Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.

After the test she usually gets a good grade.

Breakdown of Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.

• ett: a
• bra: good
• hon: she
• efter: after
• få: to get
• provet: the test
• vanligtvis: usually
• betyget: the grade

Questions & Answers about Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.

Why is it “Efter provet får hon …” and not “Efter provet hon får …”?

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.

• Efter provet = first element (a time phrase)
• får = second element (the finite verb)
• hon = third element (the subject)

So the correct order is:

• Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.
  (Time phrase – verb – subject …)

If you start with the subject instead, you also get V2:

• Hon får vanligtvis ett bra betyg efter provet.
  (Subject – verb – adverb …)

“Efter provet hon får …” breaks the V2 rule because the verb is not in second position, so it’s ungrammatical.

What exactly does “får” mean here, and how is it different from English?

In this sentence, får means “gets / receives”:

• Efter provet får hon … = After the test, she gets …

But får is a very common verb with several meanings depending on context:

1. get / receive

   • Jag får ett brev. = I get a letter.

2. may / be allowed to (permission)

   • Du får gå nu. = You may go now. / You’re allowed to go now.

3. must / have to in some informal fixed phrases

   • Nu får du sluta! = Now you have to stop!

In this particular sentence, only the “get/receive” meaning fits because she is receiving a grade.

Why is it “vanligtvis” and not some other word for “usually”?

Vanligtvis means “usually / generally / as a rule.” It’s an adverb formed from vanlig (usual, common) + the adverb suffix -vis.

Other very common ways to say something similar:

• ofta = often
• vanligen = usually (a bit more formal/literary than vanligtvis)
• brukar (as a verb) = tends to / usually does

For example, you could also say:

• Efter provet får hon ofta ett bra betyg. (she often gets…)
• Efter provet brukar hon få ett bra betyg. (she usually tends to get…)

Vanligtvis focuses on the idea that this is the normal pattern. Brukar emphasizes habitual behavior (she’s the kind of person who tends to get good grades).

Can “vanligtvis” go in other positions, like at the end: “Efter provet får hon ett bra betyg vanligtvis”?

Yes, vanligtvis is fairly flexible in position, but word order affects style and emphasis.

All of these are grammatically correct:

1. Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.
   – Neutral, very natural. The “usually” is close to the verb får.

2. Efter provet får hon ett bra betyg, vanligtvis.
   – Comma + adverb at the end. Sounds a bit more like an added comment, similar to English:
   “After the test she gets a good grade, usually.”

3. Hon får vanligtvis ett bra betyg efter provet.
   – Subject first, then adverb. Also neutral and common.

Less natural or clearly wrong:

• ?Efter provet vanligtvis får hon ett bra betyg. – sounds odd and marked.
• Efter provet hon får vanligtvis ett bra betyg. – ungrammatical (breaks V2).

So: “Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.” is the most straightforward choice.

Why is it “ett bra betyg” and not “en bra betyg”?

In Swedish, all nouns have a grammatical gender: either “en” (common gender) or “ett” (neuter).

• betyg (grade, mark) is an “ett-word”: ett betyg, not en betyg.
• Therefore: ett bra betyg = a good grade.

About bra:

• bra is an adjective that is invariable in singular:
  
  • en bra bok – a good book
  • ett bra betyg – a good grade
• In the plural, you usually also use bra:
  
  • bra böcker – good books
  • bra betyg – good grades

So you don’t need to change bra to agree with ett vs en in this case. The important part is that betyg is an ett-noun, so the article must be ett.

Why is it “provet” (the test) but “ett bra betyg” (a good grade)? Why not both definite or both indefinite?

This is about what is already known/specific vs what is being introduced:

• provet = the test (definite form)

  • This refers to a particular, known test – for example, an exam both speaker and listener know about.
  • That’s why it’s definite: provet (the test), not just a test.

• ett bra betyg = a good grade (indefinite form)

  • Here we’re not talking about a specific, previously identified grade.
  • We just say she usually gets some good grade, not the grade.

So:

• Efter provet – After *the test (we know which one)*
• får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg – she usually gets *a good grade (some good grade, not specified)*

You could say “får hon vanligtvis bra betyg” (“usually gets good grades”) or “får hon vanligtvis det bästa betyget” (“usually gets the best grade”) if you wanted a definite grade.

What’s the difference between “prov” and “betyg”? They both seem related to tests.

They refer to different things:

• prov = test, exam (the event you take)

  • ett prov – a test
  • provet – the test
  • Jag ska göra ett prov i morgon. – I’m taking a test tomorrow.

• betyg = grade, mark (the result you receive)

  • ett betyg – a grade
  • betygen – the grades
  • Hon fick höga betyg. – She got high grades.

So in the sentence:

• Efter provet – After the test (the exam itself)
• får hon … ett bra betyg – she gets a good grade (the evaluation/result of that test).

Why is the verb in the present tense (får) if this is about something that usually happens, not right now?

Swedish often uses the present tense to describe:

• Habits / general truths / repeated actions

Just like English can say:

• She usually gets good grades after the test.

Swedish does the same:

• Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.
  = After the test she usually gets a good grade.

This isn’t about this very moment, but about a repeated pattern in the present. That’s standard Swedish usage.

If you wanted to talk about the past, you would change får to fick (past):

• Efter provet fick hon ett bra betyg.
  = After the test she got a good grade (that time).

Could you say “Efter provet brukar hon få ett bra betyg” instead of “får hon vanligtvis”? Is there a difference?

Yes, both are correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

1. Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.

   • Literally: After the test she *usually gets a good grade.*
   • Uses the adverb vanligtvis to talk about frequency.

2. Efter provet brukar hon få ett bra betyg.

   • Literally: After the test she *tends to get / usually gets a good grade.*
   • Brukar is a verb meaning “is in the habit of / tends to”.

Nuance:

• får … vanligtvis – more neutral statement of frequency.
• brukar få – hints more at her habitual pattern or typical behavior.

In everyday speech, both would often be translated simply as “usually gets” in English.

Can you drop the pronoun “hon”, like in Spanish or Italian, and just say “Efter provet får vanligtvis ett bra betyg”?

No. In Swedish, you normally must include the subject pronoun:

• ✔ Efter provet får hon vanligtvis ett bra betyg.
• ✘ Efter provet får vanligtvis ett bra betyg. (ungrammatical)

Swedish is not a “pro-drop” language like Spanish or Italian. You almost always need an explicit subject:

• Hon får ett bra betyg. – She gets a good grade.
• Jag är trött. – I am tired.
• Vi går hem. – We’re going home.

Even when the subject is obvious from context, you still say hon, han, jag, vi, etc.