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Breakdown of Jag tycker om att läsa på kvällen.
jag
I
läsa
to read
att
to
kvällen
the evening
på
in
tycka om
to like
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Questions & Answers about Jag tycker om att läsa på kvällen.
What does tycker om mean, and how is it different from just tycker?
Tycker om is a phrasal verb meaning “to like.” Tycker alone means “to think” (to have an opinion).
- Jag tycker om kaffe. = I like coffee.
- Jag tycker att kaffe är gott. = I think that coffee is tasty.
Can I say Jag gillar att läsa på kvällen instead? Is there a nuance difference?
Yes. Gillar also means “like.” In everyday speech, gillar and tycker om are largely interchangeable. Some feel gillar is a bit more informal/direct, while tycker om can sound slightly softer or more neutral. Both are fine here.
Why do we have att before läsa?
Att is the infinitive marker “to.” After verbs that take an activity as their complement (like tycker om), you use att + infinitive: tycker om att läsa (“like to read”).
Is att ever dropped, like English “I like read”?
No. After tycker om, you keep att: Jag tycker om att läsa. However, att is often omitted after modal verbs: Jag vill läsa i kväll, Jag kan läsa (not …att läsa after those modals).
How do you pronounce att here?
In careful speech you can pronounce att with a short a and a clear t. In everyday speech, the infinitive att is often reduced to a single vowel that sounds like å (roughly the vowel in English “law”), and the t is not clearly released: att läsa commonly sounds like å läsa. This is different from att meaning “that,” which is usually pronounced more distinctly.
What does på kvällen literally mean, and why the definite form kvällen?
Literally “on the evening,” but idiomatically “in the evening.” Swedish often uses the definite singular with times of day after på to express a general, habitual time:
- på morgonen = in the morning
- på eftermiddagen = in the afternoon
- på kvällen = in the evening
- på natten = at night
What’s the difference between på kvällen and på kvällarna?
- på kvällen: general routine time (“in the evening” as a general time of day).
- på kvällarna: explicitly habitual, “in the evenings” (plural), emphasizing repetition. Both are natural; på kvällarna leans more toward “on evenings in general.”
How do I say “tonight” vs. “in the evening (generally)”?
- i kväll = tonight (this evening)
- på kvällen = in the evening (in general) You do not say i kvällen. Examples: Jag ska läsa i kväll (I’m going to read tonight). Jag tycker om att läsa på kvällen (I like to read in the evening, as a habit).
Does om belong to tycker om or to läsa (as in läsa om)?
Here om belongs to tycker om (“like”). Läsa om means “to re-read” or “to read about.”
- Jag tycker om att läsa om kvällen would mean “I like to read about the evening” or “I like to re-read in the evening,” which changes the meaning. Keep om conceptually attached to tycker.
Can I put the time first, like På kvällen tycker jag om att läsa?
Yes. Swedish freely fronts time expressions:
- På kvällen tycker jag om att läsa.
- Jag tycker om att läsa på kvällen. Both are correct; the first puts extra emphasis on the time.
How do I negate this sentence?
Place inte after the finite verb tycker:
- Jag tycker inte om att läsa på kvällen. = I don’t like to read in the evening. With the time fronted: På kvällen tycker jag inte om att läsa.
What verb forms are tycker and läsa? Why not läser?
- tycker is present tense (“think/like” now/in general).
- läsa is the infinitive because it follows att. You’d use läser if it were the main finite verb: Jag läser på kvällen = I read in the evening.
How do I conjugate tycka om?
- Infinitive: tycka om
- Present: tycker om
- Preterite (past): tyckte om
- Supine (with har): har tyckt om Examples: Jag tyckte om att läsa på kvällen (I liked to read in the evening). Jag har tyckt om att läsa på kvällen (I have liked reading in the evening).
Is there a difference between tycker om att [verb] and tycker att [clause]?
Yes.
- tycker om att [verb] = “like to [verb]”: Jag tycker om att läsa.
- tycker att [clause] = “think that [clause]”: Jag tycker att det är skönt att läsa på kvällen. Here the first att means “that,” the second att means “to.”
How can I say similar things for other times of day?
- på morgonen = in the morning
- på förmiddagen = in the late morning
- på eftermiddagen = in the afternoon
- på kvällen = in the evening
- på natten = at night Habitual plurals: på morgnarna, på eftermiddagarna, på kvällarna, på nätterna.