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  5. "Jag har ingen kudde."

"Jag har ingen kudde."

Translation:I have no pillow.

January 16, 2015



So, in the US I am much more likely to say "I dont have a pillow" than "I have no pillow." My question is - the construction of "I have no..." has shown up quite a bit on Duoinguo - is that because you are teaching us the difference or because it is used a lot in Swedish?


This is the best way to express your lack of pillows (or anything) in swedish. You could say "jag har inte någon kudde" but that sounds a bit unnatural.


The use of "inte någon" ('not any') instead of "ingen" ('no') might be more common in speech than in writing (and you would pronounce it "inte nånn" as long as you not put emphasis on någon). Anyway, I wouldn't call it unnatural, but a normal variation in expressing lack of something :)


I agree with you, in England we would also say "I don't have a pillow", but I think it's formulated that way to make learning the Swedish easier, as "I have no pillow" is a literal translation of what you would say in Swedish. Hope that helps


I’m Australian, I would say either, each has a slightly different feel. “I have no [...]” seems a tad more dramatic, and would be used more in lyrics.


Same with Umerkin. Ain't got a piller. J/k that's southern dialect. I have no pillow; no place to rest my weary head. So sad.


I had a dream that I ate the world's biggest marshmallow. When I woke up, my pillow was gone!


"I don't have any pillow" is a poor English translation. I'd say "I don't have any pillows" or "I don't have a pillow", more often than "I have no pillow", but neither are accepted. This question is driving me crazy.


I don't have a pillow is an accepted answer and I have no pillow is the suggested answer as you can see above.
I don't have any pillows would be Jag har inga kuddar in Swedish.
But you're right that I don't have any pillow is unidiomatic in English. You don't really use any with concrete nouns in the singular. So I'm removing that one as an accepted answer, but that's pretty much all I can do. Please try to avoid going crazy.


Is kudde not also used for cushion, like you would have on a sofa?


Seat cushion or back cushion is called "dyna" (sittdyna or ryggdyna), but the small ones you have "for decoration" are called "kudde".

en dyna - dynan
flera dynor - dynorna


Could you say "Jag har inte en kudde"?


No. That would mean I don't have a pillow.


Or maybe ”I don’t have one pillow”


I just wanted to thank Swedish duolingo for allowing "I have no pillow." or whatever one does not have. Italian duolingo does not allow "I have no... ", even though it is a direct translation, in Italian, just as it is in Swedish. Italian duolingo does however allow, "I have got no... ". Although it is now widely used in the US. It certainly not used by people who were taught proper English. Please don't take this as affront, I think you should be able to use whatever you like and duolingo accepts. How someone else wants to express themselves is none of my business. I do enjoy expressing myself, in the more accepted English of the academic world. So thank you duolingo Swedish!


If you were to translate this into "I don't have any..." instead of "I have no..." then it should be "I don't have any pillowS" and not "pillow". So I guess the answer is wrong.

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