The modern use of semester also differs between languages. In English, the word refers to a study period at schools and universities. In the USA there are two semesters, spring and fall. In the UK three are three, usually called terms, autumn, spring, and summer. The sense of study period comes from German Semester. In Swedish, this is termin.

Semester in Swedish means holiday or vacation. It is not six months long, but at least five weeks with pay.

Semester is a typical false friend in English and Swedish. With the same origin, the word has very different meanings in the two languages. You can read more about false friends here.

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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.

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 17^th century.

The news on one Swedish TV channel is called Rapport.

You can read more about false friends here.

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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.

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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”.

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.

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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.’”

Read about punctuation marks and quotations here.

CONTRACTION

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.

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.

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THERE

There is an adverb. It refers to a special place and means in (or at or to) that place.

I have read a lot about Stockholm and I have always wanted to go there.
You can put you bag over there.
We go there every summer.

There is also used in a more abstract sense:

Hello there!
There you go (=Now it starts again).
There, there, it won’t hurt much longer now (said to comfort).

There can also be used as a formal subject, usually to say that something exists.

There is a nice pub just round the corner.
There is a new edition of her guidebook.
There seems to be a slight mistake here.

While there has many functions, their and they’re have only one meaning each.

THEIR

Their means belonging to them.

Have you seen their new house?
Their daughter is fifteen.

THEY’RE

They’re is a contracted form of they are.

They’re waiting for us at their hotel.

See also my post about it’s and its.

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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

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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.

The post Connect to or connect with? appeared first on copyeditor.se.

PRACTICE

In British and American English, practice is a noun with the following meanings:

1. custom, method, tradition, habit
–Practice is the process of doing something as opposed to theory

2. exercise, work-out
–Practice is the repeated exercise to acquire a skill

3. profession, work, career, occupation
–I was looking for a text-book on the practice of medicine

4. business, company, office, firm
–She works in a small legal practice

5. use, operation, application
–The nurse encouraged the practice of safe sex

In American English, practice is also a verb, corresponding to practise in British English.

PRACTISE

In British English, practise is a verb related to the nouns presented above.

Consequently, it can mean repeat, rehearse; do, work out; apply, carry out, perform; specialise in, work at.

As you see, American English has only the spelling practice for both the noun and the verb.

In British English, you can write To practise every day is good practice

Read more about the endings -ice and -ise here.

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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 within me.
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.

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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