Whats the Difference Between a Language and a Dialect?

The distinction between a language and a dialect is not always clear-cut. Linguists often use mutual intelligibility as a test to determine if two varieties are separate languages or dialects of the same language. However, this approach can be challenging when dealing with similar languages such as Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. The level of intelligibility required to classify varieties as dialects or different languages is not clearly defined, leading to debates over whether certain forms of communication should be considered separate languages or dialects of the same language.