In English–Swedish communication, rapport is a tricky word, truly a false friend.
Rapport in English refers to a harmonious relationship, a good understanding, or an ability to communicate well. A speaker wants to have a good rapport with his or her audience. They are, as the saying goes, on the same wavelength. In Swedish, this would be bra publikkontakt, bra relation.
A good rapport with his audience
Rapport comes from the French word rapporter, to bring back. This is also reflected in the Swedish meaning of the word, which is report. That was also the original sense of rapport in Middle English. The sense of good understanding emerged in English in the mid 17th century.
The news on one Swedish TV channel is called Rapport.
The same word in two languages may have different meanings, as we have seen. Here is another example:
Black is Swedish slang meaning broke, without money. In English, to be in the black means just the opposite, profitable, having money in the bank.
The English expression in the red means that you are in debt or that you are losing money. The idiom comes from bookkeeping, where losses were recorded in red ink.
So, to be black in Swedish is the same as being in the red in English.
You can read about many other such false friends in my book.
And if you want to learn more about English idioms, you will find some here and here. Some idioms are unique to English, while others are identical in English and Swedish.
Connotations are associations and feelings that a word evokes. They can be positive, negative, or neutral. Connotations are shaped by culture and context and may differ from person to person.
The difference in connotations between two languages must, of course, be taken into consideration by those communicating in the two languages.
Connotations can be shared by many people. The English word house to most people has a neutral connotation – it means a type of residential building, especially a one-family dwelling. The word home, on the other hand, has positive connotations of warmth, security, and family life.
Connotations may differ also between languages. While the Swedish word hem has the same connotations as the English home, Swedish hus has wider connotations than English house and may refer to any residential building irrespective of size, such as a block of flats.
Another example of a word with different connotations in English and Swedish is villa. In English, a villa is a large and luxurious country house, especially in continental Europe. In the UK it is a large, detached house in a residential area, especially from Edwardian or Victorian time. Villa can also refer to a large country house of Roman times with farm and residential buildings around a courtyard. The Latin word villa meant manor, country estate.
In Swedish, a villa is a one-family house or a bungalow. The main goals in life of medelsvensson, the average Swede, are said to be villa, Volvo, vovve, a house, a Volvo, a doggie.
To make things more complicated, the Swedish word villa can also mean illusion or delusion.
A city in English refers to a large town. In Swedish, city has the connotation of downtown.
An amusing, and arguably misleading, example is North American restroom, a euphemism for lavatory or toilet. To non-native speakers the connotation with the verb rest, relax, will be natural. In my book about English–Swedish false friends I relate a story about an American who was picking up his Swedish friend at an airport. When they got in the car, the American said, ”Perhaps you need to go to the restroom?”, and without hesitation, the Swede answered, ”No, I can do that in the car”.
Restroom?
To recognize connotations is crucial in localization, by which a product is adapted to a specific market. You can read more about it here.
Finally, a denotation is the dictionary definition of a word, the objective meaning of the word.
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark in the Latin and some other alphabets. It is used to indicate quotations, to show that one or more letters are left out (contractions), to show the possessive form (genitive) of names and nouns, and to mark the plural of single letters.
QUOTATION
In UK English, single quotation marks are commonly used (even if the US English system is also accepted), while US English prefers double quotation marks.
UK English: ’Welcome to London’, he said.
US English: A man appeared in the doorway asking, ”Is there a restroom somewhere here?”
When a quote appears inside another quote, the opposite style of quotation marks is used:
UK English: The woman looked at the policeman and said, ’All I heard was ”I can’t find my keyes”’.
US English: The woman looked at the officer and said, ”All I heard was ’I can’t find my keyes.’”
In a contraction, an apostrophe represents one or more letters that have been omitted.
I’ve I have I’d I had or I would He’s He is They’re They are She can’t She cannot You mustn’t You must not Singin’ in the rain Singing in the rain O’Leary [descendant] of Leary Rock’n’roll Rock and roll
An apostrophe can represent thousand:
15’ = 15 000
An apostrophe can replace the first two numbers in a year:
This was popular in the ’80s = in the 1980s
POSSESSIVE
An apostrophe is used with an s after names or nouns to show ownership or close connection.
