Presidenten talar idag.

Because presidenten is the definite form, meaning the president.

In Swedish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix:

• en president = a president
• presidenten = the president

So in this sentence, presidenten is the subject and means a specific president.

The ending -en is the definite article for many common-gender nouns.

Here it works like English the:

• president = president
• presidenten = the president

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Swedish: instead of putting a separate word before the noun, Swedish often attaches definiteness to the noun itself.

Because Swedish usually does not need a separate the when the noun already has the definite ending.

So:

• English: the president
• Swedish: presidenten

A separate definite word can appear in some other structures, especially with adjectives:

• den nya presidenten = the new president

But in your sentence, presidenten by itself is enough.

Talar is the present tense of the verb tala, which means to speak.

So:

• tala = to speak
• talar = speaks / is speaking

In this sentence, Presidenten talar idag means The president speaks today or The president is speaking today, depending on context.

No, not in modern Swedish.

The verb form stays the same no matter who the subject is:

• jag talar = I speak
• du talar = you speak
• presidenten talar = the president speaks
• de talar = they speak

This is much simpler than English, because Swedish does not have separate present-tense forms like speak and speaks.

It can mean either one.

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

• speaks
• is speaking

So Presidenten talar idag could mean:

• The president speaks today
• The president is speaking today

The exact English translation depends on the situation.

Idag means today.

It appears at the end here because that is a very natural place for a time expression in Swedish:

• Presidenten talar idag = The president speaks today

But Swedish word order is flexible, so you can also move it:

• Idag talar presidenten

That version also means Today, the president speaks, but it follows an important Swedish word-order rule: the verb still comes second.

In this sentence, yes, it looks very similar:

• Presidenten = subject
• talar = verb
• idag = time expression

So the basic structure is:

Subject + Verb + Time

But Swedish has a strong verb-second pattern. That means if something else comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• Presidenten talar idag
• Idag talar presidenten

You do not say Idag presidenten talar in standard Swedish.

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

In Swedish, nouns are not capitalized just because they are nouns. So in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be:

• presidenten

This is different from German, where all nouns are capitalized.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• Presidenten ≈ pre-si-DEN-ten
• talar ≈ TAH-lar
• idag ≈ ee-DAHG

A few helpful notes:

• The stress in presidenten is on den
• The r in Swedish is not usually pronounced like a strong English r
• idag has the stress on the second syllable

Pronunciation varies somewhat by region, but that is a useful starting point.

It is a common and correct verb, but Swedish also often uses prata in everyday speech.

Very roughly:

• tala can sound a bit more formal or neutral
• prata often sounds more conversational

Examples:

• Presidenten talar idag = natural, especially in formal or public contexts
• Han pratar med journalister = He is talking with journalists

So talar fits very well with presidenten.

Yes. Both idag and i dag are accepted.

In modern Swedish, idag as one word is very common. You may still see i dag in some texts or styles.

So:

• Presidenten talar idag
• Presidenten talar i dag

Both are correct.

Then you would use the indefinite form:

• En president talar idag

Compare:

• En president talar idag = A president speaks today
• Presidenten talar idag = The president speaks today

So the difference is:

• en president = indefinite
• presidenten = definite