# Swedish: hoppas



## cheshire

(1) Vi se*s* (=ser varandra) ofta. =We see each other often.

(2) Jag hoppa*s *att han kommer. =I hope that he comes.


Do you agree these usages are the same as that of Spanish "se" as in "amarse" or "peinarse"?


----------



## jonquiliser

No.

The Spanish _se_ in the words you mention constitute reflexive verbs, in Swedish "jag kammar _mig_" (att kamma _sig_). The _se_ of "amarse" translates as _varandra_.

The Spanish passive voice _se_, as in "Se venden patatas" does translate with the Swedish s-passive in many instances. "Här säljs potatis" (even if this is a bad example, probably it would be formulated as "Potatis till salu").

Att hoppas doesn't really have anything to do with this (although I don't know how it is in etymological terms), as it is not a passive, but an active verb form: jag hoppas - I hope. The verb just is like that (although as I said, maybe it has historically been a passive form?)


----------



## cheshire

Thanks jonquiliser! Your explanation is wonderful, but I'm not still sure if "att hoppas" is any different (in terms of usage) from "interessiere sich" in German.

Ich *interessiere mich* für Fußball.


----------



## Polyglota

This type of verbs that have a passive form but not passive meaning are called "deponent verbs". There are a great many of them in Latin, for example loquor, that has a passive form but not passive meaning (it look like "I am being spoken" but means simply "I speak"). Deponent means "putting aside" - the verb is putting aside its passive meaning. 
There are a number of these in Swedish: hoppas is one of them, others are andas (to breathe), svettas (to sweat), minnas (to remember). The etymology of both these form is, as you say, the reflexive form, as in kamma sig - Spanish: peinarse. And when you look at it like that, the deponent verb makes sense - when you think of minnas as "minna sig", it is the same as the reflexive Spanish verb - recordarse. And, as you say, "sich intressieren" in German. 
Your other example - vi ses - is not strictly a deponent verb. It a reciprocal verb, which means that I do it to you and you do it to me. Vi ses: I see you and you see me. Vi slåss: I fight you and you fight me. Vi samsas: I get along with you and you get along with me. Vi pussas: I kiss you and you kiss me, etc. Here the "sig" stands for "each other" - as in the Spanish se pelan. So again, it all hangs together.


----------



## María Madrid

cheshire said:


> Thanks jonquiliser! Your explanation is wonderful, but I'm not still sure if "att hoppas" is any different (in terms of usage) from "interessiere sich" in German.
> 
> Ich *interessiere mich* für Fußball.


Again this is like Spanish (interesarse por algo). You don't state what your native language is, if you did it may be easier for us to explain. Maybe it's easier to think of hoppas as an exception. Use it as an active verb despite the s. Saludos.


----------



## cheshire

Thanks! Polygrota, your answer is perfect!

(1) reciprocal
(2) deponent

(2) is parallel with English "be interested in" or "be surprised at".

Thank you everyone!


----------



## Polyglota

Well yes, but you mustn't think of it as having a passive meaning - it is not the same as "be surprised". It is simply that it shares the same etymology as the passive: "han andar sig" = han andas, then the verb forgot that background, so that one now says "jag andas", not "jag andar mig" in the 1st person . And you can't use the alternative passive form with these verbs: "jag blir andad"!


----------



## María Madrid

Same applies for minns.


----------



## cheshire

Thanks!
Yes, I understand what you say: You can't say "I interest myself." in English.


----------

