Learn Hardcore Swedish: Jag vill läsa boken en gång till. - I want to read the book one more time.

In Swedish, modal verbs like vill, kan, ska, måste etc. are followed by a bare infinitive (the verb in its dictionary form) without att. So you say vill läsa instead of vill att läsa.

What exactly does vill mean, and how is it used here?

Vill is the present tense of vilja, which means “to want.” In Jag vill läsa…, vill functions like the English modal “want to,” expressing desire. It is followed directly by the infinitive läsa.

Why is boken in the definite form instead of bok?

Swedish marks definiteness by adding a suffix to the noun.

bok = “a book” (indefinite)
boken = “the book” (definite)
Here you are talking about a specific book you’ve already mentioned or that your listener knows about, so you use boken.

What does en gång till mean, and is it the same as igen?

En gång till literally means “one time more,” i.e. “one more time.”

igen simply means “again.”
Use en gång till when you want to emphasize “one more time,” a single extra repetition.

Could I just say Jag vill läsa boken igen instead?

Yes. Jag vill läsa boken igen (“I want to read the book again”) is perfectly natural and a bit more concise. It means generally “once more,” whereas en gång till stresses “one more time.”

What about om igen—could I say läsa boken om igen?

Yes. Om igen also means “again” or “over again,” often implying doing something from the start.

läsa boken om igen = “read the book over again.”
It’s a bit more colloquial than igen but very common in speech.

Why is en gång till placed at the end of the sentence?

Swedish follows the V2 rule (verb-second word order). After the verb clause vill läsa boken, additional adverbial phrases (like time or manner) typically come after the object. Hence en gång till sits at the end.