Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon skrattar bara en minut och blir sedan tyst. - She laughs for only a minute and then becomes quiet.

Swedish doesn’t have a separate progressive form. The simple present skrattar can mean both “laughs” and “is laughing.” So Hon skrattar bara en minut och blir sedan tyst can describe a current event. For past you’d use Hon skrattade bara en minut och blev sedan tyst; for a habitual reading you can add an adverb like ofta or varje gång.

Do I need a preposition before “en minut,” like “i en minut”?

No. Both are fine:

Hon skrattar en minut = She laughs for a minute.
Hon skrattar i en minut = She laughs for a minute (slightly more explicit about duration). Avoid mixing up other prepositions:
på en minut means “in one minute (it takes one minute to achieve a result),” e.g., Hon somnar på en minut.
om en minut means “in a minute (from now),” e.g., Hon blir tyst om en minut.

Is the word order after och correct? How do V2 and “sedan” placement work?

Yes, it’s correct. After the coordinating conjunction och, a new main clause starts, and Swedish often omits the repeated subject. You can place the temporal adverb sedan in several natural positions:

… och blir sedan tyst. (adverb after the verb)
… och sedan blir hon tyst. (adverb first; verb still in second position)
… och blir tyst sedan. (adverb at the end; a bit less common) If you repeat the subject, it’s also fine: … och hon blir sedan tyst.

Can I use sen instead of sedan?

Yes. Sen is the common colloquial form of sedan in speech and informal writing: Hon skrattar bara en minut och blir sen tyst. Sedan is a bit more formal or neutral. Note that sedan can also mean “since” in other contexts (e.g., sedan 2019).

What exactly does bara modify here, and can I move it?

Here bara modifies the duration (en minut) and means “only.” Typical placements:

Hon skrattar bara en minut… (neutral)
Hon skrattar bara i en minut… (emphasizes duration)
Hon skrattar i bara en minut… (puts focus on “only”) If you move bara in front of the verb, Hon bara skrattar en minut, it can be read as “She only laughs (does nothing else) for one minute,” which changes the focus.

Could I use endast instead of bara?

Yes, but endast is formal/official style (signs, instructions, formal writing). In everyday speech and most writing, bara is the natural choice: Hon skrattar endast en minut sounds stiff.

Why use blir tyst and not tystnar or är tyst?

blir tyst = “becomes quiet,” focusing on the change of state.
tystnar = “falls silent,” a single verb for the same change; perfectly idiomatic: Hon skrattar bara en minut och tystnar sedan.
är tyst = “is quiet,” describing a state (no change implied): Efteråt är hon tyst.

Should there be a comma before och?

No. Swedish normally avoids a comma before och when joining clauses. Hon skrattar bara en minut och blir sedan tyst is standard. A comma may appear in special cases (very long or nested clauses), but not here.

Does tyst change form to agree with the subject?

Predicative adjectives agree in number (and neuter), but not in definiteness. For tyst:

Singular common: Hon blir tyst.
Singular neuter/impersonal: Det blir tyst.
Plural: De blir tysta.

Do I need a preposition with skrattar if I mean “laugh at” someone?

Yes. Use åt to mean “laugh at”:

Hon skrattar åt skämtet. (She laughs at the joke.)
De skrattade åt mig. (They laughed at me.) Without åt, skrattar just means “laughs” in general.

Can I use då instead of sedan? What about därefter or senare?

då = “then/at that time,” often linking to the situation just mentioned: … och då blir hon tyst. Natural in many contexts, slightly more “consequential.”
sedan/sen = “afterwards/then” in a temporal sequence; neutral and very common.
därefter = “thereafter,” more formal.
senare = “later,” usually a longer interval than immediate “then.”

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

skrattar: The cluster skr- is pronounced with a normal [sk] plus a tapped/flapped [r] (not the Swedish “sj” sound). The tt is a geminate (double) consonant; keep the preceding a short.
sedan: Often realized as sen in speech.
tyst: The vowel y is a front rounded [ʏ] (lip-rounding like “oo,” tongue position like “i”). Keep st crisp.