# Swedish: when to use "åt" ?



## thedreamer

Hejsan!

Skulle någon förklara när man använder "åt"?

Tack på förhand!


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## Lugubert

Do you have any context? _Åt_ can be more than one thing: the preterite of _äta_ 'to eat', or the preposition 'to, towards', plus a number of other uses. Have you looked in a dictionary?


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## thedreamer

I mean "to, towards" version.

t.ex. We use it "to" people?


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## Lugubert

Sorry, you'll have to provide much more information and context to make your question answerable.


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## Salmiak

You could also use 'åt' when asking another person to do something for you, or vice versa.

Example: "Kan du göra det *åt* mig?" 
meaning roughly "Could you do it *for* me?"

Another example: "Jag lagar mat *åt* mina barn."
meaning something like "I cook food *for* my children."

This word is used in a number of other cases also..


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## Rothor

Just a few examples of how the meaning can change depending on context:

Mor åt gröt. (Mother ate porridge.)

Stig åt sidan. (Stig ate the side/Step aside.) 

Far åt helvete! (Father ate hell / Go to hell!


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## MattiasNYC

thedreamer said:


> I mean "to, towards" version.
> 
> t.ex. We use it "to" people?



If the usage is direction, "towards", you could for example use it to say "It is in that direction" (while pointing with your finger): "Det ligger *åt *det hållet"


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## thedreamer

So, in addition to the preteritum of "eat", basically there are two uses:
1. doing something _for_ someone: Kan du göra det *åt* mig?
2. _direction_, while pointing with finger: Det ligger *åt* det hållet. 

Tack alla.


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## MattiasNYC

Yep, you got it. 

And by the way, Rothor's example is one we used as a joke as a kid. Someone gets upset when something goes wrong and angrily yells;

"Far åt helvete!" after which someone yells,
"Mor åt gröt."

Get it?


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## thedreamer

MattiasNYC said:


> Yep, you got it. And by the way, Rothor's example is one we used as a joke as a kid. Someone gets upset when something goes wrong and angrily yells;"Far åt helvete!" after which someone yells,"Mor åt gröt."Get it?


Yes, thanks!


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## MattiasNYC

lol... sorry; I didn't mean "get it" so harshly, it was more a wink-wink/nudge-nudge kind'a thing. Sorry if it came off harshly. It's typically Swedish humor where I grew up that's the only reason I mentioned it...


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## thedreamer

That's OK.


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## poisongift

When you use "åt" to mean "for" as in "to do something for someone", does this refer to doing something in their favor or in their stead?

For example, which of these statements would it make sense to translate the sense of "for" with "åt"?

We are cheering for that team. (doing something in sb's favor)
Can you hold my beer for me? (doing something in sb's stead)

Thanks.


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## MattiasNYC

Hopefully some other Swedes will chime in here, but to my recollection the first example would use the word "på": "Vi håller på det laget."

The second example qualifies for doing something for someone else so they will not have to do it: "Kan du hålla min öl åt mig?"


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## poisongift

MattiasNYC said:


> The second example qualifies for doing something for someone else so they will not have to do it: "Kan du hålla min öl åt mig?"



Yes, that's what I meant by "in their stead".


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