Våra gäster kommer snart.

Our guests are coming soon.

Breakdown of Våra gäster kommer snart.

• komma: to come
• gästen: the guest
• snart: soon
• våra: our

Questions & Answers about Våra gäster kommer snart.

Why is it våra and not vår or vårt?

Swedish possessive determiners agree with the noun they modify:

• vår
  • singular common-gender (en-word): vår gäst (our guest)
• vårt
  • singular neuter (ett-word): vårt hus (our house)
• våra
  • any plural noun: våra gäster, våra hus

Because gäster is plural, you must use våra.

Why is it gäster and not gästerna? Can I say våra gästerna?

With possessives (min/din/hans/hennes/vår/er/deras), Swedish uses the indefinite form of the noun. So it’s våra gäster, not våra gästerna.

• Correct: Våra gäster kommer snart.
• Incorrect: Våra gästerna kommer snart.
  If you want “the guests” without a possessive: Gästerna kommer snart.

How is gäst inflected?

• Singular indefinite: en gäst
• Singular definite: gästen
• Plural indefinite: gäster
• Plural definite: gästerna
  Note the plural adds -er and the noun has a vowel alternation (gäst → gäster).

Where does snart go, and is the word order here normal?

Yes. In a main clause with a subject first, the finite verb is in second position and time adverbs like snart typically follow the verb:

• Våra gäster kommer snart.
  If you front the time adverb, Swedish is verb-second (V2), so you invert:
• Snart kommer våra gäster.
  Don’t say: “Våra gäster snart kommer.”

Can I use ska or kommer att to talk about the future instead?

Yes, but nuances differ:

• Våra gäster kommer snart. Natural and most common for arrivals.
• Våra gäster ska snart komma. More about plan/arrangement or intention.
• Våra gäster kommer att komma snart. Grammatical but clunky here; use it mainly for neutral predictions with other verbs.
  You can also use a more formal arrival verb: Våra gäster anländer snart. (formal). For schedules (trains, flights): ankommer is common.

Do Swedish verbs change for person or number?

No. Verbs don’t agree with the subject. Present tense of komma is kommer for all persons and numbers:

• Jag/Han/Vi/De kommer.

Do I need hit to make it clear they are coming here?

Not strictly. komma usually implies movement toward the speaker or understood place. To be explicit:

• Våra gäster kommer snart hit. (coming here)
• Våra gäster kommer snart hem. (coming home)
• Våra gäster kommer snart till hotellet. (coming to the hotel)
  Placing: both kommer snart hit and kommer hit snart occur; kommer snart hit is very natural.

How do I negate this?

• Not soon: Våra gäster kommer inte snart. (They won’t arrive soon.)
• Not coming (at all): Våra gäster kommer inte.
  In main clauses, place inte after the finite verb. If you front an adverbial, keep V2: Snart kommer våra gäster inte sounds odd; prefer the versions above.

How do you pronounce it?

Approximate Standard Swedish:

• Våra: [ˈvoːra] (å = long “o” sound)
• gäster: [ˈjɛstɛr] (g before ä is the “y”/j-sound)
• kommer: [ˈkɔmːɛr] (short o like British “lot”; double m = long m)
• snart: [snɑːʈ] (rt becomes a retroflex t)
  A rough English-friendly guide: “VOH-ra YEST-er KOM-mer snaart.”

What if I add an adjective, like “our nice guests”?

Keep the noun in the (morphological) indefinite after a possessive:

• Våra trevliga gäster kommer snart.
  Without a possessive but with definiteness, Swedish uses “double definiteness”:
• De trevliga gästerna kommer snart.

Are colloquial forms like våran or vårat okay?

They’re common in informal speech in many regions, but standard written Swedish prefers vår/vårt/våra. In writing (and in careful speech), use the standard forms.

What are alternatives to snart, and do they differ?

• strax: very soon/shortly (often minutes) — Våra gäster kommer strax.
• om en stund: in a little while.
• snarast: as soon as possible/at the earliest opportunity (more formal or urgent).
• snart nog: soon enough (stylistic).

What are the key forms of komma, and how do I say this in past or perfect?

• Infinitive: komma
• Present: kommer
• Preterite: kom
• Supine: kommit
  Examples:
• Past: Våra gäster kom nyss. (Our guests arrived just now.)
• Perfect: Våra gäster har kommit. (Our guests have arrived.)