Jag vill dricka mindre kaffe idag.

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Breakdown of Jag vill dricka mindre kaffe idag.

• dricka: to drink
• kaffet: the coffee
• vilja: to want

Questions & Answers about Jag vill dricka mindre kaffe idag.

Why is it “vill dricka” and not “vill att dricka”?

In Swedish, modal verbs like vill, kan, ska, måste, bör, brukar take the bare infinitive without att. So you say vill dricka, not vill att dricka. You use att with non-modals: for example, försöker att dricka (though many speakers also drop att after some verbs in everyday speech).

What’s the difference between vill dricka, ska dricka, tänker dricka, and kommer att dricka?

• vill dricka = want to drink (a desire or wish).
• ska dricka = am going to drink / will drink (a plan, decision, or obligation; stronger commitment).
• tänker dricka = intend to drink (your intention/plan).
• kommer att dricka = will drink (a neutral prediction or likelihood, less about intention).

Why is it dricka and not dricker? Could I use dricker here?

After a modal verb like vill, you must use the infinitive dricka. You can use the present dricker if you don’t have a modal: for example, Idag dricker jag mindre kaffe (“Today I’m drinking less coffee”), which talks about what is happening/being done today.

Where can I put idag? Is the word order fixed?