# Swedish: länge vs. lång tid



## kilton

Hello,

Is there a difference between _(hur) länge_ and _(hur) lång tid?_ I had been under the impression that _länge_ is for time and _lång _is for distance, but I just saw _lång tid_ in an article so clearly I'm mistaken.

Thanks.


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## BlueSuede

"Hur länge har du varit medlem" and "Hur lång tid har du varit medlem?" seems equal to me.

Perhaps it is possible to formulate a sentence where the two alternatives gives different interpretation, but I cannot 'på rak arm' invent such a sentence.

However "Lång" can also be about distance and length, but "länge" is about time, and time only.


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## Tjahzi

Indeed _länge_ is used exclusively about time. In fact, I'd say _länge_ is used as an oblique form of _lång tid_. (This could probably be proved etymologically. It seems very reasonable that _länge_ has originated as an inflected form of _lång_.) As such, you can use _länge_ in cases where _lång tid_ can (but doesn't have to) be complemented with a preposition:

_Hur länge har du varit medlem? _
_(Under) hur lång tid har du varit medlem?_ 
_(Under hur länge har du varit medlem?_ 

Similarly, _länge_ cannot be used as the subject of a phrase:

_Lång tid gick innan något hände._
_Länge gick innan något hände._


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## Alxmrphi

> _Hur länge har du varit medlem? _


_How long have you been a member?_ *(?)* (I presume medlem = meðlimur)


> _Lång tid gick innan något hände._


What's this one? "Long time.... chanced upon happening... somewhat" 
Regarding the differences, are there any possible differences in meaning between the two? When they both mean *time*, they're interchangeable? I suppose if BlueSuede couldn't think of an example _på rak arm_ then probably not to a great extent, if at all.


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## BlueSuede

Yes, medlem = member. Like "medlem i Studentkåren".

_"Lång tid gick innan något hände"_ is a perfectly correct sentence.

No, I've thought of an example where "Hur lång tid" and "Hur länge" has different meanings. I cannot. Not even "på rak arm" , more likely not at all.


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## Alxmrphi

> _"Lång tid gick innan något hände"_ is a perfectly correct sentence.


Sorry, I didn't mean to say it wasn't anything but correct, it's just that's all I could read so I was asking about what it actually means in Swedish, not that it didn't make sense . Thanks again.


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## AutumnOwl

> _Lång tid gick innan något hände._


A long time passed before something happened.

Before beginning to build: 
_Hur lång tid kommer det att ta innan bygget är klar_t = How long (_or_ How much) time will it take before the building is finished? 
_Det tar fyra månader_ = It will take four months.

When the building has begun:
_Hur länge dröjer det innan bygget är klart?_ = How long will it take before the building is finished?
_Det tar ytterligare två månader_ - It will take two more months.

_Hur lång tid_ can be used to ask about how much time something will take before it have begun, while _Hur länge_ can be used about something that's going on now.


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## Alxmrphi

AutumnOwl said:


> _Hur lång tid_ can be used to ask about how much time something will take before it have begun, while _Hur länge_ can be used about something that's going on now.


Ahh, okay.
I see now


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## AutumnOwl

Alxmrphi said:


> Ahh, okay.
> I see now


Well, it's not that simple really, but that's one difference between the two. Hur länge kan also be used about something that's about to start, for example: _Hur länge blir du borta?_ - How long are you going to be gone? can be asked when someone is about to leave, for example for to go shopping or to go on a holiday.


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## BlueSuede

> _Hur lång tid_ can be used to ask about how much time something will take before it have begun, while _Hur länge_ can be used about something that's going on now.



Contraexamples:
"Hur länge behöver jag vänta tills ni sätter igång med bygget?"
"Hur lång tid tar det tills ni är färdiga?"

If, and I say if, it is any difference between "Hur länge...?" and "Hur lång tid...?", then the difference is marginal, and is not noticed even by normal Swedish speakers. We have really to be nitty gritty to feel that the difference, if any, matters.

And this is my opinion, backed with some lexical reading.


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## Tjahzi

Well... 

In my previous post, I presented the theory that _länge _is the oblique form of _lång tid_. As such, _länge _can be used where the NP _lång tid_ is used as an oblique, but not when used as a subject (as the last two example sentences above showed). Meanwhile, _lång tid_ can be used as oblique but then more or less requiring a preposition (at least more so than _länge_).

(I suspect that we omit the preposition where accusative was previously used but retain it where dative was used.)


_Lång tid gick innan något hände.
Löng tið gekk áður* nokkuð/eitthvað gerast._

(Faroese uses _innan_ as well.)


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## Alxmrphi

Tjahzi said:


> _Lång tid gick innan något hände.
> Löng t*í*ð gekk áður* (en) nokkuð/eitthvað ger*ði*st.  (edit: just had it confirmed)_
> 
> (Faroese uses _innan_ as well.)



Interesting notes on the distributional analysis.
Maybe it still is within topic to explore the examples of the accusative omission of pronoun and retention of dative? I wasn't 100% sure what you meant by it so some illustratory examples would be interesting.


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## Tjahzi

Well...

_Jag har bott här länge. - I have lived here (for) /long time/.
Jag har inte sett honom på länge. - I have not seen him on /long time/
_
Translate those to Icelandic (or any other language that employs both accusative and dative) and I believe the first will come out as accusative and the latter as dative.


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## kilton

Well, today I ran across this sentence:

_Åtta av tio piloter tycker att arbetstiderna är för långa och hotar säkerheten under flygningarna.
_
Would_ för länge_ be incorrect here? In a sense, we are indeed referring to time, so it has me curious.


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## BlueSuede

Yes, in my ears 'för länge' is incorrect in this context.


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## zyzzy

kilton said:


> Well, today I ran across this sentence:
> 
> _Åtta av tio piloter tycker att arbetstiderna är för långa och hotar säkerheten under flygningarna.
> _
> Would_ för länge_ be incorrect here? In a sense, we are indeed referring to time, so it has me curious.


In that sentence, "länge" would definitely be wrong. "Lång" is an adjective and "länge" is an adverb, so they cannot be used interchangeably even if they both refer to a time period.


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## Tjahzi

kilton said:


> Well, today I ran across this sentence:
> 
> _Åtta av tio piloter tycker att arbetstiderna är för långa och hotar säkerheten under flygningarna.
> _
> Would_ för länge_ be incorrect here? In a sense, we are indeed referring to time, so it has me curious.



Yes, because _långa_ doesn't mean _lång tid_ in this context. Just translate to English as a reference: _Eight out of ten pilots think that the work hours are too long time._ Certainly we are referring to time, but it doesn't mean _long time_.


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