både och

Swedish

Etymology

From både (both) + och (and). Perhaps from "både A och B" (both A and B), with options A and B.

Pronoun

både och

  1. both, both of them (as opposed to just one of them (as might have been expected))
    – Är det där en bil eller en ubåt? – Det är både och!
    – Is that a car or a submarine? – It's both!
    – Åt ni pizza eller hamburgare? – Vi kunde inte bestämma oss, så det blev både och!
    – Did you eat pizza or hamburgers? – We couldn't make up our minds, so we had [so it became] both!
    Pizza och hamburgare – vi åt både och igår
    Pizza and hamburgers – we ate both of them yesterday

Usage notes

  • Stress on och.
  • More grammatically constrained compared to båda (both). "Både och Eva och Nisse var där" (Both and Eva and Nisse were there) is nonsense in Swedish as well.

References

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