Learn Hardcore Swedish: De vill äta olika mat till middag. - They want to eat different food for dinner.

Subject: De vill äta. = They want to eat.
Object: Jag såg dem. = I saw them.
After a preposition: med dem = with them. Many people write dom informally for both, but in formal writing stick to de/dem.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence naturally?

Say it roughly as: “dom vill EH-ta OO-lee-ka maht till MID-dah(g).” Tips:

de/dem sound like “dom.”
ä in äta is like the “a” in “air,” a bit fronter: äta ≈ “EH-ta.”
olika has stress on the first syllable: OO-li-ka.
middag has a short i; the final g is often weak or silent in Sweden: midda or a light middagg.
Double consonants (like -dd-) make the preceding vowel short.

Why is there no att before äta?

After modal/auxiliary-like verbs, Swedish drops att before the infinitive. Common ones: vill, ska, kan, måste, får, bör, lär.

Correct: De vill äta.
Not: De vill att äta. Use vill att when it introduces a new clause with its own subject:
De vill att vi äter olika mat.

What tense is vill, and how do I say “wanted” or “would like”?

Present: vill (want)
Past: ville (wanted)
Supine: velat (e.g., har velat = have wanted)
Infinitive: vilja For a softer “would like,” use skulle vilja:
De skulle vilja äta olika mat till middag.

Is the word order correct, and how do I form a question?

Yes. Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule (finite verb in second position).

Statement: De vill äta olika mat till middag.
Fronted adverbial: Till middag vill de äta olika mat.
Yes/no question: Vill de äta olika mat till middag?

Why use till in till middag instead of för or på?

till marks what is eaten “for” a meal:

till frukost, till lunch, till middag på middag means “to/at a dinner (as an event)”: Vi ska på middag hos Anna. för middag isn’t used for this meaning.

Is olika mat idiomatic?

It’s understandable and used, but many prefer to specify “kinds of” or “dishes”:

olika sorters mat / olika slags mat / olika typer av mat
olika rätter / olika maträtter If you mean a healthy variety, use varierad mat: De vill äta varierad mat.

Does olika change form?

When it means “various/different,” olika is invariable:

olika mat, olika rätter, de är olika The base adjective “different (from)” does inflect: olik (common), olikt (neuter), olika (plural/definite), e.g. olika färger, olikt språk. Also note the difference between olika (different/various) and andra (other).

Do I need an article with mat? Can mat be plural?

No article here. mat is a mass noun.

Indefinite mass: mat
Definite: maten (the food)
Quantifiers: lite mat, mycket mat, ingen mat, någon mat Swedes rarely pluralize mat; use countable words instead: rätt/rätter, maträtt/maträtter, saker.

What’s the difference between vill äta and vill ha?

vill äta = want to eat (an action)
vill ha = want to have/get (a thing) Examples:
De vill äta pasta till middag.
De vill ha pasta till middag. (They want pasta for dinner; not necessarily focusing on the act of eating.)

Where does the negation inte go?

Place inte after the finite verb and before the infinitive:

De vill inte äta olika mat till middag. With a fronted adverbial:
Till middag vill de inte äta olika mat.

Can I use the definite form middagen?

Yes, when referring to a specific dinner.

General: till middag = for dinner (in general/today)
Specific: till middagen = for the dinner (that particular dinner) Example: Vad ska vi ha till middagen på lördag?

Is middag always the evening meal?

In contemporary standard Swedish, yes: middag is the evening meal. Regionally/historically some use middag for the midday meal and kvällsmat for the evening one. Common modern set:

frukost = breakfast
lunch = lunch
middag = dinner/supper