ska

See also: SKA, s-ka, -ska, skA, and skå

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Skagit.

Symbol

ska

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Skagit.

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Skagit terms

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Probably imitative of the crisp guitar sound;[1] other suggestions include a contraction of “skavoovie” (a word invented and used by musician Cluett Johnson), or of “speed polka”.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skɑː/, enPR: skä
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Homophone: scar (non-rhotic)
  • Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

ska (uncountable)

  1. (music) A style of Jamaican dance music originating in the late 1950s, combining elements of Caribbean calypso and mento with American jazz and rhythm and blues; it was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae.
    • 1991, Douglas Coupland, “Eat Your Parents”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 85:
      Musical Hairsplitting: The act of classifying music and musicians into pathologically picayune categories: “The Vienna Franks are a good example of urban white acid folk revivalism crossed with ska.”
    • 2014, Heather Augustyn, “Preface”, in Ska: An Oral History, McFarland, →ISBN, page 3:
      Everyone who loves ska has their own story to tell—the first time they heard the Specials back in the '70s, the first time they danced onstage at a Toasters show in the '80s, the first time they saw the Skatalites perform in the '90s.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ ska”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

Anagrams

Albanian

Alternative forms

  • s'ka

Etymology

From s' +‎ kam.

Verb

ska

  1. (impersonal, third person) there isn't
    ska parkimno parking
    ska përse (ska pse)you're welcome (literally, “there isn't why”)

Derived terms

Basque

Etymology

From English ska.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /es̺ka/ [es̺.ka]
  • Rhymes: -es̺ka, -a

Noun

ska inan

  1. (music) ska

Declension

Declension of ska (inanimate, singular only, ending in -a)
indefinite singular
absolutive ska ska
ergative skak
dative skari
genitive skaren
comitative skarekin
causative skarengatik
benefactive skarentzat
instrumental skaz skaz
inessive skan
locative
allative
terminative
directive
destinative
ablative
partitive skarik
prolative skatzat

Further reading

  • ska”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English ska.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skaː/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ska
  • Rhymes: -aː

Noun

ska m (uncountable)

  1. (music) ska

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

ska (present tense skar, past tense skadde, past participle skadd)

  1. form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by skade

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse skaða.

Alternative forms

  • skada (long form with a or split infinitive)
  • skade (long form with e infinitive)

Verb

ska (present tense skar, past tense skadde, past participle skadd, present participle skadande, imperative ska)

  1. (transitive) to damage, injure
  2. (transitive) to harm, inconvenience

Etymology 2

Apocopic form of skal (shall).

Verb

ska

  1. (dialectal) alternative form of skal, present tense of skulle
    • 1802, Edvard Storm, “Sæterreiſe”, in Laurents Hallager, Norsk Ordsamling, Sebastian Popp, page 183:
      Qvar ein Dag ſka Gjæstbo væra, Māt ſka naa aat døkre Kne.
      Every day shall be a feast, food shall reach to your knees
    • c. 1700, Sigurd Kolsrud, quoting Jacob Rasch, “Eldste nynorske bibeltekst: Jacob Rasch c. 1700”, in Syn og Segn, volume 56, published 1950, page 110:
      den ret-færigie ska værte salig a trunaa
      the just shall be saved by the faith

References

  • “ska” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • ska” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ska.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈska/
  • Rhymes: -a
  • Syllabification: ska
  • Homophone: -ska

Noun

ska n (indeclinable)

  1. ska (style of Jamaican dance music originating in the late 1950s, combining elements of Caribbean calypso and mento with American jazz and rhythm and blues; it was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae)

Further reading

  • ska in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • ska in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ska.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈska/ [ˈska], /esˈka/ [esˈka]
  • Rhymes: -a
  • Syllabification: ska

Noun

ska m (plural skas)

  1. ska

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English ska.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈskɑː/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

ska c

  1. ska; a style of dance music

Etymology 2

Apocopic form of skall (shall), present tense of skola (see there for additional senses and examples), from Old Norse skulu, from Proto-Germanic *skulaną.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skɑː/
  • (Gothenburg) IPA(key): /ˈskaː/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

