Barnen sitter på golvet under lampan.

The children sit on the floor under the lamp.

Breakdown of Barnen sitter på golvet under lampan.

• på: on
• barnet: the child
• sitta: to sit
• golvet: the floor
• lampan: the lamp
• under: under

Questions & Answers about Barnen sitter på golvet under lampan.

Why is it barnen and not just barn?

Barn is a neuter noun meaning child. Its forms are:

• ett barn = a child
• barn = child / children (indefinite, can be singular or plural depending on context)
• barnet = the child
• barnen = the children

In the sentence, we are talking about specific children, so Swedish uses the definite plural form barnen = the children.

Why is there no word like the before barnen, golvet, or lampan?

Swedish usually does not use a separate word for the.
Instead, it sticks a definite ending onto the noun:

• barn → barnen (the children)
• golv → golvet (the floor)
• lampa → lampan (the lamp)

So barnen sitter på golvet under lampan literally looks like children-the sit on floor-the under lamp-the.

What’s the difference between sitta, sitter, and why do we use sitter here?

• sitta = to sit (infinitive, the dictionary form)
• sitter = sit / are sitting (present tense)

In a normal present-tense sentence, you use the present form sitter:

• Barnen sitter … = The children are sitting …

You would use sitta after another verb like kan (can), ska (shall), etc.:
Barnen ska sitta på golvet. = The children shall sit on the floor.

Why is it på golvet and not i golvet?

På usually means on (on a surface), while i means in (inside something).

• på golvet = on the floor (sitting on top of the floor’s surface)
• i golvet would literally mean in the floor (inside the material), which is wrong here.

So when you are on a surface (floor, table, chair, bed, etc.), Swedish normally uses på.

Why is golvet in the definite form? Could you say på golv?

In this sentence you are picturing a specific floor in the room, so Swedish prefers the definite form golvet = the floor.

Barnen sitter på golv is grammatically possible but sounds very odd and abstract, like on floor rather than on the floor. In ordinary descriptions of a room, you almost always use på golvet.

How do we know that golv is golvet and lampa is lampan?

This comes from grammatical gender:

• golv is a neuter noun: ett golv → golvet (the floor)
  Neuter definite singular usually ends in -et or -t.
• lampa is a common-gender noun: en lampa → lampan (the lamp)
  Common-gender definite singular usually ends in -en or -n.

So the dictionary forms are ett golv and en lampa.

What is the function of på golvet vs under lampan? Are they two separate places?

They are both location expressions, but they work together:

• på golvet tells you where in general the children are (on the floor).
• under lampan further specifies where on the floor (in the part of the floor directly under the lamp).

You can think of it as a nested location:
on the floor (which part?) → the part under the lamp.

Could I say Barnen sitter under lampan på golvet instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, Barnen sitter under lampan på golvet is also correct and means the same thing in practice.

• Barnen sitter på golvet under lampan tends to first present the broader place (på golvet) and then narrow it down (under lampan).
• Barnen sitter under lampan på golvet starts with the lamp as the reference point.

Both are natural; the choice is more about flow and emphasis than about a real difference in meaning here.

Why is under used here? Does Swedish under work like English under?

Yes, in this sentence under works just like English under / beneath:

• under lampan = under the lamp

Swedish under can also mean during or over the course of in other contexts:

• under dagen = during the day
• under sommaren = during the summer

But in your sentence it is only spatial: physically under the lamp.

Could you also say Barnen är på golvet instead of Barnen sitter på golvet?

You can say Barnen är på golvet (= The children are on the floor), but it’s less specific. It only says they are located on the floor; they could be sitting, lying, playing, etc.

Barnen sitter på golvet clearly says they are in a sitting position. Swedish often prefers verbs like:

• sitter (sit)
• står (stand)
• ligger (lie)

instead of just är (are) when describing how someone is positioned.

Why is the verb sitter in second position after Barnen? Is that a rule?

Yes. Swedish generally follows the V2 rule (verb-second word order) in main clauses:

1. First comes one clause element (often the subject, here Barnen).
2. The finite verb (here sitter) comes right after it.
3. Then everything else: på golvet under lampan.

So: Barnen (1st element) sitter (2nd position verb) på golvet under lampan (rest). This is the normal word order for statements in Swedish.