This is the boy’s room Let me introduce my wife’s best friend
In the plural, there is no s after the apostrophe:
This is the boys’ room
Especially in spoken language, the plural is expressed using of: This is the room of the boys.
Not quite right…
PLURAL OF LETTERS
An apostrophe is used to mark the plural of single letters:
It’s hard to distinguish between your g’s and q’s.
Mind your p’s and q’s (be careful about what you say or do).
Don’t confuse an apostrophe with an accent! Read more here.
False friends are words in two languages that look and/or sound alike but whose meanings are completely or partially different. The two words may have—and often do have—the same origin (If they do not have the same origin, they are called false cognates).
It is clear that false friends may give rise to amusing and sometimes embarrassing mistakes, but they can also cause potentially disastrous misunderstandings with serious consequences.
Here are some examples of English false friends in other languages (The first letter in German nouns is upper-case):
English–French
car
coach, bus, van
cave
cellar, basement, nightclub
figure
face
journal
newspaper, magazine
lecture
reading, reading matter
location
renting, hiring; lease, reservation
radio
X-ray
route
road
sensible
sensitive
smoking
dinner-jacket, tuxedo
English–German
also
so, thus
blank
shiny, bright
chef
leader, boss
chips
potato crisps
fatal
awkward, embarrassing
gift
poison, venom
hall
sound, echo
kind
child
lack
varnish, lacquer
list
cunning, trick
mode
fashion
plump
awkward; crude; obvious
smoking
dinner-jacket, tuxedo
still
quiet, silent
taste
key (on a keyboard)
English–Italian
brace
embers, charcoal
cute
skin
due
two
fame
hunger, starvation
fare
do, make
media
average
replica
repetition; reply
smoking
dinner-jacket, tuxedo
stile
stylus
turbine
whirlwind, swirl
English–Spanish
actual
current, topical, fashionable
cabaret
nightclub
editor
publisher
eventual
possible; temporary
particular
private, personal
sensible
sensitive; responsive; emotional
villa
small town, municipality
virtual
potential, possible
English–Swedish
art
species
barn
child
bra
good, well
fart
speed
faster
aunt
frisk
healthy; fresh
from
pious
glass
ice cream
kiss
pee
semester
vacation
slut
end
smoking
dinner-jacket, tuxedo
You can read about my book on English–Swedish false friends and other treacherous words here.
There is a difference between connect to and connect with.
CONNECT TO
Use connect to when you talk about a physical link between one object and another.
Make sure the printer is connected to your computer. My Wi-Fi works but I’m not connected to the internet.
CONNECT WITH
Use connect with when you talk about a relationship, a non-physical link.
These are typical symptoms connected with appendicitis. He immediately connected with his therapist. She is extremely good at connecting with her audience.
This, of course, also applies to the noun connection.
A man is being heard by the police in connection with a burglary last night.
He is extremely good at connecting with his audience
The words in and within often cause confusion. Some writers use the word within in places where it is inappropriate or wrong. I once saw an advert from a university that was inviting applications for the position of Professor within Economics. If you know that within often can be replaced by inside, it is clear that the ad looked slightly ridiculous.
In my job as copyeditor of scientific texts, I see within more often than I would like. Perhaps those who write within may think the word makes a text more scholarly. As you can see from the example above, within may look ludicrous.
IN
In is used about place or time:
He was in the kitchen. My daughter lives in Italy. This happened in late September. See you in a minute. I haven’t felt this happy in years.
WITHIN
Within often means inside a certain area, according to particular limits or rules, or during a certain period of time:
An angry voice was heard from within. After she had left, I had a warm feeling withinme. Don’t place this medicine within the reach of children! Delivery is free of charge within a thirty-kilometre limit. From your hotel, the picturesque gardens are within easy reach. I am not sure we can do this within budget. Within minutes of arriving at the railway station, I heard a loud voice calling my name. They had had three burglaries within six months.
Just within reach
IN AN HOUR OR WITHIN AN HOUR?
I’ll be back in an hour means that I ’ll be back in about one hour, perhaps fifty, sixty, or seventy minutes from now.
I’ll be back within an hour means that I’ll be back at any time before an hour has passed but in one hour at the latest.
I hope this has helped you understand the difference between in and within.
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