you so much


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## Svenke

Note that it is also common to use _sitta_, _ligga_, _stå_, and _gå _(whichever is most appropriate) and coordination:

_Han sitter och läser._ 'He is reading.'
_Hon låg och sov._ 'She was sleeping.'
_Jag står och väntar på bussen._ 'I'm waiting for the bus.'
_Varför gick du och sjöng?_ 'Why were you singing?'

Svenke


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## bicontinental

Svenke said:


> Note that it is also common to use _sitta_, _ligga_, _stå_, and _gå _(whichever is most appropriate) and coordination:



Yes, that's a good way to express the present continuous in the Scandinavian languages... in Danish you could also say,

Han _*er ved *_at spise.

Is there anything similar to that in Swedish? 

Bic.


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## AutumnOwl

The most common would be "att hålla på med något", for example "hon håller på med att laga mat", she's (in the middle of) making dinner. There is also "att vara i färd med att", to me it's used about something that takes a longer time, for example "hon är i färd med att planera sitt bröllop", she's planning her wedding, although it wouldn't be wrong using "håller på att".


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## bicontinental

^^
Thanks a lot!
Bic


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