Gender neutral language in Swedish: Difference between revisions

Gender neutral language in Swedish (edit)

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→‎<translate> Generic pronoun</translate>

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 ===<translate><!--T:19--> Generic pronoun</translate>===
 <translate><!--T:20--> To refer to people in general in Swedish, the pronouns "man/en/en" (one/one/one’s) or "en/en/ens" (one/one/one’s) can be used. Swedish’s generic pronoun man/en/ens has been discussed for being male-generalizing, and some people have opted to use en/en/ens instead to make it gender inclusive. The word "man" may have the meaning of "human" in addition to the meaning "male person", but this word is still more associated with male people. Using "en" instead of "man" is not only more gender-inclusivity through being non-male-generalizing, but it is also frequently practiced in some of Sweden's regions, so it is a natural grammatical dialect variation in the Swedish language. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221102131452/https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=man&svar=78373&log_id=909986]</translate>
+For when it feels awkward to use man/en, alternative phrasing as to avoid using such a pronoun are also recommended:
+One problem that can occur with the pronouns "man/en" is that the pronouns can hide who is doing what in the sentence. This is especially true in sentences where different acting parts are referred to and the pronouncs can be replaced with pretty much any pronoun or noun. So instead of:
+* ”På kundtjänst har '''man/en''' problem med att '''man/en''' ställer otydliga frågor.” That could be read as either: ”På kundtjänst har '''de''' problem med att '''du''' ställer otydliga frågor.” or ”På kundtjänst har '''ingen''' problem med att '''alla''' ställer otydliga frågor.” One can instead write out the specific acting parts such as ”På kundtjänst har '''vi''' problem med att '''kunderna''' ställer otydliga frågor.”
+A good rule of thumb is to always state who is doing what. This will prevent readers from wondering who you are referring to. And if you can address the reader directly with "you", that is usually the clearest thing.
+"Man/en" is a way of showing that a statement is universal or general, for example, “Man/en ska inte ljuga.” (One shouldn't lie.) But there are other ways of expressing yourself that are also general:
+* ”Ingen får ljuga.” (No one gets to lie.)
+* ”Det är fel att ljuga.” (It is wrong to lie.)
+* ”Ljug inte!” (Don't lie!)
+"Man/en" also works if you want to refer to anyone within a group or area: "I Sverige fikar man/en mycket." (In Sweden one "fikar" mycket.) Here too, there are plenty of options:
+* ”I Sverige fikar vi mycket.” (In Sweden we "fikar" mycket.)
+* ”I Sverige är det vanligt att fika.” (It is common in Sweden to "fika".)
+* ”Det är en svensk tradition att fika mycket.” (It is a Swedish tradition to "fika" a lot.)
+Start primarily from what you think will be clearest to the person you are addressing – that is always a safe bet.[https://sprakkonsulterna.se/alternativ-till-pronomenet-man/]
 === <translate><!--T:148--> Referring to God</translate>===