Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon kör mot centrum nu, men jag tar taxi istället. - She is driving toward the city center now, but I take a taxi instead.

mot = toward/in the direction of (no commitment to arrival).
till = to/as a destination (implies reaching the place). So Hon kör mot centrum = she’s heading that way; Hon kör till centrum = she’s going there.

Why is centrum used without an article? What gender is it?

After directional or locative prepositions, Swedish often uses bare nouns for places: mot centrum, i centrum.
centrum is neuter: ett centrum (definite: centrumet). In this fixed type of phrase, the indefinite bare form is normal.

Does Hon kör mean she is the driver?

Yes. köra means to drive/operate a vehicle. If she’s just traveling (not driving), you’d typically use åka: Hon åker mot centrum.

Why is the simple present used to mean “is driving/I’m taking”?

Swedish uses the simple present for ongoing actions, especially with time words like nu. Alternatives exist (e.g., Hon är på väg mot centrum, Hon håller på och kör), but plain present is the default.

Can I move nu around? What’s the word-order rule?

Yes. Common options:

Nu kör hon mot centrum. (Adverb first → verb in 2nd position: V2 rule.)
Hon kör nu mot centrum.
Hon kör mot centrum nu. All are fine; position shifts focus slightly.

Why is there a comma before men?

When men links two independent clauses, Swedish normally puts a comma before it: clause 1, men clause 2. Your sentence has two full clauses, so the comma is correct and expected.

Why no article in jag tar taxi?

Means of transport are often used without an article after verbs like ta and åka: ta taxi, åka buss, åka tåg. You can say tar en taxi if you mean one specific taxi, but the bare form is more generic/natural.

Can I say Jag åker taxi istället? What’s the nuance vs tar?

Yes. åker taxi emphasizes the mode of travel (being in a taxi). tar taxi emphasizes the decision/choice to take a taxi. Both are idiomatic; choose based on what you want to highlight.

Where can istället go in the sentence?

Several natural placements:

End position (neutral): … men jag tar taxi istället.
After the verb: … men jag tar istället taxi.
Fronted for contrast: … men istället tar jag taxi. All are correct; fronting adds emphasis to the contrast.

Is it istället or i stället?

Both are accepted. istället (one word) is very common in modern writing; i stället (two words) is slightly more formal/traditional. Meaning is the same.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts?

kör: [ɕøːr]. The initial k before ö is the “soft k” (like a very soft “sh”), and ö is a rounded front vowel (like French “eu”).
nu: [nʉː] (long, rounded “u,” not like English “new”).
centrum: stress on the first syllable: [ˈsɛn-trʉm].
taxi: [ˈtak-sɪ].
istället: [ɪˈstɛlːɛt], main stress on the second syllable.

Is centrum the same as stan or city?

centrum: the downtown/central area (neutral, standard).
stan: colloquial “the city/town” (from staden, definite); e.g., in mot stan.
city: in Stockholm, often the central business district; elsewhere it can just mimic English style. They aren’t perfect synonyms in every context.

Why is jag lowercase, unlike English I?

Swedish does not capitalize personal pronouns. jag is lowercase unless it starts a sentence.

What are the key verb forms for köra and ta?

köra (to drive): kör (present), körde (past), kört (supine/participle).
ta (to take): tar (present), tog (past), tagit (supine/participle).

Should it be utan instead of men?

Use utan (“but rather”) only after a negation in the first clause: Jag kör inte, utan tar taxi. Without a preceding negation, men is the correct contrastive conjunction here.

Does mot centrum imply only direction, or also destination?

Primarily direction. It says she’s heading that way; she might or might not end up there. If you want to state the destination explicitly, use till centrum.