Meaning of du | Babel Free
/dʉː/Definitioner
- you (singular subjective case)
- thou (if fitting for the context)
- Used as a vocative (to get someone's attention, or for emphasis or the like); hey
Exempel
“Nisse, du är en liten groda”
Nisse, you are a small frog
“Du är här, så jag ser dig”
You [subject] are here, so I see you [object]
“Det finns bara en av mig och det är jag. Det finns bara en av dig och det är du. Det finns bara två av oss, och det är vi.”
There is only one of me and that is I. There is only one of you [object] and that is you [subject]. There are only two of us, and that is us [we – subject]. [Swedish has some of the same subject/object fuzziness as English, but a standalone "Det är " idiomatically (through intuition rather than being taught) uses the subject form]
“TV Konstrijke Mästare, godt rådh giff, Skall man nu skona thenna skelmens lijff?”
THOU artful Master, good counsel give, Should one now spare this scoundrel's life?
“Vargen ylar i nattens skog. Han vill men kan inte sova. Hungern river hans vargabuk, och det är kallt i hans stova. Du varg, du varg, kom inte hit. Ungen min får du aldrig.”
The wolf howls in the forest of the night. He wants to sleep but cannot. ["He wants to but cannot sleep" – "He wants to X" is "Han vill X"] [The] hunger tears his wolf belly, and it is cold in his stove [archaic, dialectal, in the dated English sense]. Hey wolf, hey wolf, do not come [to] here [hither]. My child you will never have.
“Du, jag vill att vi tror på varann.”
Hey, I want us to believe in each other.
“Du Nisse, har du matat katten?”
Hey Nisse, have you fed the cat?
“Du, skulle du kunna räcka mig skeden, är du snäll?”
Hey, could you hand me the spoon, please?
“Jo du, jag kom precis på en till grej vi måste göra”
Oh, by the way [roughly – literally, "yeah you," or "listen you" or the like – see jo], I just remembered another thing we need to do
“Du, du ska ge fan i min hamster”
Hey, [you shall] stay away from my hamster [with an aggressive and somewhat threatening tone]
“– Varför gör han det inte bara? – Ja du, vem vet? / Ja du, det är en bra fråga.”
– Why doesn't he just do it? – Yeah, who knows? / Yeah, that's a good question. [with the du acknowledging the question, adding a confounded tone]
“Nej du, så lätt slipper du inte undan!”
Oh no, you're not getting away that easily! [Compare the change in tone between "No, you're not getting away that easily!" and "No, dragon, you're not getting away that easily!"]
CEFR-nivå
This word is part of the CEFR A1 vocabulary — beginner level.