Learn Hardcore Swedish: Jag saknar henne när hon reser.

Emotional: Jag saknar henne. (I miss her.)
Practical/failed to catch: Jag missade bussen. (I missed the bus.)
Failed to meet up: Jag missade henne på stan. (I didn’t manage to catch/meet her in town.)

Why is it henne and not hon?

Henne is the object form (objective case) of hon. You use henne when it’s the object of the verb, and hon when it’s the subject.

Subject: Hon reser. (She travels.)
Object: Jag saknar henne. (I miss her.)

Quick subject/object pairs:

jag/mig, du/dig, han/honom, hon/henne, vi/oss, ni/er, de/dem (spoken as “dom”)

Can I put the time clause first, like “When she travels, I miss her”?

Yes: När hon reser saknar jag henne.

Note the V2 rule: the finite verb in the main clause (saknar) must come second, so when you front the time clause, the subject (jag) moves after the verb.
Keep normal order inside the subordinate clause: när + hon + reser (not när reser hon).

Do I need a comma before the när-clause?

At the end: No comma is used: Jag saknar henne när hon reser.
At the beginning: A comma is optional in modern Swedish. Both are seen:
- När hon reser saknar jag henne.
- När hon reser, saknar jag henne. Style guides vary; many omit the comma unless the initial clause is long or complex.

What does the present tense convey here—“whenever,” “while,” or strictly present?

Swedish present often covers both ongoing and habitual meaning. Jag saknar henne när hon reser typically means “I miss her whenever/when she travels.” For a specific future trip:

Jag kommer (att) sakna henne när hon reser nästa vecka. (I will miss her when she travels next week.) For the state of being away:
Jag saknar henne när hon är ute och reser. (I miss her when she is out traveling.)

Should it be när, medan, om, or då?

när = when (point or period in time): Jag saknar henne när hon reser.
medan = while (emphasizes simultaneity): Jag saknar henne medan hon reser is possible and stresses the overlap in time.
om = if (conditional): Jag saknar henne om hon reser means “I miss her if she travels.”
då = then (adverb), not a conjunction here. Don’t use då to introduce the clause in modern standard Swedish.

What’s the difference between reser and åker? Are there useful collocations?

resa (reser) = to travel (often longer or more general): Hon reser mycket i jobbet.
åka (åker) = to go/ride (by some means of transport), often to a specific place: Hon åker till Uppsala. Useful variants:
resa bort / åka bort = travel/go away (be away from home)
vara ute och resa = be out traveling (on a trip)

How do I negate it?

Put inte after the finite verb:

Neutral: Jag saknar inte henne när hon reser.
With contrastive focus (as in “It’s not her that I miss”): Jag saknar henne inte när hon reser. The first is the unmarked, most typical choice.

Can I emphasize the object?

Yes, by fronting or using a cleft:

Fronting: Henne saknar jag när hon reser.
Cleft sentence: Det är henne jag saknar när hon reser. Both add emphasis to henne (“her”).

How do you pronounce the sentence?

Approximate guide (Swedish varies by region):

Jag: “yahg” or just “yah” (the final g is often weak or silent)
saknar: “SAH-k-nar” (first a long: like “saa”)
henne: “HEN-neh” (short e’s)
när: “nair” (like English “air” with n and r)
hon: “hoon”
reser: “RAY-ser” (long e: “ray”) Natural speech links words smoothly: “Jag saknar henne när hon reser.”

How do I make it gender-neutral?

Use hen (subject and object):

Jag saknar hen när hen reser. Note: Some people use henom as an object form, but hen for both subject and object is the most common and widely accepted standard.

How would I say it in the past?

Simple past: Jag saknade henne när hon reste. (I missed her when she traveled.)
If you mean after she had left: Jag saknade henne när hon hade rest. (I missed her when she had departed.) Common verb forms:
sakna: saknar – saknade – saknat
resa: reser – reste – rest

Do I need a preposition with sakna? What about längta efter?

sakna takes a direct object, no preposition: Jag saknar henne.
längta efter means “to long for,” and it uses a preposition: Jag längtar efter henne. Nuance: sakna = feel the absence now; längta efter = a yearning often oriented toward a future reunion.

Could hon reser mean “she stands up”?

No. “To stand up” is resa sig (reflexive):

Hon reser sig. = She stands up. Without sig, intransitive reser means “travels.” Transitive resa can mean “raise/erect” with an object: Hon reser flaggan (She raises the flag).