Breakdown of På semestern vill jag ligga på en strand och läsa en bok.
jag
I
och
and
läsa
to read
en
a
boken
the book
vilja
to want
ligga
to lie
på
on
semestern
the vacation
stranden
the beach
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Swedish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about På semestern vill jag ligga på en strand och läsa en bok.
Why is ligga used here instead of lägga?
In Swedish ligga means “to lie” (be in a reclining position), whereas lägga means “to lay” (put something down). Since you’re talking about yourself lying on the beach, you must use ligga.
Why does vill come before jag in “På semestern vill jag ligga…”?
Swedish follows the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb must be in second position. Here På semestern is first, so vill is second, and the subject jag comes third.
Why is semestern in the definite form instead of saying en semester?
When you talk about “being on vacation” in general, Swedish often uses the definite form: på semestern = “during the vacation/holidays.” If you meant “on a (specific) vacation” as one of many possible trips, you could say på en semester, but that feels less natural for a general holiday period.
What does på mean in På semestern and ligga på en strand?
På is a versatile preposition that here covers:
- a temporal sense: på semestern = “during vacation”
- a spatial sense: ligga på en strand = “lie on a beach.”
Why do we use en before strand and bok, but not before semestern?
Both strand and bok are common-gender (en-words), so the indefinite article is en strand, en bok. Semestern is already in its definite form (semester + -n), so you don’t add en there.
Why is läsa in the infinitive form after vill?
After a modal verb like vill (“want”), Swedish always uses the bare infinitive. So you say vill läsa (“want to read”), never vill läser.
Could you say under semestern instead of på semestern?
Yes, under semestern (“during the vacation”) is perfectly correct and a bit more formal. På semestern is more colloquial and very common in spoken Swedish.
Why is it på en strand rather than på stranden?
På en strand means “on a (any) beach” – you don’t care which one. På stranden (“on the beach”) would imply you have a particular beach in mind or that it’s clear from context which beach you mean.