Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans.

We want to study Swedish together.

Breakdown of Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans.

• vilja: to want
• svenska: Swedish
• vi: we
• tillsammans: together
• läsa: to study

Questions & Answers about Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans.

Why is there no att between vill and läsa? In English we say “want to read”.

In Swedish, vill is a modal (helping) verb, like kan (can), ska (shall / going to), måste (must).

After these modal verbs, you normally use the infinitive without att:

• Vi vill läsa svenska. – We want to read/study Swedish.
• Jag kan tala svenska. – I can speak Swedish.
• Hon ska resa i morgon. – She is going to travel tomorrow.

If vill is followed by a verb, you leave out att:

• ✅ Vi vill läsa svenska.
• ❌ Vi vill att läsa svenska.

You use att when it’s a regular infinitive without a modal in front:

• Jag gillar att läsa. – I like to read.

Does läsa mean “read” or “study” here?

Literally, läsa means to read, but in many contexts it also means to study (a subject).

In this sentence, Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans is most naturally understood as:

• We want to study Swedish together.

Some nuances:

• läsa svenska – can mean both “read Swedish texts” and more generally “study Swedish (as a subject).”
• studera svenska – more formal, clearly “study Swedish (academically).”
• plugga svenska – informal, like “to study / cram Swedish,” common in student slang.

All are correct; your sentence with läsa is very natural and common.

Why is svenska not capitalized, unlike “Swedish” in English?

In Swedish, names of languages are not capitalized:

• svenska – Swedish
• engelska – English
• spanska – Spanish

So:

• Vi vill läsa svenska. – We want to study Swedish.
• Jag pratar engelska. – I speak English.

You only capitalize these words at the beginning of a sentence or in titles, not because they are languages.

Is svenska here a noun or an adjective? What’s the difference between svensk and svenska?

In Vi vill läsa svenska, svenska is a noun meaning the Swedish language.

Basic forms:

• svensk

  • adjective: a Swedish X (Swedish car, Swedish person, Swedish food)
  • noun (en svensk): a Swede (a Swedish person)

• svenska

  • noun: Swedish (the language)

Examples:

• Jag är svensk. – I am Swedish. (adjective)
• Han är en svensk. – He is a Swede. (noun)
• Jag lär mig svenska. – I’m learning Swedish. (the language)

So your sentence is literally: We want to read/study Swedish (the language) together.

Why don’t we say “den svenska” or “svenskan”? Where is “the” in Swedish?

With languages in general, Swedish normally does not use any article:

• Jag lär mig svenska. – I’m learning (the) Swedish (language).
• Hon talar engelska. – She speaks English.

So:

• ✅ Vi vill läsa svenska.
• ❌ Vi vill läsa den svenska. (wrong in this meaning)
• ❌ Vi vill läsa svenskan. (also wrong here)

You might see or use svenskan in more specific contexts, like:

• Hur är svenskan? – How is your Swedish (language ability)?

But for “study Swedish (as a language)”, you just say läsa svenska, without article.

Could the word order change? For example, can I say “Tillsammans vill vi läsa svenska”?

Yes. All these are grammatically correct; they just shift the emphasis slightly:

1. Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans.
   Neutral, very natural: We want to study Swedish together.

2. Tillsammans vill vi läsa svenska.
   Slight emphasis on together: Together, we want to study Swedish.

3. Vi vill tillsammans läsa svenska.
   Also correct, often sounds a bit more formal or “careful.”

The basic order (subject – verb – verb – object – adverb) in your original sentence is the most typical everyday version:

• Vi (S) vill (V) läsa (V) svenska (O) tillsammans (ADV).

Does vill ever mean English “will” (future), or only “want”?

vill primarily means want (to):

• Vi vill läsa svenska. – We want to study Swedish.

Future in Swedish is usually expressed with:

• ska – planned / intended future

  • Vi ska läsa svenska. – We are going to study Swedish.

• kommer att – more neutral future

  • Vi kommer att läsa svenska. – We will study Swedish.

Sometimes vill + infinitive can imply a desire about the future, but it’s still “want to,” not “will” in the neutral future sense. So don’t think of vill as the same as English will.

Why do we need vi? Can we drop the subject like in Spanish?

In Swedish, you almost always need to say the subject pronoun:

• ✅ Vi vill läsa svenska.
• ❌ Vill läsa svenska. (wrong as a normal sentence)

Unlike Spanish or Italian, Swedish does not usually drop the subject pronoun because the verb form doesn’t change with the subject:

• jag vill – I want
• du vill – you want
• vi vill – we want
• de vill – they want

The verb is the same (vill) for all persons in the present tense, so you must show who is doing it with jag, du, vi, ni, de, etc.

What is the difference between tillsammans and ihop?

Both can mean together, and in this sentence you could say either:

• Vi vill läsa svenska tillsammans.
• Vi vill läsa svenska ihop. (more informal)

Nuances:

• tillsammans – neutral, standard word for “together” (works in almost all contexts).
• ihop – more informal and conversational; literally “together / in one piece,” used a lot in speech.

In writing or in formal contexts, tillsammans is usually preferred. Your original sentence is perfectly natural.

Could I say “Vi vill plugga svenska tillsammans” instead of “läsa”?

Yes, but the tone changes slightly:

• läsa svenska – neutral “study Swedish / read Swedish”, works in school, university, and general contexts.
• plugga svenska – informal, like “to study / cram Swedish,” used a lot by students.

Examples:

• Jag läser svenska på universitetet. – Neutral, standard.
• Jag pluggar svenska inför provet. – Informal: I’m cramming / studying Swedish for the test.

So:

• Vi vill plugga svenska tillsammans.
  Sounds like: We want to (actively) study / cram Swedish together, maybe for a course or exam.

How do you pronounce läsa and tillsammans?

Approximate guidance (not IPA, just an English-friendly description):

• läsa

  • ä: like the “e” in “bed”, but a bit longer.
  • ä in lä- is usually long; a at the end is short.
  • Roughly: “LEH-sah”, with stress on the first syllable.

• tillsammans

  • ti-: like “til” (short i as in “sit”).
  • Double ll: pronounced clearly, but not overly long.
  • -sam-: sam with a like in “cup” or “father” depending on dialect, but short.
  • -mans: like “mans” with short a.
  • Roughly: “til-SAHM-ans”, main stress on -sam-: til-SAM-mans.

Native-like pronunciation will vary by region, but this gets you close enough to be understood.