Learn Hardcore Swedish: På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt, men på helgen sover jag längre. - On weekdays I wake up early, but on the weekend I sleep longer.

You can see “vardagar” (indefinite plural) in some contexts, but with this type of habitual-time expression, “på vardagarna” is the natural, idiomatic choice. Saying just “vardagar vaknar jag tidigt” would sound wrong or at least very odd to a native speaker. You really need the “på” and typically the definite form here: “på vardagarna”.

Why is it plural in “på vardagarna” but singular in “på helgen”?

Good observation:

på vardagarna – on weekdays (plural, definite)
på helgen – on the weekend / at weekends (singular, definite)

This is mostly about idiomatic usage:

For weekdays as a category, Swedish almost always uses the plural definite:
- på vardagarna, på måndagarna, på fredagarna
For weekends as a general time period, Swedish commonly uses the singular definite:
- på helgen – loosely equivalent to at the weekend / on weekends (in general)

So the pattern is basically:

Repeated days → plural (vardagarna)
The weekend as a kind of block/time period → often singular (helgen)

It’s partly grammatical, partly just how people say it.

Can I also say “på helgerna” instead of “på helgen”? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both, and both are correct:

på helgen – literally on the weekend
på helgerna – literally on the weekends

In many contexts they overlap and both can mean “on weekends / at weekends (in general)”.

Subtle nuance (not always strong in real speech):

på helgen can feel a bit more generic, like “on the weekend as a rule / as a time period”.
på helgerna can emphasize each weekend or all weekends a bit more clearly.

In your sentence, both sound natural:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt, men på helgen sover jag längre.
På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt, men på helgerna sover jag längre.

Most learners can treat them as near-synonyms in this type of sentence.

Could I leave out “på” and say “Vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt”?

No, not in standard Swedish.

When you talk about when something regularly happens (days, weekends, mornings, evenings), you normally need a preposition, and “på” is the usual one:

på vardagarna – on weekdays
på måndagar – on Mondays
på helgen/helgerna – at the weekend / on weekends
på morgnarna – in the mornings

So you say:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt. ✅
not
Vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt. ❌ (sounds wrong)

There are other time expressions that don’t need “på” (e.g. varje dag – every day), but “vardagar(na)”, helgen, days of the week, etc., typically do.

Why is the word order “På vardagarna vaknar jag” and not “På vardagarna jag vaknar”?

This is the V2 rule in Swedish (verb-second word order).

In main clauses, the finite verb (here: vaknar) must almost always be in second position in the sentence:

First position: Usually the subject, but it can also be a time phrase, place, etc.
Second position: The finite verb.

In your sentence:

På vardagarna = first element (a time phrase)
vaknar = verb → must come second
jag = subject → comes after the verb

So:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt. ✅ (time – verb – subject – rest)
På vardagarna jag vaknar tidigt. ❌ (verb is not in second position)

If you start with the subject instead, the verb still comes second:

Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna. ✅ (subject – verb – rest)

Can I start the sentence with “Jag” instead? For example: “Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna, men jag sover längre på helgen.”

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna, men jag sover längre på helgen.

Both orders are fine:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt, … – emphasizes the time (“on weekdays”)
Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna, … – emphasizes “I” or the action a bit more

The meaning is basically the same; the difference is just focus / emphasis. Swedish moves elements like time phrases to the beginning when you want to highlight them, but the grammar stays the same (verb in second position).

What does “tidigt” mean exactly, and can it be placed somewhere else in the sentence?

“Tidigt” is an adverb meaning “early”.

In your sentence:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt
→ On weekdays I wake up early.

You have some flexibility with adverb placement in Swedish, so these are all possible and natural:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt.
Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna.
Jag vaknar på vardagarna tidigt. (possible, but a bit less neutral)

The most natural versions are usually:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt.
Jag vaknar tidigt på vardagarna.

Putting “tidigt” right after the verb is very common.

Why is it “vaknar” and not “vaknar upp”? I’ve seen both.

Both “vaknar” and “vaknar upp” exist:

vaknar – wake (up)
vaknar upp – also wake up, sometimes with a bit more emphasis

In everyday Swedish, when you simply mean “wake up” as a daily routine, “vaknar” alone is more common:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt. – On weekdays I wake up early.

“vaknar upp” can be used, but it often has a slightly stronger, more “event-like” feeling:

Han vaknade upp mitt i natten. – He woke up in the middle of the night.

For your habitual, routine sentence, “vaknar” is the most natural choice.

Why is it “sover jag längre” and not something like “sover jag mer”?

In Swedish, when you talk about duration in time, you usually compare it with “längre” (= longer), not “mer” (= more).

lång → längre = long → longer (in time or space)
mycket → mer = much → more (quantity/intensity)

So:

Jag sover längre. – I sleep longer (for a longer time). ✅
Jag sover mer. – I sleep more. (possible, but usually means more sleep in general, not specifically a longer time in bed.)

In your sentence, the idea is sleeping later / for more hours on the weekend, so “längre” is the natural choice.

Why is the present tense used (vaknar, sover) to talk about a habit?

Swedish uses the present tense a lot for things that are:

habits / routines
general truths

So:

På vardagarna vaknar jag tidigt, men på helgen sover jag längre.
= On weekdays I wake up early, but on the weekend I sleep longer.

This is the same as English using simple present for routines:

I wake up early on weekdays.
I sleep longer on the weekend.

There is no special “habitual tense” in Swedish; the ordinary present tense covers that meaning when the context shows it’s a routine.

What is the difference between “på helgen” and “i helgen”?

They look similar but usually mean different things:

på helgen
- Typically means “(in general) on the weekend / at weekends”
- Used for habits and routines
- Example: På helgen sover jag längre. – On the weekend I sleep longer. (as a rule)
i helgen
- Usually means “this past weekend” or “this coming weekend”, depending on context
- Used for a specific weekend, not a general habit
- Examples:
  - Vad gjorde du i helgen? – What did you do this past weekend?
  - Vad ska du göra i helgen? – What are you going to do this coming weekend?

In your sentence, you are describing a general routine, so “på helgen” is the right choice, not “i helgen”.