The coordinating conjunctions are the easy half of the chapter — but only once you have absorbed their one defining property: they do not change word order. A coordinator hinges two elements of equal rank, and whatever was a main clause stays a main clause, with V2 order and inte sitting after the finite verb. There are only a handful of them, and this page walks through each, then drills the two distinctions that genuinely cause trouble: men versus utan, and the coordinator för versus the subordinator eftersom.
och — "and"
The workhorse. Och joins clauses, nouns, adjectives, verbs — anything of equal rank. A note on pronunciation that surprises learners: och is almost always spoken as a short å ("o" sound), with the -ch silent in normal speech.
Vi handlade mat och lagade middag tillsammans.
We bought groceries and cooked dinner together. 'och' joins two verb phrases.
Hon är trött och lite hungrig.
She's tired and a little hungry. 'och' joins two adjectives.
When och joins two full main clauses, both keep main-clause order. See Coordination with och for the finer points, including subject ellipsis.
men — "but"
Men sets up a contrast between two ideas. It joins main clauses and leaves their order untouched.
Jag hade tänkt komma, men något kom emellan.
I'd planned to come, but something came up. 'men' contrasts two main clauses; each keeps its order.
Filmen var lång men förvånansvärt bra.
The film was long but surprisingly good. 'men' joins two adjective phrases in contrast.
eller — "or"
Eller offers alternatives. Tacked onto the end of a statement it also forms the casual confirmation tag eller hur? ("right? / isn't it?").
Vill du ha te eller kaffe?
Do you want tea or coffee? 'eller' between two alternatives.
Vi ses på fredag, eller hur?
We'll see each other on Friday, right? 'eller hur' as a tag question.
för — "for, because" (a coordinator)
För is loosely causal — close to literary English "for" (I stayed, for I was tired). The decisive fact: för is a coordinator. It joins two main clauses, so the clause after it keeps main-clause order, with inte after the verb. This makes it behave completely differently from the subordinator eftersom, even though both translate as "because." A för-clause also cannot start a sentence — you can begin with Eftersom... but not with För... in this causal sense.
Jag stannade hemma, för jag var sjuk.
I stayed home, for I was sick. 'för' joins two main clauses; the second keeps main-clause order.
Hon log, för hon hade inte väntat sig en present.
She smiled, for she hadn't expected a present. After 'för', 'inte' stays AFTER 'hade' — main-clause order.
så — "so" (result)
Så expresses a result or consequence ("...so..."). As a coordinator it links two main clauses and leaves their order alone. (Do not confuse this with the subordinator så att "so that," which expresses purpose and triggers BIFF — covered under Subordinating Conjunctions.)
Det regnade, så vi stannade inne.
It rained, so we stayed inside. 'så' introduces the result; the clause stays main-clause order.
Bussen var sen, så jag missade mötet.
The bus was late, so I missed the meeting. 'så' = consequence, coordinator.
samt — "and, as well as" (formal)
Samt is a formal, listing "and," common in written notices, contracts, and bureaucratic prose. In everyday speech you would just say och. (formal)
Anmälan ska innehålla namn, adress samt personnummer.
The registration must contain name, address as well as personal ID number. 'samt' is the formal listing 'and'.
utan — "but rather" (only after a negative)
Utan is the trap. It means "but" only in one specific configuration: when it corrects a preceding negative. The pattern is inte X utan Y — "not X but (rather) Y." If there is no negative to correct, you cannot use utan; you use men.
Det är inte rött utan blått.
It's not red but blue. Negative ('inte rött') corrected by 'utan blått' — not X but rather Y.
Hon är inte lärare utan läkare.
She's not a teacher but a doctor. 'inte X utan Y' replaces the wrong term with the right one.
Vi åkte inte till Spanien utan till Italien.
We didn't go to Spain but to Italy. The correction pattern again.
(There is also a homograph utan meaning "without" — a preposition — as in kaffe utan socker "coffee without sugar." That is a separate word; here we mean the conjunction.)
men vs utan — the core distinction
Both men and utan are translated "but," and choosing wrong is one of the most frequent learner errors. The rule is mechanical:
- men — general contrast. The two ideas are both "on the table"; one qualifies or opposes the other.
