What you will learn
You can tell what happened in order with words such as först, sedan, efter det and till slut.
A short story
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
| I söndags bakade Marta en tårta. | Last Sunday Marta baked a cake. |
| Först köpte hon ägg och mjölk. | First she bought eggs and milk. |
| Sedan bakade hon tårtan i köket. | Then she baked the cake in the kitchen. |
| Efter det tog hon en promenad med hunden. | After that she went for a walk with the dog. |
| Plötsligt ringde Jonas. Katten satt på bordet! | Suddenly Jonas called. The cat was sitting on the table! |
| Då sprang Marta hem. | Then Marta ran home. |
| Till slut åt alla tårtan, men katten fick ingen. | In the end everyone ate the cake, but the cat got none. |
Words for order
| Word | English |
|---|---|
| först | first |
| sedan | then, after that |
| efter det | after that |
| då | then, at that moment |
| plötsligt | suddenly |
| till slut | in the end, finally |
Each of these words can start a sentence. The verb then comes second, as in Sedan bakade hon tårtan. A story about the past stays in the past all the way through.
Sedan and efter det both move the story on. Då points back to what has just happened, as in Då sprang Marta hem. Plötsligt brings in something that nobody expected. Till slut tells what happened at the very end.
Play
Leka means to play as children do, as in Barnen lekte på stranden. Its past form is lekte. For a game with rules or for music, use spela, as in De spelade fotboll.
Common mistakes
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sedan hon bakade en tårta. | Sedan bakade hon en tårta. | After sedan, the verb comes second. |
| Till slut alla åt tårtan. | Till slut åt alla tårtan. | After till slut, the verb comes second. |
| Först köpte hon ägg. | Keep the story in the past. |