Learn Hardcore Swedish: Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch, tar på sig pyjamas och lägger sig under ett rent lakan. - After work she takes a shower, puts on pajamas and lies down under a clean sheet.

Swedish has a V2 word order rule in main clauses: the finite verb (here tar) must come in second position, no matter what comes first.

Efter jobbet = 1st position (a time expression)
tar = 2nd position (the verb)
hon = 3rd position (the subject)

So:

Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch... ✅ (correct: verb is second)
Efter jobbet hon tar en dusch... ❌ (incorrect: subject has taken the verb’s place)

You could also say:

Hon tar en dusch efter jobbet... ✅

Here, hon is first, tar is second, and efter jobbet is moved later in the sentence. Both versions are natural; the difference is just what you want to emphasize or foreground (time vs. subject).

Why is it efter jobbet and not efter jobb or efter arbetet?

jobb = job / work (informal, everyday word)
jobbet = the job / the work (definite form)
arbete / arbetet = work / the work (more formal or general)

Efter jobbet literally means after the job/work (today) and is the most natural everyday way to say “after work”.

efter jobb ❌ sounds wrong here; bare jobb without the article is not used in this meaning.
efter arbetet ✅ grammatically correct, but sounds more formal or written; you’d more commonly hear efter jobbet in spoken Swedish in this context.

So efter jobbet is just the standard colloquial choice for “after work” at the end of the workday.

What’s the difference between tar en dusch and just using the verb duschar?

Both mean essentially the same thing: “(she) takes a shower”.

Hon tar en dusch.
Hon duschar.

duscha is the verb “to shower”; ta en dusch is literally “take a shower”.

Differences:

Register/style:
- duschar feels slightly more direct and simple.
- tar en dusch is also very common and natural; it can sound a bit more narrative or descriptive.
Grammar:
- duschar is intransitive (no object needed).
- tar en dusch uses ta with the object en dusch.

You can freely say either in most contexts; in a sentence like this, swapping tar en dusch for duschar would be perfectly fine.

Why is it tar på sig pyjamas and not just tar pyjamas or tar på pyjamas?

In Swedish, ta på sig is a reflexive verb phrase meaning “to put on (clothes) (on oneself)”.

ta på sig = to put on (on oneself)
pyjamas = pyjamas

So:

Hon tar på sig pyjamas. = She puts on pyjamas.

If you say:

Hon tar pyjamas.
That just means “She takes pyjamas” (picks them up), not that she puts them on.

If you drop sig and only say tar på pyjamas, it sounds incomplete or wrong when you mean “get dressed”. The reflexive pronoun sig shows that the action is done to herself.

General pattern:

ta på sig jackan = put one’s jacket on
ta av sig skorna = take one’s shoes off

What exactly does sig mean in tar på sig and lägger sig? When do you use sig instead of hennes?

sig is a reflexive pronoun for hon/han/den/det/de (“herself/himself/itself/themselves”).

You use sig when the subject and the object are the same person:

Hon lägger sig. = She lays herself down.
Hon tvättar sig. = She washes herself.
Hon tar på sig pyjamas. = She puts pyjamas on herself.

You use hennes when it’s someone else’s thing, not reflexive:

Hon tvättar hennes händer.
This sounds like “She is washing her (another woman’s) hands.”
Hon tvättar sina händer. = She is washing her own hands. (sina is the reflexive possessive form.)

So:

sig ≈ “herself/himself/themselves” (direct object)
sin/sitt/sina ≈ “her/his/their own” (possessive)
hennes/hans/deras = “her/his/their” (non‑reflexive, could be someone else)

What’s the difference between lägger sig and ligger?

They are related but not the same:

lägga sig = to lie down (movement, change of position)
- Hon lägger sig under ett rent lakan. = She lies down under a clean sheet.
ligga = to be lying (state, already in that position)
- Hon ligger under ett rent lakan. = She is lying under a clean sheet (already there).

