Learn Hardcore Swedish: Han spenderar inte pengar på kaffe under veckan. - He does not spend money on coffee during the week.

In main clauses, Swedish is a V2 language: the finite verb comes in second position. Adverbs like inte follow the finite verb and usually precede a full noun object. Hence: Han [S] spenderar [V] inte [ADV] pengar [OBJ] på kaffe [PP] under veckan [TIME].

Could I say Han spenderar inga pengar på kaffe… instead of inte pengar? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatical, but the nuance differs:

Han spenderar inte pengar på kaffe… negates the spending event as a whole (he doesn’t spend money on coffee).
Han spenderar inga pengar på kaffe… emphasizes zero amount (not a single krona on coffee). For stronger emphasis on “none at all,” prefer inga pengar.

Why is the preposition på used in på kaffe? Could I use för or till?

With spending on a target, Swedish uses på: spendera/lägga pengar på kaffe (spend money on coffee).
för expresses price paid: Han betalade 30 kronor för kaffe (he paid 30 SEK for coffee).
till expresses purpose/goal: spara pengar till en resa (save money for a trip). It’s not used with “spend on coffee.”

Is spendera pengar idiomatic Swedish, or should I avoid it?

It’s fine and widely used. Some very traditional style guides once preferred lägga pengar på for money and spendera tid for time, but modern usage accepts spendera pengar. Natural alternatives:

Neutral: Han lägger inte pengar på kaffe…
Slightly stronger/negative: Han slösar inte pengar på kaffe… (“doesn’t waste money”)

What exactly does under veckan mean here? Is it “during the week” (weekdays) or “this week”?

Context decides. Under veckan can mean:

“During the week (as opposed to weekends)” = on weekdays.
“During this/the current week.” If you specifically mean a general weekday habit, many speakers prefer:
på vardagarna (on weekdays)
i veckorna (during the weeks, i.e., as a habit) If you mean “this week,” you can also say den här veckan or colloquially i veckan (often “this week”).

Why is it veckan (definite) and not vecka?

Time expressions often use the definite form to refer to a known, bounded period (the week as a unit): under veckan = “during the week/the weekdays.”

i en vecka would mean “for one week” (duration).
under veckorna would mean “during the weeks” (habitual over multiple weeks).

Can I front the time phrase? How does word order change?

Yes. If you front a time adverbial, the verb must stay in second position (V2), and the subject moves after the verb:

Under veckan spenderar han inte pengar på kaffe. Same meaning, different emphasis.

Can I drop pengar and say Han spenderar inte på kaffe?

No. Spendera needs an explicit object in Swedish. Say spendera pengar på X, or use a different verb like lägga (ut) pengar på X. You can’t use spendera intransitively with just a prepositional phrase.

How do I say “per week,” as in an amount each week?

Use i veckan:

Han spenderar 100 kronor i veckan på kaffe. Don’t use under veckan for “per week”; under means “during,” not “per.”

What’s the difference between inte and aldrig here?

inte = not (negates the action in this context).
aldrig = never (stronger, excludes all occasions). Example: Han spenderar aldrig pengar på kaffe under veckan = he never does it on weekdays.

Any tips on the pronunciation of the tricky words?

pengar: ng is a single sound [ŋ] (no separate g); stress on the first syllable: PEN-gar.
veckan: ck signals a short vowel and a long consonant: VEK-kan (short e, long k).
kaffe: short a + long f: KAF-fe.
spenderar: stress on the second syllable: spen-DE-rar; clear final r in standard Swedish.

How does the present tense work here? Could it mean “is not spending” right now?

Yes. Swedish present (spenderar) covers both English simple and progressive:

Habitual: “He doesn’t spend money on coffee during the week.”
Ongoing: “He is not spending money on coffee (during the week).” Context clarifies which reading is intended.

Is the object position with inte always before the noun? What if the object is a pronoun?

With full noun objects, inte usually precedes the object: läser inte boken, spenderar inte pengar. With object pronouns, the pronoun tends to come before inte: Jag såg den inte (I didn’t see it). So the position can switch with pronouns.

Anything special about the noun pengar grammatically?

Yes:

pengar is plural-only (no regular singular). Don’t say en pengar.
Common quantifiers: mycket pengar (a lot of money), lite pengar (a little money), inga pengar (no money), några pengar (any/some money, usually in negatives/questions).
Colloquially, en peng exists but is rare/old-fashioned; better to use en krona, en slant, or slang like spänn.

Why is it bare kaffe and not kaffet or en kaffe?

Here kaffe is a mass noun meaning coffee in general, so it’s bare. Use:

kaffet = the coffee (specific batch/cup).
en kaffe (colloquial) or en kopp kaffe = a coffee/a cup of coffee. With lägga/spendera pengar på, the general category takes the bare form: på kaffe.