# Swedish: joho



## Vinny Ribeiro

Tjena, guys! 

Every now and then I venture to chat in swedish with my svensk friends and I constantly get answers that seem to be just common "reactions" of the language. Some of them are: Nää, or Joho.

Can anybody explain to me these two "words" and perhaps fill me in on others that I might be coming across with in the future.

Tack =)


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## jonquiliser

"Joho" is an emphatic way of saying "yes" to something someone else is denying. E.g.:

-Den där är jättebra!
-Det är den inte alls.
-Joho!

I pronounce it literally, with equal stress on the syllables.

"Nää" could mean many things. For example, a surprised _no_, a somewhat emphatic _no_,  a hesitant _no_... etc. Do you have any examples of context for where you're unsure of its meaning?


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## Vinny Ribeiro

Jonquiliser, I can't recall the situation in which I saw "nää" .. But moving on, aren't there other "sound-reactions" in swedish that are written and said differently? 

Examples: 

wow, yay, yeahhh! nahhh, "ow really?", ewww .. and so on

Thanks


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## María Madrid

There are lots of them: jaha, nej men, jaså, ojdå, hoppsan... 

Maybe it's a bit too early for you as a beginner to get the nuances. I'm afraid there's no way to avoid the mandatory "hunden sitter under bordet" before you can use all of those properly (not to mention the intonation). 

On the other hand, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "written and said differently". Saludos,


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## Vinny Ribeiro

I meant "written and pronounced* differently."

Take "wow" for example. In Portuguese we would say and write "uau" and not "uou". Or, "mhm", which in Portuguese would write as "aham". That's what I'm referring to...

Although, I don't see how that can be difficult for beginners to understand and take in. And referring to "huden sitter under bordet" .. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with you. I'm struggling to learn Swedish and believe that you shouldn't underestimate my aptitude for learning.

Cheers


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## María Madrid

Sorry, but I didn't mean to sound patronizing, I just meant to point out that those words and the different intonations used with them are hard to learn (meaning using them properly) when one's level is beginner and living in another country. It's not just about using those words the same way you would in English, but using them idiomatically, which is a completetely different thing. Of course you are perfectly entitled to focus on interjections. I just offered my suggestions. Saludos,


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## Vinny Ribeiro

A friend of mine explaining it to me... 

jaha... is like ooooh okay

nej men is no but

jasa.. is like hmmm i see

ojda and hoppsan are like oops, woops

Doesn't sound that difficult to understand after all.


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## María Madrid

Exactly my point, interjections are not the easiest thing to start with: I've never heard anyone saying happily in English "No but, hi!!" when bumping into someone or saying just "No but!!!" when surprised (different intonations in both cases) Of course "nej" is no and "men" is but, any online translator will tell you that. The rest of your friend's explanation is very very simplistic. For instance jaså could also be used just like "oh, really?". Interjections, just like prepositions can't always be translated using the same words. 

Lycka till! Saludos, 

Edit: Alt + 134 = å   ///   Alt + 143 = Å
Alt, not Alt gr


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## jonquiliser

Hello, 

(y un saludo, María, que no te lo pude mandar por mp 

I guess it's always a bit diffuse with these kinds of words, not only because of nuances but also because people tend to mold words or make them up as they go along, and meaning is not fixed. Also, meaning obviously varies enormously with context, intonation etc. But that's perhaps not so much about learning words as using words - once you start speaking with people you'll catch the nuances.


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