So lägger sig describes the action of going from standing/sitting → lying, while ligger describes the result/state of already lying down.

Why is it pyjamas without en? Isn’t pyjamas an en-word?

Yes, pyjamas is normally an en-word:

en pyjamas = a pair of pyjamas.

But in Swedish, with certain clothing items, it’s common to omit the article when it’s about getting dressed in that type of clothing in general:

Hon tar på sig pyjamas.
Hon tar på sig jacka. (less common, but possible in some dialects/contexts)

More standard would also be:

Hon tar på sig en pyjamas. ✅ perfectly correct.

So why is en missing here?

Stylistically, in some contexts you can treat clothing words as a kind of mass or generic clothing: “puts on pyjamas (as clothing)”, not focusing on one specific piece.
Adding en would not change the basic meaning, but the sentence as written is idiomatic and natural.

If you want a safe, very standard pattern, you can always say:

Hon tar på sig en pyjamas.

Why is it under ett rent lakan and not under det rena lakanet? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatically correct, but they differ in definiteness and specificity:

under ett rent lakan = under a clean sheet
- ett = indefinite article (“a”)
- Suggests any clean sheet; not a specific one we already know about.
under det rena lakanet = under the clean sheet
- det ... -et = definite (“the”) + adjective agreement (rena)
- Refers to a specific sheet already known in the context.

In your sentence, ett rent lakan just presents it as a clean sheet, not one already established in the story. It sounds natural as part of a routine description.

If the context earlier had introduced “the clean sheet” (e.g. “She put on the clean sheet, then…”), you’d use det rena lakanet.

Is the comma before tar på sig pyjamas necessary? Why don’t we repeat hon after the comma?

Swedish often does not repeat the subject when several verbs share the same subject in a series:

Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch, tar på sig pyjamas och lägger sig under ett rent lakan.

Here, hon is the subject for all three verbs:

tar (en dusch)
tar på sig (pyjamas)
lägger sig (under ett rent lakan)

You could say:

Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch, hon tar på sig pyjamas och hon lägger sig...

but it sounds heavier and less natural.

The comma here simply separates the items in a series of actions, just like in English:

“She takes a shower, puts on pyjamas and lies down...”

All the verbs (tar, tar på sig, lägger sig) are in the present tense, but the sentence feels like a routine. Is that how Swedish expresses habits?

Yes. Swedish uses present tense for:

Things happening now
Habitual actions / routines
Narrative present (telling a story as if it’s happening now)

So:

Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch, tar på sig pyjamas och lägger sig...
can mean:
- what normally happens after work (her routine), or
- what is happening this time, depending on context.

This is very similar to English:

“After work she takes a shower, puts on pyjamas and lies down...” (habit or narrative).

Could the sentence be reordered as Hon tar en dusch efter jobbet, tar på sig pyjamas och lägger sig under ett rent lakan? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is fully correct and natural:

Hon tar en dusch efter jobbet, tar på sig pyjamas och lägger sig under ett rent lakan.

Differences:

Original: Efter jobbet tar hon en dusch...
- Time expression first; slightly more focus on “after work”.
Reordered: Hon tar en dusch efter jobbet...
- Subject first; neutral, very common word order.

Both obey the V2 rule (the finite verb is second):

Efter jobbet (1) tar (2) hon (3) ...
Hon (1) tar (2) en dusch efter jobbet (rest)...

The choice is mostly about style and emphasis.

Is efter jobbet the only way to say “after work” here, or could I use när hon har slutat jobbet or something similar?

You can definitely express the idea in other ways. Some options:

När hon har slutat jobbet tar hon en dusch...
= When she has finished work, she takes a shower...
När hon slutar jobbet tar hon en dusch...
= When she finishes work, she takes a shower...
Efter att hon har jobbat klart tar hon en dusch...
= After she has finished working, she takes a shower...

All are grammatical. Efter jobbet is just the shortest and most idiomatic way to say “after work (for the day)” in this type of routine description.