# Swedish : sambo /partner



## AnnieTC

what's the difference? Does sambo mean registered while partner is more stable than boyfriend and girlfriend but not registered?


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## Tjahzi

"Sambo" stems from "sam-boeende" and is used to denote someone with whom one lives. As such, it can also be used when referring to people that are not in a relationship but still live together.
That said, the standard usage of "sambo" is indeed that with the meaning of 'partner'.

Coincidentally, it's possible to be "partners" without being "sambos".


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## AnnieTC

Tjahzi said:


> "Sambo" stems from "sam-boeende" and is used to denote someone with whom one lives. As such, it can also be used when referring to people that are not in a relationship but still live together.
> That said, the standard usage of "sambo" is indeed that with the meaning of 'partner'.
> 
> Coincidentally, it's possible to be "partners" without being "sambos".



Having a "partner" means you have a stable companion, like you are seriously dating, but will never go to the fiancee and marriage stage?


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## Tjahzi

I would say that "partner" denotes a companion at any stage beyond 'dating'.


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## AnnieTC

Tjahzi said:


> I would say that "partner" denotes a companion at any stage beyond 'dating'.



Ok so some serious dating leads to marriage, some serious dating leads to partner or sambo. All people are serious in those. Partners can also live together without registering, but they can't be called sambo right? Sambo has to be both?


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## Tjahzi

Any two people that have a (romantic) relationship are "partners".

Any two, or more, people that live together are "sambos". 
However, the most common usage of "sambos" is to denote two people that have a romantic relationship and live together without being married.


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## AnnieTC

Ok I see. Tack.


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## AnnieTC

Wow... those are a lot. i just had 1 lesson of Swedish and it's a bit too difficult to understand yet, will save it for later reference. Tack!


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## Tjahzi

Ignore all but "sambo" and "särbo".

The most common plural suffix for these words is -s.


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## BlueSuede

Wiktionary says sambo - sambor. See further http://sv.wiktionary.org/wiki/sambo
"Sambos" is nothing more than a sloppy plural. That's my opinion.


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## jonquiliser

It's a bit exaggerated to say of BlueSuede's list that some words are serious and others humorous: only the first two are used frequently and only a few more are used at all. There is some legal regulation of _samboförhållanden _both in Sweden and Finland.


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## Tjahzi

BlueSuede said:


> Wiktionary says sambo - sambor.


Wiktionary (or rather, _Språkrådet_) also recommends the pronunciation [sam.bo], which I doubt neither you nor anyone else uses.



> "Sambos" is nothing more than a sloppy plural. That's my opinion.


Indeed, that's _your_ opinion. However, it could be said that it's advantageous to learn the most common form rather than the one of your preference. Try Googling "de är sambos" vs "de är sambor".


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## BlueSuede

Why having a non-Swedish plural of a all-Swedish word? It isn't English?If so, then "sambos" would be appropriate.

<...>

Språkrådet says (http://www.sprakradet.se/1952): 





> "sambor (eng. s-plural är helt fel, det är en sammansättning med -bo, jämför stadsbo, stadsbor)"


How strange doesn't stadsbos sound?

<...>


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## hanne

The topic of this thread is sambo vs. partner. Anyone wanting further discussion of the plural forms can ask for the thread to be split. Thank you.


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