ska

  1. will, be going to, (except not formal in tone, but a literal match for meaning) shall, is to; (in the past tense "skulle") were to; was to (Usually not sensible translations, but will provide the right intuition in some tricky cases – see below.)
    • 1974, Lasse Tennander, “Ska vi gå hem till dig [Shall We Go to Your Place ["home to you" – idiomatic]]”, in Allting som ni gör kan jag göra bättre [Anything You Do, I Can Do Better [a cover album]]‎[1], performed by Magnus Uggla:
      Ska vi gå hem till dig eller hem till mig, eller var och en hem till sitt? Ska vi göra som dom andra och ägna oss åt varandra, eller ska var och en sköta sitt?
      Shall we go to your place ["home to you" – idiomatic] or to my place [home to me], or each one ["each and one" – idiomatic] home to theirs [nominalized – neuter gender is used when there is no concrete referent, like in impersonal constructions and here, as a rule of thumb]? Shall we do like the others and spend time on each other [engage in each other as an activity – doesn't have the connotations of "devote"], or shall each one mind [take care of] theirs [nominalized]?
    Ska vi gå?
    Shall we leave?
    Imorgon ska vi mata tigrar
    Tomorrow we are going to [tomorrow we shall] feed tigers
    Jag ska göra det imorgon. Jag lovar!
    I will [shall] do it tomorrow. I promise!
    Nej, du ska göra det idag!
    No, you will [shall] do it today!
    Nu räcker det. Monstret ska dö!
    That's enough. The monster will [shall] die!
    Det här ska du få sota för!
    You will [shall] pay for this! [with an idiomatic expression]
    Vi skulle mata tigrar, men djurparken var stängd
    We were going to feed tigers, but the zoo was closed
    Skulle is the past tense of ska, like shall in the past tense, as in "We had the intention to feed tigers" as opposed to "We have the intention to feed tigers."
    1. to be to; to have to; to must (as alternative translations that might provide intuition in some cases)
      De skulle skydda försörjningslinjen till varje pris
      They were to protect the supply line at all costs
      Försörjningslinjen skulle skyddas till varje pris
      The supply line was to be protected at all costs
      Festen var grym. Du skulle (ha) varit där! [Ha (Have) is implied from varit (been) being in the supine and can be skipped]
      The party was awesome. You should / were to have been there!
      As a rule of thumb, skulle can only be translated as should when synonymous with were to, like when talking about the past (should have / were to have). More technically, skulle can mean were to in a subjunctive sense ("You were to have been there, it was great!" as opposed to "You were (obliged) to do it!"), and those are the cases where it can be translated as should. Otherwise, borde or bör is used. Borde can also be used when talking about the past, so "Du borde (ha) varit där!" is an alternative way to phrase this usage example.
      Du skulle (ha) sett hans min!
      You should / were to have seen the look on his face! [his facial expression]
      Same tone as in English. Borde here instead sounds like "ought to have," implying that there was a choice involved.
      Nä, om man skulle ta sig en sup!
      Anyway, if one [referring to oneself obliquely – see man] were to / should have oneself a drink! [I want to have a drink!]
      Works like the English translation. Tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps a bit less old-fashioned compared to the English phrase.
      Man skulle (ha) haft en båt
      I wish I had a boat / If only I had a boat
      (literally, “One should / were to have had a boat [Works like in English, bit colloquial]”)
      Ring mig om du skulle vara sen
      Call me if you should / were to be late / [closer in tone] Call me if you'll be late
      Less subtly subjunctive here compared to earlier usage examples.
      Om det skulle regna stannar vi inne
      If it should / were to rain, we'll stay inside / [closer in tone] If it rains, we'll stay inside
      Skulle det regna stannar vi inne
      Should / were it to rain, we'll stay inside / [closer in tone] If it rains, we'll stay inside
      Not formal. Can sound casual, especially if run together, like "skulle're regna."
      Vi kanske skulle gå dit
      Maybe we should go there
      (literally, “Maybe [if] we were to go [to] there [thither]”)
      Subjunctive, with the if to make it more intuitive in English.
      Du skulle gå dit
      You were to go there
      Has the same interpretations as in English, like "You were obliged to go there," for example, or vaguely "You should go there." Would not normally be used for "You should go there" for the same reason that an English speaker would not normally say "[If] you were to go there" in that case, though it works, especially in a colloquial, kind of tongue-in-cheek tone, like "Hey, [if] you were to go there!"
      Instruktionerna ska följas till punkt och pricka
      The instructions are to / have to / must [shall] be followed to the letter
      Instruktionerna skulle följas till punkt och pricka
      The instructions were to / had to be followed to the letter