- utan — correction of a negative. The first part is denied (inte...) and the second part replaces it.
A useful test: can you paraphrase with "but rather / but instead"? If yes, it is utan. If the sense is "but nevertheless / however," it is men.
Han är inte rik, men han är lycklig.
He isn't rich, but he is happy. Both facts stand — it's a contrast, not a correction. So 'men', not 'utan'.
Han är inte rik utan stenrik.
He isn't rich but filthy rich. The first term is corrected/replaced by a stronger one — so 'utan'.
Note that the mere presence of inte does not force utan: in Han är inte rik, men han är lycklig, the inte belongs to the first idea and is not being corrected by the second — the second adds a different point, so men is right. Utan requires that the second part replace the negated first part. The full treatment is on men vs utan.
Common Mistakes
❌ Det är inte rött men blått.
Incorrect — correcting a negative needs 'utan', not 'men'.
✅ Det är inte rött utan blått.
It's not red but blue.
❌ Han är inte rik utan han är lycklig.
Incorrect — the second clause adds a different point rather than correcting the first, so use 'men'.
✅ Han är inte rik, men han är lycklig.
He isn't rich, but he is happy.
❌ Eftersom jag var sjuk, för jag stannade hemma.
Incorrect — don't mix the subordinator 'eftersom' and the coordinator 'för' for one 'because'. Pick one.
✅ Jag stannade hemma, för jag var sjuk.
I stayed home, for I was sick. ('för' = coordinator)
❌ För jag var sjuk, stannade jag hemma.
Incorrect — causal 'för' can't open a sentence. Use 'eftersom' to front the reason.
✅ Eftersom jag var sjuk stannade jag hemma.
Because I was sick, I stayed home.
Key Takeaways
- The coordinators — och, men, eller, för, så, samt, utan — join equals and never change word order; inte stays after the verb.
- för is a coordinator meaning "for/because"; it keeps main-clause order and cannot begin a sentence — unlike the subordinator eftersom.
- så = result ("so"); don't confuse it with the subordinator så att "so that."
- samt is the (formal) listing "and"; use och in speech.
- utan means "but rather" and only appears after a negative (inte X utan Y); for general contrast use men.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Conjunctions: OverviewA2 — Swedish conjunctions split into two families that behave very differently in the sentence. Coordinating conjunctions (och, men, eller, för, så, samt, utan) join equals and leave word order untouched — both halves keep main-clause V2. Subordinating conjunctions (att, om, när, eftersom, fast, medan...) open a subordinate clause that switches to BIFF order, with 'inte' moving in front of the verb. The conjunction's TYPE predicts the word order, so learning which list a word belongs to is learning the clause's syntax.
- Subordinating Conjunctions (att, om, när, eftersom)B1 — The words that open a subordinate clause and force it into BIFF order: att (that), om (if/whether), när (when), då (when/since), eftersom and därför att (because), fast/fastän (although), medan (while), innan (before), sedan (after/since), så att (so that). All of them push the sentence adverb — especially 'inte' — to BEFORE the finite verb. Two notorious pairs to get right: när vs då, and the subordinator därför att (because, BIFF) vs the adverb därför (therefore, main-clause inversion).
- Coordination (och, men, eller) and EllipsisA2 — The coordinators och, men, eller, för, så join EQUAL elements and sit OUTSIDE the clause — they do NOT count as a fronted element, so they never trigger inversion. Each conjunct keeps its own main-clause V2 order, and shared elements (especially the subject) can be dropped: Hon sjöng och dansade. Punctuation: a comma before men, but usually none before och.
- men vs utan (but)B1 — Swedish has two words for English 'but': men is the all-purpose contrast word (Det är dyrt men bra, 'It's expensive but good'), while utan means 'but rather / instead' and appears ONLY after a negation that it corrects (Det är inte rött utan blått, 'It's not red but blue'). The trigger for utan is precise and syntactic: a preceding inte / aldrig / ingen that the second part replaces with the true value.