Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Swedish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Får jag fråga henne nu?
What does the verb får mean here?
Here får (present of få) means “may/is allowed to,” expressing permission. Note that:
- få can also mean “to get/receive” (e.g., Jag får ett brev).
- får is also the noun “sheep,” identical in spelling and sound; context disambiguates here.
Why does the sentence start with Får? What’s the word order rule?
Yes/no questions in Swedish put the finite verb first (verb–subject inversion). So the verb får comes before jag: Får jag …? Swedish doesn’t use a “do”-support like English; word order does the job.
Why is there no att before fråga?
After modal/auxiliary verbs (e.g., få, kunna, vilja, ska, måste), Swedish omits att. Hence Får jag fråga …, not “Får jag att fråga …”
Can I use kan instead of får? What’s the difference between Kan jag …? and Får jag …?
- Får jag …? asks for permission (“Am I allowed to …?”).
- Kan jag …? asks about possibility/ability (“Is it possible/Can I …?”). In everyday speech, kan often softens a request, but if you truly mean permission, får is most precise.
How can I make this more polite?
More cautious/polite options:
- Skulle jag kunna fråga henne nu?
- Kan jag få fråga henne nu?
- Skulle det vara okej om jag frågar henne nu?
- Formal/old-fashioned: Får jag lov att ställa en fråga?
Is henne the right pronoun? What’s the difference between hon, henne, and hennes?
- hon = she (subject)
- henne = her (object)
- hennes = her/hers (possessive) In this sentence you need the object form, so henne is correct.
What if I want a gender‑neutral pronoun?
Use hen. It functions as both subject and object in modern usage:
- Får jag fråga hen nu? (Some people still use the object form henom, but hen is now the common standard.)
Do I need om after fråga? When do I use it?
Use om in two cases:
- “Ask someone about something”: Fråga henne om väskan (ask her about the bag).
- “Ask if/whether …” (embedded yes/no question): Fråga henne om hon kommer (ask her if she’s coming). No om is needed when you directly ask a person without specifying a topic: Fråga henne.
Is fråga henne en fråga acceptable?
It’s unidiomatic/redundant. Say either:
- Fråga henne (ask her), or
- Ställ en fråga till henne (ask her a question), or
- Fråga henne om … (ask her about …).
Where should nu go? Can I move it earlier?
Default/most natural placement is at the end: Får jag fråga henne nu?
You can front or insert nu for emphasis or stylistic reasons:
- Nu får jag fråga henne? (focus on “now, at this point?”)
- Får jag nu fråga henne? (more formal/emphatic) But the end position is the safest choice.
How do I negate it?
Place inte after the subject in a yes/no question:
- Får jag inte fråga henne nu? (A neutral negation, also often with a slight expectation.) For extra emphasis on “I,” you can say Får inte jag fråga henne nu? (marked focus on “I”.)
How do I talk about past or future?
- Past (preterite of få): Fick jag fråga henne då?
- Future: Swedish often uses present for near future or adds ska/kommer att:
- Ska jag få fråga henne senare?
- Kommer jag att få fråga henne senare?
How is this different from an imperative like Fråga henne nu!?
- Får jag fråga henne nu? = you asking someone for permission.
- Fråga henne nu! = a command or strong suggestion directed at someone else. Different speech act.
Pronunciation tips?
- får: long vowel [foːr]; the letter å sounds like the vowel in English “taught” (but longer and more rounded).
- fråga: [ˈfroːɡa]; stress on the first syllable; g is a hard [g].
- henne: [ˈhɛnːɛ]; double consonant shortens the preceding vowel.
- nu: [nʉː]; the u is a fronted, rounded vowel, not like English “oo.”
Is jag capitalized like English “I”?
No. jag is lowercase in Swedish (unless it starts the sentence).
Does får always mean “permission,” or can it mean “get to”?
In contexts like this, får can imply both “may” (permission) and “get to” (being granted the opportunity). The nuance depends on context and tone, but both are natural readings.
Is it natural to add “please” in Swedish here?
Swedish doesn’t use a direct “please” as often. You’d typically soften the whole clause:
- Skulle jag kunna fråga henne nu?
- Är det okej om jag frågar henne nu? Adding tack at the end can also sound polite in requests: Får jag fråga henne nu, tack? (context-dependent).
Can I drop the subject and say Får fråga henne nu?
No. Swedish generally requires an explicit subject. Use Får jag fråga henne nu? not Får fråga … (unless very informal notes or instructions, which is not standard speech).