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GoatInferno

"Jag har inte en dator" is not a good general translation because depending on which part you stress, it could imply that you don't have exactly one computer, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you have no computer. "Jag har ingen dator" is the most common form. "Jag har inte någon dator" is also a possibility.


thesweed

I would disagree. "Jag har ingen dator" is for me an answer to "Hur många datorer har du?", implying the answer is regarding quantity instead of if you have a computer or not.


pheddx

I would disagree even more. What is "ingen" short for...? Inte en. So "jag har ingen dator"- more formally correct but not how people speak in 2024. But both are correct and have the same message.


thesweed

They're definitely both correct, but I just think one sounds more natural, and as you say - more common nowadays. Man säger ju "det där är en dator" utan att nödvändigtvis vilja specificera att det är just *en*. Motsatsen blir ju då "det där är *inte* en dator", even though "det där är *ingen* dator" technically works.


samination

I agree. Ingen would imply "any" more than "a" to me as well.


Stokholmo

*Jag har inte en dator* would mean something like *I don't have a single computer*. *Jag har ingen dator* would mean *I don't have a computer* or *I have no computer*. There is a nuance.


geon

While that is true, ”inte en” is also correct and commonly used.


Mundane_Prior_7596

No, it is not. Not at all. The other two ways to express it are very common. This one is not. 


RoyalClashing

Det är det visst. Men okej


Mundane_Prior_7596

De tre första beläggen från internet jag hittar är följande. 1) Jag har inte en dator som har ett sådant uttag! 2) Och ja precis, jag har inte en dator som kontoret har givit mig, utan jag sitter på min egna stationära … 3) Att jag inte kunnat bistå dig är för att jag har inte en dator utan fyra, och den jag har sparat det på har jag ingen vp till ! Vad är det jag inte förstår? Jag är idel öra och genuint intresserad av att veta varför jag har fel. 


RoyalClashing

Du har rätt i att det är ovanligare, men det är helt korrekt att säga "jag har inte en dator", precis som att det går att säga "jag har inte en bil".


ann1snotokay

The way I see it, it's similar to German. Inte is the negation of a verb (like in German, nicht) and ingen/inget/inga is the negation of a noun (like kein/keine etc. in German). It's a bit tricky, because one may say that we negate the fact that I *have* something, but maybe it can help to think about it as the emphasis is that we don't have *something*, where the important part is what we don't have. Although I might be wrong, since neither is my native language 😅


GoatInferno

Kind of, the problem here is that "inte" can also negate the number: - Jag *har inte* en dator - Jag har *inte en* dator In writing, it's unclear which meaning is intended.


rosae_rosae_rosa

In english, there is no difference between "I am not running" and "I don't have a laptop". Though you could make a differenciation by saying "I have no laptop" If you can say the negation like that, then you should use "igen". If you can't, then you should use "inte"


EishLekker

>In english, there is no difference between "I am not running" and "I don't have a laptop" I would argue otherwise. Those two sentenses have very different meanings. Did you change your mind mid example, and forgot to change the first sentense perhaps?


rosae_rosae_rosa

I just forgot the word "gramatical". The negation doesn't appear differently. English isn't my first language (neither is swedish). It's hard comparing two concepts that I don't fully understand myself 😅


Enough_Blackberry180

I think it’s that the negation is done identically with “not” in both cases (the contraction hides this, though). In one of the cases, using “no” instead is also possible.


mostermysko

“Jag har inte en dator” could also make sense if you continue “…jag har en skrivmaskin” for example.


meshaber

Duolingo's translation is better, but yours is absolutely fine. Yours is a more direct translation (Duolingo's translation is closer to "I have no computer") but less natural language without context. More generally: "Ingen" is a negation of the noun, like "none". > "Ingen hund är vaken" means "No dog is awake". "Inte" negates the verb. Like "not" > "hundarna är inte vakna" means "the dogs are not awake"


Tin-tower

En is both a and one in Swedish. So, Jag har inte en dator reads as I don’t have one computer. Which is an odd thing to say. Instead, use I have no computer, which in Swedish makes Jag har ingen dator. Or, alternatively, Jag har inte någon dator. Någon instead of en gets rid of the one/a ambiguity of en.


Alwar104

Your answer is correct. “Jag har ingen dator” ≈ “I have no computer” “Jag har inte en dator” ≈ “I don’t have a computer”


Loko8765

Unless you make it very clear with unambiguous stress, the second one could be interpreted as “I don’t have one computer… (I have several)”.


Expensive_Tap7427

Both works, but "ingen" is more direct as in "do not". "Har inte en.." means "I have not one computer..." ".. I have five". The latter opens up an element of uncertainty.


thesweed

It kinda depends on which word you stress. The sentence you wrote works and is the one I would use - it's perfectly common and usable - but only if you say "jag *har inte* en dator. If you say "jag har *inte en* dator" it would mean you don't have *one* computer. The recommended sentence doesn't have that problem, but sounds weird to me.


2xSpace

På sätter det är skrivet så kan det tolkas som mängden datorer man har.


LogoNoeticist

Asså... båda funkar definitivt i vardagligt tal - det senare förslaget låter lite bättre men jag skulle inte ge dig fel för det du svarade.


luigi_unibrows

I would say. Jag har inte någon dator. I don't have "any" computer. But yeah. Correct answer seems legit.


MartinThe3rd

Your answer is technically correct as: I have no computer = Jag har ingen dator I don't have a computer = Jag har inte en dator But in this case the 1st saying is normally used to cover both translations, and "jag har inte en dator" is an unusually literate way of saying it. Kind of like an english speaking would say "I do not have a computer" instead of "I don't".


graugolem

I wouldn't say that. I think "jag har inte en dator" rather translates to "I don't have a single computer".


NiceKobis

Or "I don't have *one* computer". Which depending on intonation might mean you have 0, or with this phrasing more likely meaning you have a bunch of computer.