    2. (in the past tense) would (Compare "were to" for the connection, like in "If I were to / would do it" and "They determined that cutbacks were to / would have serious consequences." Compare also old-fashioned English like "If it rains, I should [would] stay home." The more common sense of "should" makes things tricky.)
      • 1990, Niklas Strömstedt, “Om [If]”, in Om! [If!]‎[2]:
        Om du var ett hav vore jag en våg. Om du var himmelen skulle jag ha vingar. Om du var ett regn hade jag var't [varit] hav och land. Om du var musik vore jag en sång. Om du var vidderna ville jag va' [vara] vinden. Men jag skulle inte va' [vara] nånting om du inte fanns.
        [Literally translated for illustration – see the link for a more natural translation] If you were an ocean [sea], were I a wave [subjunctive, everyday – see vore]. If you were the sky, I would have wings [compare "I were to have wings," and also "I should have wings" in old-fashioned English]. If you were a rain, had I been sea and land [subjunctive, everyday – very common with hade (had)]. If you were music, were [subjunctive] I a song. If you were the plains, I wanted to be the wind [somewhat tersely worded here in Swedish as well]. But I would not be anything if you did not exist.
      Nedskärningar skulle få allvarliga konsekvenser
      Cutbacks [down-cuttings] would have [get] serious consequences
      De hade bestämt sig. Monstret skulle dö!
      They had made up their mind. The monster would / was going to die!
      Det skulle inte hända
      It would not be allowed to happen / [for comparison] It were not to be allowed to happen
      Vad skulle de göra utan oss?
      What would they do without us? / [for comparison] What were they to do without us?
      Skulle du rekommendera restaurangen?
      Would you recommend the restaurant? / [for comparison] Were you to recommend the restaurant?
      The were to version is harder to intuit here. Native speakers probably just have would internalized as one meaning of skulle at some level.
      Vad skulle ni vilja ha?
      What would you like (to have)?
      (literally, “What would you want to have?”)
      Polite, like in English.
      1. (followed by kunna (be able to)) (literally) would be able to; (often, idiomatically) could; might
        Om jag var rik skulle jag kunna köpa ett slott
        If I were rich, I would be able to buy a castle / I could buy a castle
        Det kan hända
        It can happen
        Det skulle kunna hända
        It could / might [would be able to] happen
        en metod som skulle kunna fungera
        a method that could / might [would be able to] work
        Metoden skulle kunna vara en lösning
        The method could / might [would be able to] be a solution
        Det skulle kunna äventyra hela projektet
        It could / might [would be able to] jeopardize the whole project
        Hon kunde jonglera
        She could [was able to; knew how to] juggle
        Hon skulle kunna jonglera på festen
        She could [would be able to] juggle at the party [It might be a fun thing for her to do at the party]
        Vi skulle kunna gå på bio
        We could [would be able to] go to the cinema
        Could also be expressed as "Vi kan gå på bio" (We can go to the cinema), and similarly for other cases where could and can are more or less interchangeable. Skulle kunna puts more explicit emphasis on the future, like could.
  2. to be supposed to; to be said to, to be claimed, to be alleged, etc. (Compare the fact that "He shall do it" and "He is supposed to do it" are close in meaning. Compare also the tone of translating "ska" as "is to" and "skulle" as "were to" here.)
    Mannen ska ha uppträtt hotfullt
    The man is said to have behaved in a threatening manner [is supposed to have behaved in a threatening manner]
    Hon ska vara över två meter lång
    She is said / supposed to be more than two meters tall
    Det ska tydligen regna imorgon
    Apparently, it's going to rain tomorrow / It's supposed to rain tomorrow [It is said to be raining tomorrow, on the weather report or the like]
    Filmen ska vara bra har jag hört
    The movie is supposed to be good, I've heard
    Det är en metod jag (har) hört ska fungera
    It's a method I've heard is supposed to work
    Metoden skulle fungera väl, hade de hört
    The method was supposed to work well, they had heard
    Jag är väldigt upprörd över ryktena om att jag skulle/ska ha varit otrogen mot min fru
    I am very upset by the rumors claiming that I have been unfaithful to my wife [the rumors that I was/am supposed to have been unfaithful to my wife]
  3. (with an adverbial involving movement or direction) to intend (for) to go (to/towards) (as if a (walk), åka (go [with a conveyance]), följa (follow), resa (travel), or the like had been elided) (Compare constructions like "I want home" in English.)
    Jag ska g̶å̶/å̶k̶a̶ till affären
    I'm going to the store
    (literally, “I shall w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶/̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ to the store”)
    Jag ska g̶å̶/å̶k̶a̶ hem
    I'm going home
