Vi letade överallt efter kortleken.

Letade is the past tense of the verb leta, which means to look/search.

• leta = to look for, to search
• letar = is looking / looks for
• letade = looked for / was looking for
• har letat = has/have looked for

So Vi letade means We looked or We were looking.

Swedish often uses the simple past where English might use either:

• We looked everywhere for the deck of cards
• We were looking everywhere for the deck of cards

Both can match Vi letade överallt efter kortleken depending on context.

Yes, efter often means after, but with the verb leta, it forms the expression leta efter, which means look for.

So:

• leta efter något = to look for something

Examples:

• Jag letar efter mina nycklar. = I’m looking for my keys.
• Hon letade efter boken. = She looked for the book.

This is very important: in Swedish, you usually search/look with leta + efter when you mention the thing you are trying to find.

So in your sentence:

• efter kortleken = for the deck of cards

Usually, yes, if you say what you are looking for.

• Vi letade efter kortleken. = We looked for the deck of cards.
• Hon letar efter sin telefon. = She is looking for her phone.

But if the thing is not mentioned, efter may be left out:

• Vi letade överallt. = We looked everywhere.

So:

• leta efter + thing
• leta by itself if the object is not stated

Because kortleken is the definite form: the deck of cards.

• en kortlek = a deck of cards
• kortleken = the deck of cards

In Swedish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

So:

• kortlek = deck of cards
• kortleken = the deck of cards

The sentence is talking about a specific deck, so kortleken is natural.

It is an en word:

• en kortlek
• kortleken

That is why the definite ending is -en.

Compare:

• en bil → bilen
• en bok → boken
• en kortlek → kortleken

If it were an ett word, the definite form would usually end differently, but kortlek is definitely en kortlek.

Överallt means everywhere, and this word order is very natural in Swedish.

Sentence structure here:

• Vi = subject
• letade = verb
• överallt = adverb
• efter kortleken = prepositional phrase

So:

• Vi letade överallt efter kortleken.

This is a normal way to say:

• We looked everywhere for the deck of cards.

You may also hear:

• Vi letade efter kortleken överallt.

That is also understandable, but Vi letade överallt efter kortleken often sounds especially natural when överallt is an important part of the message.

Överallt means everywhere.

Examples:

• Jag har letat överallt. = I have looked everywhere.
• Det var folk överallt. = There were people everywhere.

It is an adverb, so it describes where the action happened.

In this sentence, it tells us that the searching happened in many places:

• Vi letade överallt = We looked everywhere

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Vi letade överallt efter kortleken
≈ vee LEH-ta-deh UH-ver-alt EF-ter KORT-le-ken

A few notes:

• Vi sounds like vee
• leta has a long e sound: LEH-ta
• ö does not exist in standard English; it is somewhat like the vowel in British bird, but rounded
• kort has a clear k sound and a short vowel
• leken here is pronounced with stress earlier in the word: KORT-le-ken

If you want a more Swedish-like rhythm, the main stress is often on:

• LE- in letade
• -allt in överallt
• KORT- in kortleken

Yes, sometimes, but the meaning may shift slightly.

For example:

• Vi sökte efter kortleken. = We searched for the deck of cards.

söka efter can sound a little more formal or more deliberate than leta efter in some contexts, though both can mean look for/search for.

In everyday speech, leta efter is extremely common and very natural here.

So for this sentence, Vi letade överallt efter kortleken is a very idiomatic choice.

Yes. Swedish past tense often does not force the same distinction that English does between:

• We looked everywhere for the deck of cards
• We were looking everywhere for the deck of cards

The Swedish sentence can match either one, depending on context.

If the story is about a completed event, English may prefer:

• We looked everywhere for the deck of cards.

If the focus is on an ongoing action in the past, English may prefer:

• We were looking everywhere for the deck of cards.

Swedish simply uses letade in both kinds of situations.