Swedish: using få and ska interchangeably to mean "should" or "ought"

D

dimhollow

Senior Member
Polish
Hello to you all!
I've been having a hard time trying to figure out the difference, if any, in meaning
between the two verbs få and ska, specifically when speaking about something the other
person should know. In the example below, it seems to me that this use of ska doesn't
exactly carry the meaning of duty or obligation, perhaps only that it's only highly recommended
and useful, an advice, actually:

"...Och du ska veta att ett mynt har alltid två sidor."

In that case, can I re-word this sentence using the verb få instead?

Thank you!
dimhollow
 
    • I would translate it as "...And you should know that a coin always has two sides." The words "duty" and "obligation" sound a bit too strong to define "ska veta", and I think it's instead a bit 'softer', it's more of a way to 'inform' someone that this is how things are.

    I would personally never use "få" this way.
     
    MattiasNYC said:
    I would translate it as "...And you should know that a coin always has two sides." The words "duty" and "obligation" sound a bit too strong to define "ska veta", and I think it's instead a bit 'softer', it's more of a way to 'inform' someone that this is how things are.

    I would personally never use "få" this way.
    Click to expand...

    As a matter of fact I already did come across "få veta" several times till now, so is it non-standard, not actually a structure used in Swedish, or does it bear a somewhat different meaning, maybe "You (absolutely) have to know"?
     
    "få veta" means "to find out". (Note that the most common meaning of "få" is "get", so it's a bit like "to get to know / to get the information").
     
    Thank you Mattias and Bahrein, now I think I know a bit more about the topic to go on with.
    Always a pleasure to to get to know more about this lovely language. :)
     
    Få veta/or any other verb, can be used as a threat: Det ska du allt få veta, or as a promise of something pleasant/unpleasant. Det kommer du själv att få se när du blir äldre
     
    Abbe said:
    Få veta/or any other verb, can be used as a threat: Det ska du allt få veta, or as a promise of something pleasant/unpleasant. Det kommer du själv att få se när du blir äldre
    Click to expand...

    Well, this word få is quite tricky. Here the context determines the meaning, which is the begining of something: "to get to know", "to get to see".
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top