Learn Hardcore Swedish: Om hon var hemma, skulle hon självklart diska nu. - If she were at home, she would of course do the dishes now.

It introduces a conditional clause, meaning “if.” So Om hon var hemma = “If she were at home.” (Note: om can also mean “whether” in other contexts, e.g., Jag undrar om hon är hemma = “I wonder whether she is at home.”)

Why is it var (“was”) and not är (“is”) if we’re talking about now?

Swedish uses the past tense to mark a hypothetical/unreal condition about the present, similar to English “If she were…”. So Om hon var hemma means “If she were home (but she isn’t).” Using present är would make it a real/possible condition: Om hon är hemma, diskar hon nog nu (“If she is home, she’s probably doing the dishes now”), which sounds like a guess rather than a counterfactual.

Could I use vore instead of var?

Yes. Om hon vore hemma, skulle hon självklart diska nu. Vore (the old subjunctive) is a bit more formal/literary and explicitly counterfactual. Var is more neutral/colloquial. Both are fine here; vore just makes the “unreal” flavor stronger.

Why does skulle come before hon in the main clause?

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb is in second position. The initial om-clause counts as the first element, so the finite verb skulle must come next, before the subject: … skulle hon …. If the main clause stood alone with the subject first, you’d say Hon skulle självklart diska nu.

Where should självklart go, and can it be moved?

Självklart is a sentence adverb. In a main clause it typically goes after the subject and before the non-finite verb: … skulle hon självklart diska ….
You can front it for emphasis: Självklart skulle hon diska nu (om hon var hemma).
Avoid Hon skulle diska självklart—that sounds wrong in Swedish.

Why is it diska and not diskar?

Because skulle is a modal auxiliary that takes an infinitive. So it’s skulle diska (“would do the dishes”), not skulle diskar.

Is it okay to use nu (“now”) in a hypothetical sentence?

Yes. Nu just anchors the time reference to “right now.” The whole sentence means “If she were home (but she isn’t), she would obviously be doing the dishes now.”

Can I place nu somewhere else?

Yes, for focus you can move it:

Om hon var hemma nu, skulle hon självklart diska. (If she were home now…)
Nu skulle hon självklart diska, om hon var hemma.
Keeping nu at the end, as in the original, is the most neutral.

How would I say “If she had been home, she would have done the dishes (by now)”?

Use the past perfect in the om-clause and the conditional perfect in the main clause:

Om hon hade varit hemma, skulle hon ha diskat (vid det här laget/redan).
This implies completion “by now.” In contrast, skulle diska nu suggests she would be in the middle of doing it now.

Do I need the comma after the initial om-clause?

It’s optional. Modern Swedish often omits it: Om hon var hemma skulle hon självklart diska nu. Using a comma isn’t wrong; many writers include one for readability, especially with longer clauses.

How do I negate this?

Place inte after the subject (and after the finite verb):

Om hon var hemma, skulle hon inte diska nu.
If you mean “of course not,” you can say:
Om hon var hemma, skulle hon självklart inte diska nu.

Could I drop självklart or use a synonym?

Yes. Without it: Om hon var hemma, skulle hon diska nu.
Common near-synonyms:

naturligtvis (neutral): … skulle hon naturligtvis diska nu.
såklart (colloquial): … skulle hon såklart diska nu.
givetvis (formal): … skulle hon givetvis diska nu.

What exactly does diska mean?

It means “to do/wash the dishes.” It covers washing by hand and using a dishwasher. If you specifically mean running the machine, you can say köra diskmaskinen (“run the dishwasher”).

Is the subject pronoun hon required?

Yes. Swedish generally requires overt subject pronouns. You can’t drop it in this sentence; Skulle självklart diska nu is ungrammatical.

Any quick pronunciation tips for självklart and skulle?

självklart: initial sj- is the Swedish “sj-sound” (a throaty sh-like sound). The ä is like the vowel in English “bed.” The -rt at the end merges into a retroflex [t] in many accents.
skulle: sk- here is a plain “sk” (not the sj-sound), and the u is the Swedish [ʉ] vowel (front rounded; no direct English equivalent).