Vi träffas om trettio minuter.

We will meet in thirty minutes.

Breakdown of Vi träffas om trettio minuter.

• vi: we
• minuten: the minute
• om: in
• träffas: to meet
• trettio: thirty

Questions & Answers about Vi träffas om trettio minuter.

Why does Swedish use träffas (with -s) instead of träffa here?

The -s on träffas marks a reciprocal/middle form: it means “meet each other.” So Vi träffas literally means “We meet each other.” Without -s, träffa is transitive: Jag träffar dig = “I meet you.” Note: -s can also form a true passive in Swedish (e.g., Huset byggs “The house is being built”), but with people as subject, verbs like ses, hörs, träffas are typically reciprocal: “see/hear/meet each other.”

There’s no future tense here. How can Vi träffas mean “We’ll meet”?

Swedish often uses the present tense for near-future, planned, or scheduled events, especially when a time expression is present. Examples:

• Vi åker imorgon. = We’re leaving tomorrow.
• Tåget går klockan åtta. = The train leaves at eight. So Vi träffas om trettio minuter naturally means “We’ll meet in thirty minutes.”

What’s the difference between Vi träffas, Vi ska träffas, and Vi kommer att träffas?

• Vi träffas om trettio minuter. Neutral and very common for an arranged meeting in the near future.
• Vi ska träffas om trettio minuter. Slightly more explicit about intention/plan (“we’re going to meet”).
• Vi kommer att träffas om trettio minuter. Grammatically fine, but tends to sound more like a prediction or formal statement of what will happen, and is less common in casual scheduling.

Why is it om trettio minuter and not i trettio minuter or på trettio minuter?

• om X tid = “in X time (from now).” Example: Jag är tillbaka om en timme (I’ll be back in an hour).
• i X tid = duration/for-how-long. Example: Vi pratade i trettio minuter (We talked for thirty minutes).
• på X tid = the time it takes/within. Example: Hon läste boken på tre dagar (She read the book in/within three days). For scheduling something X minutes from now, use om.

Can I say efter trettio minuter instead of om trettio minuter?

Generally no for scheduling. efter = “after,” and it’s used relative to another event: Efter trettio minuter började filmen (After thirty minutes, the movie started). For “in thirty minutes (from now),” use om trettio minuter. Saying Vi träffas efter trettio minuter sounds odd unless you’ve just mentioned the event you’re counting from.

Is om en halvtimme more natural than om trettio minuter?

Both are fine. In everyday speech, om en halvtimme (“in half an hour”) is very common and sounds natural. om trettio minuter is perfectly correct and perhaps a touch more precise/formal. Spelling tip: halvtimme is one word.

How do I pronounce the sentence naturally?

Approximate guide (Swedish varies by region):

• Vi: [viː] (long “ee”).
• träffas: [ˈtrɛfːas]; ä like “e” in “bed,” doubled ff makes the vowel short.
• om: [ɔm].
• trettio: often [ˈtrɛtːɪo] or, in casual speech, tretti [ˈtrɛtːɪ].
• minuter: [mɪˈnʉːtɛr]; u is the Swedish front-rounded vowel [ʉː] (like French “u”). Stress falls on TRÄF-fas, TRET-tio, mi-NU-ter.

Can I put the time expression first, like “In thirty minutes we’ll meet”?

Yes. Swedish allows fronting of adverbials, but keep the verb in second position (V2 rule):

• Om trettio minuter träffas vi. This puts emphasis on the time frame.

Where does negation (inte) go?

• Neutral order: Vi träffas inte om trettio minuter.
• With fronted time: Om trettio minuter träffas vi inte. In both cases, inte comes after the finite verb (träffas) and before the time phrase if the time is not fronted.

Is there a difference between träffas, ses, and möts?

• träffas: neutral “meet up (each other).”
• ses: very common, casual “see each other” (often used like “See you…”): Vi ses om trettio minuter.
• möts: “meet” in the sense of two parties converging; slightly more formal or used for teams/groups: Lagen möts på lördag. You can say Vi möts om trettio minuter, but day-to-day speech favors träffas/ses.

Why minuter and not minuterna? Do I need an article after a number?

Numbers take the indefinite form with no article in Swedish:

• trettio minuter (thirty minutes) Using the definite plural (minuterna, “the minutes”) would be wrong here. You’d only use the definite if you mean specific known minutes, which isn’t the case.

Are there common short forms for texting?

Yes:

• Ses om 30 min!
• Vi ses om en halvtimme! Replies: Toppen, ses då! / Okej, vi ses! / Perfekt, vi hörs!

Does “half three” work the same way in Swedish?

Careful: Swedish halv tre means “half past two” (2:30), not 3:30. So:

• Vi ses om en halvtimme (“in half an hour”) is unambiguous.
• Don’t say halv tre unless you truly mean 2:30.