Learn Hardcore Swedish: Mina föräldrar vill läsa en bok på stranden medan solen går ner. - My parents want to read a book on the beach while the sun goes down.

Swedish possessive pronouns agree with the number of the noun. Since föräldrar is plural, you use mina. If the noun were singular and an en-word, you'd use min (e.g. min bok). For ett-words you'd use mitt.

Why isn't there an att before läsa after vill?

Modal verbs like vill, kan, ska, måste etc. in Swedish are directly followed by the infinitive without att. You say vill läsa, not vill att läsa.

How does Swedish word order work in Mina föräldrar vill läsa en bok?

Swedish is an SVO language with the V2 rule: the finite verb (vill) must be the second element in a main clause. Here the subject Mina föräldrar comes first, the verb vill second, then the rest (läsa en bok).

Why is it på stranden and not i stranden?

Prepositions in Swedish follow usage patterns. på is used for surfaces or open areas, like beaches, so på stranden means "on the beach." i stranden would suggest "inside the beach," which isn't idiomatic.

What does medan mean and why is it used here?

medan translates to "while" and introduces a clause that describes another action happening at the same time. Here it shows that reading a book and the sun setting occur simultaneously.

Why is the present tense går ner used for something that will happen later?

Swedish doesn’t have a separate future tense; the present tense often describes near-future or planned events. In subordinate clauses with medan, the present is also standard to show simultaneous ongoing actions, regardless of time reference.

Why is solen used instead of sol?

Swedish marks definiteness with a suffix: sol is "sun" (indefinite), and solen is "the sun" (definite). Here we talk about the specific sun, so solen has the definite -en ending.

Can när be used instead of medan in this sentence?

You could say när solen går ner, but när often points to a single time or event ("when the sun sets"), while medan emphasizes that two actions overlap in duration ("while the sun is setting"). For continuous simultaneous actions, medan is preferred.

Why do we need en before bok?

In Swedish, singular countable nouns require an article or determiner. en bok means "a book." Without en, you'd leave the noun unspecified. The definite version would be boken ("the book").

What kind of verb is vill and how is it conjugated?

vill is a modal verb meaning "want." Swedish verbs do not change form for person or number in the present tense: jag vill, du vill, vi vill, de vill all use vill.