Hej igen!
It’s about time that I dig in into the questions from my readers. Here is one from Justin:
“Hello Sara,
Can you explain the use of ja and jo please. One fact I’m certain of:
To answer ‘yes’ to a negative (inte) question use ‘jo’.
In ‘a fiction book’ I’m reading two characters are having a conversation: -
1st character: ”Och kom nu fram med er ide!”.
2nd character: ”Jo! Var ligger ert fartyg …….”.
I’m not sure why the 2nd character says ‘Jo!’ and not ‘Ja!’. [2nd character's idea is a solution to a bad situation!]
Which leads me to another question: Are the following questions (below) identical? If not, why would I use ‘jo’ and not ‘ja’?
1. Jo, var ligger ert fartyg? (Well, where is your ship?)
2. Ja, var ligger ert fartyg?
Sara, I just have one more question. Can you explain the correct use of ‘tja’ please? “
Justin is on the right track here: “jo” has two functions. First of all we use it to answer a question that has some kind of negation in its construction, like “inte” (not), “aldrig” (never) and “knappast/knappt” (hardly). Here are some examples:
- Varför är du på jobbet? Skulle du inte vara ledig idag?
(Why are you at work? Weren’t you supposed to take the day off today?)
- Jo, men jag har så mycket att göra.
(Yes but I have so many things I need to do.)
- Jag kommer aldrig att lära mig svenska! Det är så svårt!
(I will never learn Swedish! It’s so hard!)
- Jo, du behöver bara träna mycket.
(Yes you will, you just need a lot of practice.)
- Jag kan knappt prata någon svenska.
(I can hardly speak any Swedish.)
Jo, du är jätteduktig.
(Yes you do, you’re really good.)
“Jo” is also useful in a fight or an argument:
-Nej!
(No you can’t/won’t/may not )
- Jo!
(Yes I do)
-Nej!
-Jo!
In Justin’s other example of “jo” being used it doesn’t mean “yes” but rather “well” and cannot be replaced with “ja”.
1st character: ”Och kom nu fram med er ide!”.
2nd character: ”Jo! Var ligger ert fartyg …….”.
Another way of expressing “well” is by using “tja” pronounced with a long Swedish /a/. This “tja” shouldn’t be confused with “tja” pronounced with short /a/ like in “hatt”. “Tja” with short /a/ is a colloquial version of “hej”.
Thank you Sara. I’m so greatful for your help.
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You’re welcome!
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Hi Sara
Thanks this helped me. I have one remark though. Shouldn’t it be – Jag prata knappt någon svenska instead of – Jag knappt prata någon svenska?
Best regards
K
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Hej Karl!
Thanks for pointing that out. It was supposed to say “Jag kan knappt prata någon svenska.” Must have been tired and left the “kan” out.
If you have any questions, please post!
Sara
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