Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon gör ingenting under mötet, men hon lyssnar. - She does nothing during the meeting, but she listens.

under means during a time span, so under mötet = during the meeting.
på often means at (location/event), so på mötet = at the meeting. It can overlap in meaning, but it emphasizes the event/place rather than the time span.
i mötet is unusual here; it’s used in set phrases like vara delaktig i mötet (be involved in the meeting). All of these can be correct depending on nuance; here under is the most direct for “during.”

Where is “the” in mötet?

Swedish marks definiteness with an ending. möte (meeting) is a neuter noun:

Indefinite: ett möte = a meeting
Definite singular: mötet = the meeting
Plural: möten (meetings), definite plural mötena (the meetings)

Can I change the word order to Under mötet gör hon ingenting?

Yes. Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb goes in second position.

Under mötet gör hon ingenting (time adverbial first, verb second) is correct.
Don’t say: Under mötet hon gör ingenting (verb is not second).
After men, you keep normal statement order: men hon lyssnar. If you say men lyssnar hon, it turns into a yes/no question: “but does she listen?”

Why use ingenting instead of inte någonting or inte något?

All are possible and mean roughly the same:

ingenting = nothing (single negative pronoun).
inte någonting / inte något = not anything (negation + indefinite). Register and rhythm differ slightly. ingenting is very common in speech and writing. You can add emphasis with ingenting alls.

Can I say just Hon gör inte to mean “She doesn’t (do anything)”?

Not by itself. göra is a lexical verb; you typically need to say what she doesn’t do:

Hon gör inte någonting.
Hon gör ingenting. Colloquially, Hon gör inget is fine. Note that in replies you may see the pro-verb pattern Det gör hon inte (“She doesn’t”), referring back to a previous action.

What’s the difference between ingenting, inget, and ingen/inga?

ingenting = nothing (pronoun).
inget can be:
- the neuter form of “no” before a noun: inget kaffe (no coffee),
- or a shorter pronoun for “nothing”: Det är inget (It’s nothing).
ingen (common gender), inget (neuter), inga (plural) are determiners/pronouns meaning “no/none” matching the noun:
- ingen bok, inget problem, inga böcker.

Why is there no på after lyssnar? Don’t you say “listen to”?

lyssna is intransitive when you don’t name what you’re listening to: Hon lyssnar = She is listening.
If you mention the object, use lyssna på: Hon lyssnar på läraren/musik/podden.
Don’t use hör here; höra = hear (perceive), while lyssna = listen (intentional).

Why is there a comma before men? Could I use utan instead?

Swedish usually puts a comma before coordinating men when it joins two main clauses: …, men hon lyssnar.
utan means “but rather” and is used after a negation to correct/replace something:
- Here you could say: Hon gör ingenting under mötet, utan lyssnar. This sounds more corrective/contrastive.
- With utan, you typically don’t repeat the subject right away: prefer …, utan lyssnar over …, utan hon lyssnar.

Can I drop the second hon and write …, men lyssnar?

Generally, keep the subject in the second clause: …, men hon lyssnar. Omitting hon after men is possible in very informal writing, but it’s less standard and can feel abrupt.

Does the second clause also refer to the meeting time, even though under mötet isn’t repeated?

Yes. The time frame is understood to carry over. If you want to emphasize it, you can repeat or front it:

Hon gör ingenting under mötet, men hon lyssnar under mötet.
Under mötet lyssnar hon.

Could I use medan instead of under?

medan is a conjunction (“while”) and must introduce a clause with a verb:

Hon gör ingenting medan mötet pågår, men hon lyssnar.
You cannot say medan mötet alone; you need something like medan mötet pågår or medan hon är på mötet.

Any pronunciation tips for gör, möte, and lyssnar?

ö is like French “eu” (as in “bleu”). gör starts with a y-like sound: roughly “yur.”
möte: the ö is the same; the final e is short, like “MEU-te.”
lyssnar: y is like German “ü” (rounded “i”); the stress is on the first syllable: “LYSS-nar.”

Is gör ingenting ever used idiomatically to mean “no problem”?

Yes. Det gör inget or just Gör inget means “It doesn’t matter” / “No problem.” In your sentence, the presence of under mötet makes it clearly literal: “She does nothing during the meeting.”