    (literally, “I shall w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶/̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ home”)
    Vi ska å̶k̶a̶ in till stan och handla. Vill du ha någonting?
    We're going into town to shop. Do you want anything?
    (literally, “We shall g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ in to the town and shop. Do you want anything?”)
    Jag ska k̶l̶ä̶t̶t̶r̶a̶ upp på taket
    I'm going up on the roof
    (literally, “I shall c̶l̶i̶m̶b̶ up on the roof”)
    Jag ska k̶l̶i̶v̶a̶/̶g̶å̶ av vid nästa station
    I'm getting off at the next station
    (literally, “I shall s̶t̶e̶p̶/̶w̶a̶l̶k̶ off at the next station”)
    Ska du f̶ö̶l̶j̶a̶ med?
    Are you coming with us?
    (literally, “Shall you f̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ with?”)
    Nu räcker det. Han ska å̶k̶a̶ ut!
    That's it, he's out!
    (literally, “Now it is enough. He shall g̶o̶ out!”)
    Jag tror han skulle g̶å̶/å̶k̶a̶ hem
    I think he was going home
    (literally, “I think he was going to [as the past tense of shall] w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶/̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ home”)
    Jag vet inte vart han skulle å̶k̶a̶/g̶å̶
    I don't know where he was going
    (literally, “I know not [to] where [whither] he was going to [as the past tense of shall] g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ ̶/̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶”)
    Skulle du f̶ö̶l̶j̶a̶ med eller?
    Are you coming or what?
    (literally, “Were you going to [as the past tense of shall] f̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ with or?”)
    Jag ska g̶å̶/å̶k̶a̶ dit imorgon
    I'm going there tomorrow
    (literally, “I shall w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶/̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶]̶ [to] there [thither] tomorrow”)
    Jag ska å̶k̶a̶ på semester till Spanien
    I'm going on vacation to Spain
    (literally, “I shall g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶v̶e̶s̶s̶e̶l̶]̶ on vacation to Spain”)
    Vi ska å̶k̶a̶/̶g̶å̶/̶.̶.̶.̶ norrut
    We are heading north
    (literally, “We shall g̶o̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶h̶i̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶v̶e̶s̶s̶e̶l̶]̶ ̶/̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶/̶ ̶.̶.̶.̶ northward”)
Usage notes
  • The construction in (sense 3) is commonly used with vilja (want) and måste (must) as well, and may occasionally be used with for example borde (should, ought to).
  • Not old-fashioned or formal like English shall or is to in (sense 1), but a perfect match for meaning, and similarly for were/was to in the past tense skulle. Is to and were/was to in particular get very close to capturing the full set of nuances of ska and skulle, including (sense 2). Like English should, skulle can express were to in a subjunctive sense. "Ring mig om du skulle vara sen" means "Call me if you should / were to be late," for example, and "Vi kanske skulle gå dit" means "Maybe we should go there / Maybe [if] we were to go there." Skall is an older or more formal spelling and pronunciation for the present tense, which does match English shall in tone. See also the usage notes for skall.
  • Infinitive and supine are rarely (if ever) used, and may be considered archaic, but see skola for some additional senses and examples related to other forms.
  • kommer att may also be used to denote a future action, but while it denotes something inevitable (something absolutely certain), ska refers to something which is required, intended, or a promise. Compare also böra, which is a (very) strong recommendation, but not without possibility to wiggle out of; and måste (must) which is used when there is a compelling need to do something:
    Solen kommer att gå upp i morgon bitti
    The sun will rise tomorrow morning [That is a fact – compare "The sun will come to rise tomorrow morning," which is identical in meaning if not in tone]
    Jag kommer att städa i morgon
    I will clean up tomorrow [There is no doubt about that – it is a fact – I will come to clean tomorrow]
    Jag ska städa i morgon
    I will [I intend to / I promise to / I have been forced to promise to – I shall] clean up tomorrow
    Jag måste städa i morgon
    I have to clean up tomorrow [since there are guests coming]
    Jag borde städa i morgon
    I should clean up tomorrow [It would be a good idea to do some cleaning up tomorrow]
    Jag bör städa i morgon
    I [really] should clean up tomorrow [This place really needs cleaning]
Conjugation
Conjugation of skola (irregular)
active passive
infinitive skola
supine skolat
imperative
imper. plural1
present past present past
indicative ska, skall skulle
ind. plural1 skola skulle
subjunctive2 skole skulle
present participle
past participle

1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Synonyms
Etymologically related, dealing with obligation in some sense
See also
  • borde
  • skola (the rare infinitive – has additional senses and examples)

References

Anagrams

Zacatepec Chatino

Numeral

ska

  1. one