# Swedish: sluta / avsluta



## Gavril

Hello,

How would you distinguish between the verbs _sluta_ and _avsluta_?

For example, what would be the difference of meaning between these two sentences? (I made them up, so they may contain mistakes.)

- _Han slutade skriva brevet._
- _Han avslutade brevet._

Thanks
G


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## Ogago

> - _Han slutade skriva brevet._
> - _Han avslutade brevet._



If he 'slutade skriva brevet' when he he was finished with it, then the two sentences are synonyms.
But if he 'slutade skriva brevet' in the middle of the process, i.e. he abandoned the rest, then they are different in meaning.

But still - when he wrote it and took a pause, then he 'slutade skriva brevet', momentarily. Later he perhaps 'avslutade brevet'.


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## sansserif

Du kan avsluta ett brev, ett möte, en middag ... "Han avslutade brevet med sin signatur.", "De avslutade middagen med ost och vin.", "Mötet avslutades klockan 14". Liknande eng. _ended._ 

Om du med _avsluta_ ofta fullföljer något till sitt slut, så upphör du med aktiviteten när du _slutar att skriva _"Han slutade skriva, funderade över hur han skulle avsluta brevet och fortsatte skriva ...", "Han fick ett tråkigt svar från sin brevvän. 'Sluta skriv till mig', stod det".


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## Raigeki

Sluta = to stop
Avsluta = to finish

I think this is the best and shortest way to explain the difference.


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## Gavril

Ogago said:


> If he 'slutade skriva brevet' when he he was finished with it, then the two sentences are synonyms.



Is it common for _sluta_ to be used in the context of finishing something? According to Google Translate, "He *stopped* mowing the lawn" and "He *finished* mowing the lawn" would both be translated _"Han *slutade *klippa gräsmattan"_, but maybe this is an inaccuracy on their part.


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## Raigeki

Well, I'm not Swedish, but as far as I know, both of them can actually be used to say "finish". Sluta is just.. much more common and used more often, because avsluta can't be used in many cases. Avsluta can ONLY mean to finish something, whereas sluta simply means to "stop", which, as in English, can kind of mean both.
Also, I don't think you can use avsluta when you talk about the act of mowing the lawn because:
- You use *sluta *when you stop doing something / end an action. (Han slutade _skriva_ brevet)
- You can only* avsluta* nouns which have a "hidden timeline". Meetings, letters, dinners, flights, drives, movies, educations, school and so on. (Han avslutade _brevet_)

So in short, avsluta means "to finish", but can only be used in certain situations.
Sluta means "to stop", "to end", "to quit" etc., and thus vaguely carries the meaning of "finish".


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## Gavril

Raigeki said:


> Well, I'm not Swedish, but as far as I know,  both of them can actually be used to say "finish". Sluta is just.. much  more common and used more often, because avsluta can't be used in many  cases. Avsluta can ONLY mean to finish something, whereas sluta simply  means to "stop", which, as in English, can kind of mean both.



I think the overlap between _finish_ and _stop_ in English is somewhat limited. E.g., _to *finish *mowing the lawn_ means that you mow the whole lawn,  whereas _to *stop *mowing the lawn_ suggests that you abruptly stop  mowing for other reasons than because you completed the task.



> Also, I don't think you can use avsluta when you talk about the act of mowing the lawn because:
> - You use *sluta *when you stop doing something / end an action. (Han slutade _skriva_ brevet)
> - You can only* avsluta* nouns which have a "hidden  timeline". Meetings, letters, dinners, flights, drives, movies,  educations, school and so on. (Han avslutade _brevet_)



But how does writing a letter have a timeline in a way that mowing the lawn doesn't?


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## MattiasNYC

Gavril said:


> how does writing a letter have a timeline in a way that mowing the lawn doesn't?



I don't think it does, I think it's the same. You can stop mowing your lawn just as you can stop writing a letter while neither is finished. Similarly, you stop in both cases when you in fact are finished.


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## Raigeki

A letter = a noun with "a hidden timeline" because it takes time to write a letter and it requires effort and thougt.
>Mowing< the lawn = a verb / action.

That's what I'm trying to say: Avsluta is only used with nouns. You need to turn "klippa gräsmattan" into a noun to be able to use avsluta. Klippa is a verb so you cannot use avsluta. Have you noticed that in your example with the letter, there is no "skriva" in the sentence with avsluta? He finished the letter itself, the noun  han avslutade >brevet<.

Avsluta carries a feeling of completeness. It's like saying "wrapping up the xxx", "putting an end to the xxx", "getting done with the xxx", "finishing the xxx" and so on. 

Sluta can be used in so many different way in so many different situations that I simply can't explain it.


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## Raigeki

Gavril said:


> But how does >>writing<< a letter have a timeline in a way that mowing the lawn doesn't?



I think this is why you are confused. I never said WRITING a letter has a timeline that mowing the lawn doesn't have. It's the noun "brevet" itself I'm talking about. The noun. It has a a concept of time/effort which I just called a timeline  
You can never use avsluta with verbs and actions.


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## Gavril

Raigeki said:


> A letter = a noun with "a hidden timeline" because it takes time to write a letter and it requires effort and thougt.
> >Mowing< the lawn = a verb / action.
> 
> That's what I'm trying to say: Avsluta is only used with nouns. You need to turn "klippa gräsmattan" into a noun to be able to use avsluta. Klippa is a verb so you cannot use avsluta. Have you noticed that in your example with the letter, there is no "skriva" in the sentence with avsluta? He finished the letter itself, the noun  han avslutade >brevet<.



Thanks, I think I understand what you mean now. So if you were to turn _klippa gräsmattan_ into a noun phrase, such as _klippning_ _gräsmattans_ (not sure if that word order is correct?), then perhaps you could use it with _avsluta_?


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## sansserif

_Han avslutade gräsklippningen._

Yes, that's possible.


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## Raigeki

Exactly.

Han avslutade gräsklippningen = he finished / completed the lawn mowing
Han slutade klippa grässet = he stopped mowing the lawn


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