Learn Hardcore Swedish: I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla. - In the living room there is a sofa, two chairs and a large bookshelf.

I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla.

In the living room there is a sofa, two chairs and a large bookshelf.

Breakdown of I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla.

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Questions & Answers about I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla.

Why is the verb står before en soffa? I thought Swedish word order was like English.

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what comes first.

In your sentence:

I vardagsrummet – adverbial (position 1)
står – finite verb (position 2)
en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla – subject (comes after the verb)

So even though in English you say In the living room there is a sofa..., in Swedish you must keep the verb in second place:

I vardagsrummet står en soffa... ✔
I vardagsrummet en soffa står... ✘
I vardagsrummet en soffa är... ✘ (wrong both in word order and verb choice)

Why do you use står (stands) instead of är (is/are) for furniture?

Swedish very often uses “position verbs” instead of är when talking about where objects are:

stå – to stand (upright on its base: cupboards, bookcases, bottles, etc.)
ligga – to lie (lying down, horizontal: books on a table, people in bed, clothes on the floor)
sitta – to sit (people/animals sitting, sometimes objects fixed to something, like posters on a wall in some dialects)

Furniture like a soffa, stolar and bokhylla are normally imagined as standing, so Swedes naturally say:

I vardagsrummet står en soffa. – In the living room there is a sofa.
På bordet ligger en bok. – On the table there is a book.
I soffan sitter en katt. – On the sofa there is a cat.

Using är here would sound foreign or childlike. It is not grammatically wrong in every possible context, but it is not idiomatic Swedish for this type of sentence.

Could I say Det finns en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla i vardagsrummet instead?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, and very natural.

The difference is mostly about style and focus:

I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla.
– Focuses on what is located in the living room. The place comes first; you paint a picture of the room.
Det finns en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla i vardagsrummet.
– More neutral, “there exists” style. Very common in descriptions and in spoken language.

Both are fine. The original sentence just uses a presentational word order that sounds a bit more descriptive or “scene‑setting” in Swedish.

Why is it i vardagsrummet and not på vardagsrummet?

The prepositions i and på don’t map directly to in and on in English, but here the choice is clear:

i is used for inside spaces/rooms:
- i vardagsrummet – in the living room
- i köket – in the kitchen
- i sovrummet – in the bedroom
på is used more for surfaces and some set expressions:
- på bordet – on the table
- på stolen – on the chair
- på jobbet – at work
- på bio – at the cinema

A vardagsrum is a room you are inside, so you say i vardagsrummet.

Why is it vardagsrummet (definite form) but en soffa (indefinite form)?

This is partly about information structure (old vs. new information):

vardagsrummet (the living room) is treated as known/specific, maybe already mentioned, or obvious from context (the living room in this home). So it appears in the definite form:
- ett vardagsrum → vardagsrummet (the living room)
en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla are new things you are introducing into the conversation. New items are usually in the indefinite form:
- en soffa – a sofa
- två stolar – two chairs
- en stor bokhylla – a big bookcase

So the pattern is: in the known space (definite) there are new objects (indefinite).

What is the difference between vardagsrum and vardagsrummet?

The noun vardagsrum is neuter (ett‑word):

ett vardagsrum – a living room (indefinite singular)
vardagsrummet – the living room (definite singular)
vardagsrum – living rooms (indefinite plural; same form as singular)
vardagsrummen – the living rooms (definite plural)

In your sentence you have i vardagsrummet – in the living room (definite form with the definite ending ‑et).

Why is it en stor bokhylla and not en stort bokhylla or en stora bokhylla?

This is about adjective agreement with the noun:

Gender and number of the noun:
- bokhylla is a common gender (en‑word) noun: en bokhylla.
Indefinite singular, en‑word:
- The adjective takes the base form:
  - en stor bokhylla – a big bookcase
  - en röd bokhylla – a red bookcase
Compare with other forms:
- ett stort vardagsrum – a big living room (ett‑word → stort)
- stora bokhyllor – big bookcases (plural → stora)
- den stora bokhyllan – the big bookcase (definite → stora, noun also definite)

So en stor bokhylla is correct because en + singular + indefinite + common gender → adjective stor.

Why is there a comma after soffa but no comma before och?

Swedish list punctuation is similar to standard British English, without an Oxford comma in simple lists.

Your list is:

en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla

Rules here:

Put commas between the first items:
- en soffa, två stolar ...
No comma before och in a simple list of three items:
- ... två stolar och en stor bokhylla (no comma before och)

You would only use a comma before och in more complex structures, for example to avoid ambiguity or when connecting whole clauses.

How is the plural stolar formed from stol?

Stol is a common gender (en‑word) noun:

en stol – a chair

It belongs to a group of en‑words that form the plural with ‑ar:

en stol → stolar – chairs (indefinite plural)
stolarna – the chairs (definite plural)

Other examples with the same pattern:

en klocka → klockor
en pojke → pojkar
en flicka → flickor

So två stolar literally means two chairs.

Can I also say En soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla står i vardagsrummet?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and natural.

Difference in nuance:

I vardagsrummet står en soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla.
– Emphasis on the place first; you start from the living room and describe what is there.
En soffa, två stolar och en stor bokhylla står i vardagsrummet.
– Emphasis a bit more on the furniture as the starting point; then you say where it stands.

Both are common. The first version is slightly more typical when you’re describing a room; the second is neutral and might be more likely when you’re talking primarily about the furniture.

Why vardagsrummet and not something like vardagsrumet with only one m?

The spelling is due to two things: compound word formation and Swedish doubling of consonants:

Compound word:
- vardag (weekday, everyday) + rum (room) → vardagsrum (living room).
Definite ending for neuter nouns:
- ett vardagsrum → add ‑et → vardagsrummet.
Spelling rule: when you add ‑et to a word ending in a consonant, you often end up with double consonants in writing, even though the pronunciation doesn’t really have a long m at the end:
- rum + et → rummet
- barn + et → barnet (no double because rn already signals a consonant cluster)
- hus + et → huset

So: vardagsrum + ‑et → vardagsrummet, with mm in spelling.

How do you pronounce vardagsrummet? Anything tricky there?

Yes, there are a couple of points:

Stress: main stress on the first syllable: VAR‑dags‑rum‑met.
rd in vardag: in most Swedish accents (especially central and southern), r + d becomes a retroflex sound (tongue curls back). It sounds a bit like a soft English “rd” blended into one sound.
The g in vardags‑ is soft and often not strongly pronounced; you will often hear something close to “VAR‑das‑rummet”.
The double mm in spelling does not mean you actually pronounce a very long /m/ at the end; you just say rum‑met normally.

Rough approximation for an English speaker: “VAR-dahs-rum-met”, with the VAR a little stressed and the r‑d slightly fused.