Jag vill ha den boken.

I want to have that book.

Breakdown of Jag vill ha den boken.

• jag: I
• ha: to have
• boken: the book
• vilja: to want

Questions & Answers about Jag vill ha den boken.

Do I have to use ha after vill? Why not Jag vill den boken?

Yes, you need ha. In Swedish, vill by itself means “want to [do something]” and normally takes a verb. If you want a thing, you say vill ha:

• Jag vill ha den boken.
• Jag vill läsa den boken.

Saying Jag vill den boken is ungrammatical.

Why is it den and not det?

Because bok is an en-word (common gender). The demonstrative agrees with the noun’s gender:

• den for en-words: den boken, den bilen
• det for ett-words: det huset, det bordet

Why is boken definite (-en) when den is already there? Isn’t that double?