Translation of the Swedish connector "och" in English and of the English connector "and" in Swedish in fictional and non-fictional texts

Abstract

This essay analyzes differences in the translation of the English coordinator "and" and the Swedish coordinator "och". The primary material consists of eight texts and their translations, four texts in Swedish and four in English. Each language has two fictional and two non-fictional texts. The questions this study raises are in which situations and why "och" and "and" do not translate each other. The approach is both qualitative and quantitative and shows that Swedish language requires more often the use of "och" than English language does with "and". Clear tendencies concerning the most common situations in which the translation of "and" and "och" is not equivalent are identified.