Language/Swedish/Grammar/How-to-express-agreement

How to express agreement

The purpose of this lesson is to learn how to express agreement, which can be done in several different ways in Swedish. In this lesson's dialogue, Hans expresses agreement in two different ways. Let's look at the examples.

1. Jag håller med. "I agree."
2. Det låter bra. "It sounds good."

The first way of expressing agreement in the examples above—that is, by saying, Jag håller med ("I agree")—is perhaps the most general way of agreeing to something somebody is saying. You can, for example, use this when someone expresses a general opinion about politics, child rearing, or etiquette, or if someone has stated a specific opinion on what should be done in regards to a specific event. Let's start looking at some examples of specific statements to which the response Jag håller med ("I agree") would be suitable. We'll start with opinions of a more general nature.

For example:

1. Det är alltid viktigt att komma i tid till ett möte. "It's always important to be on time for a meeting."
2. Man ska inte ge sina barn för mycket godis. "You shouldn't give your children too much candy."
3. Det är viktigt att rösta i allmäna val."It's important to vote in general elections."

Now we'll also look at some examples of opinions about how an activity should be carried out and in which the response Jag håller med ("I agree") also would be suitable.

For example:

1. Det är bättre om vi börjar städa och sen tvättar. "It's better if we start cleaning and then do the laundry."
2. Det är bättre om vi först läser det vi skrivit, sen vi diskutera det. "It's better if we start reading what we have written; then we can discuss it."

The second way of agreeing that was used in this lesson's dialogue, Det låter bra ("It sounds good"), is perhaps more useful in situations where someone has given a concrete suggestion on how an activity should be carried out. You can, of course, also use Jag håller med ("I agree") in these situations, but Det låter bra will, in most cases, sound more relaxed and natural. Here are some examples of statements to which Det låter bra ("It sounds good") would be an appropriate response.

For example:

1. Det är bäst om vi börjar med att tvätta fönstrerna."It's better if we start with washing the windows."
2. Det är bättre om vi gör det imorgon istället."It's better if we do it tomorrow instead."
3. Vad sägs om att vi städar först? "How about we clean up first?"

Sometimes it's difficult to know whether or not to agree to a statement, simply because you're not entirely sure what someone meant. This can be particularly true when you're in the process of learning a new language. One way of asking the person who made the statement to elaborate a bit more is to use the phrases Jag förstår inte ("I don't understand") or Hur menar du då? ("What do you mean?"). 

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Future Tense, Learn Swedish Sentense Structure. Subject, Verb and object., Give your Opinion & Comparison of adjectives.

Other Lessons

• Time References
• When use Ett or En
• Possessive Case in Swedish
• Present Tense
• Plurals
• Nouns
• How to Express Feelings of Joy and Anger
• Past Tense
• How to express ownership
• How to express disagreement
• How to Talk About Your Daily Routine
• How to Describe Someone's Appearance and Personality
• Prepositions
• How to Talk About How Something Smells
• Definite Articles in Swedish