Learn Hardcore Swedish: Jag hämtar barnen och kommer tillbaka om tio minuter. - I will pick up the children and come back in ten minutes.

Swedish often uses the present tense for near-future plans, especially when a time expression like om tio minuter makes the future meaning clear. It’s similar to English “I’m picking up the kids and coming back in ten minutes.” You can also express the future with ska (intention/plan) or kommer att (prediction), but the plain present is very natural here.

What’s the difference between om tio minuter, i tio minuter, inom tio minuter, and på tio minuter?

om tio minuter = in ten minutes (ten minutes from now).
i tio minuter = for ten minutes (duration).
inom tio minuter = within ten minutes (no later than ten minutes from now).
på tio minuter = in ten minutes flat (time needed to complete something), e.g. Jag gör det på tio minuter.

Why is it barnen and not barn or barnet?

Swedish marks definiteness with a suffix:

ett barn = a child
barn = children (indefinite plural)
barnet = the child (definite singular)
barnen = the children (definite plural) In this sentence, barnen means “the kids/children,” typically ones already known from context.

Does barnen automatically mean “my kids”?

Not automatically. barnen means “the children,” but in everyday speech it often implies your own kids if that makes contextual sense. If you want to be explicit, say mina barn (“my children”). Colloquial alternatives include ungarna (“the kids” in a casual tone).

Do I need to repeat Jag before kommer tillbaka?

No. Swedish commonly omits a repeated subject in coordinated clauses: Jag hämtar barnen och kommer tillbaka… Repeating it (…och jag kommer tillbaka…) is grammatically fine but more formal or emphatic. Also, Swedish normally has no comma before och in this kind of coordination.

Could I use ska or kommer att instead of the present?

Yes:

Intention/plan: Jag ska hämta barnen och komma tillbaka om tio minuter. (You usually use ska once and keep both verbs in the infinitive.)
Neutral prediction: Jag kommer att hämta barnen och vara tillbaka om tio minuter. All three options (present, ska, kommer att) are correct; the plain present is very common for near-future arrangements.

What’s the difference between komma tillbaka and vara tillbaka?

komma tillbaka = to come back/return (the act of returning).
vara tillbaka = to be back (the state of having returned). If you promise the time at which you’ll be back, Jag är tillbaka om tio minuter is often the most natural phrasing.

Where does the negation inte go with these verbs?

Jag hämtar inte barnen. (I’m not picking up the kids.)
Jag kommer inte tillbaka om tio minuter. (I’m not coming back in ten minutes.) If you mean “not until,” use förrän: Jag kommer inte tillbaka förrän om tio minuter.

Can I say plocka upp instead of hämta?

Use hämta for “pick up/collect” people or things in a neutral, standard way: hämta barnen is the idiomatic choice. Plocka upp can mean physically pick something up from the ground and is used by many speakers for picking someone up by car, but some consider that calque-y or more informal. Hämta upp exists but is less common here; if you mean “give a ride,” skjutsa (“to give a lift/drive someone”) may be clearer.

Can I move the time expression to the front? What happens to word order?

Yes. Swedish main clauses obey the V2 rule (the finite verb is in second position). Examples:

Jag kommer tillbaka om tio minuter.
Om tio minuter kommer jag tillbaka.
Om tio minuter hämtar jag barnen och kommer tillbaka.

Any quick pronunciation tips for these words?

j in Jag is like English “y.”
ä in hämtar is like the vowel in English “bet,” short because it’s followed by two consonants.
Double consonants (like mm in kommer) indicate a short preceding vowel.
In barnen, the sequence rn is typically pronounced as a retroflex nasal [ɳ], so it sounds a bit like “BAAR-nen.”

Is tillbaka a particle, and can it move? Is tillbaks okay?

komma tillbaka is a verb + particle combination, but it’s intransitive, so you don’t insert objects between them. Keep kommer tillbaka together. In informal speech and writing, tillbaks is common; in formal writing prefer tillbaka.