Questions & Answers about Hon sjunger i duschen.
Hon means “she”. It’s the subject pronoun for a female person (or sometimes a female animal, if you want to emphasize it’s female).
Common related pronouns:
- han = he
- hon = she
- hen = gender‑neutral singular pronoun (used more and more)
- den / det = it (for things, and sometimes animals)
Sjunger is the present tense of the verb sjunga (to sing).
In Swedish, the same present form covers both:
- English simple present: “She sings in the shower.”
- English present continuous: “She is singing in the shower.”
Context decides which English translation is best; Swedish doesn’t need a separate “is singing” form.
The infinitive is sjunga (to sing). Basic forms:
- att sjunga = to sing
- jag sjunger = I sing / I am singing
- jag sjöng = I sang
- jag har sjungit = I have sung
One important point: sjunger is the same for all subjects:
- jag / du / han / hon / vi / ni / de sjunger
(I / you / he / she / we / you (pl.) / they sing)
Swedish normally doesn’t use är (“is/are”) to form the present progressive.
You just use the present tense:
- Hon sjunger i duschen. = She sings / She is singing in the shower.
Using är + present participle (är sjungande) is either very unusual or stylistically marked, not the normal way to say this.
Approximate pronunciation (Swedish standard):
- hon ≈ “hoon” but with a shorter, more closed o ([hʊn])
- sjunger ≈ [ˈɧɵŋːɛr]
- sj‑ is the Swedish sj‑sound ([ɧ]), a sort of “sh” pronounced further back
- u here is like a short ö [ɵ], somewhat between English u and e
- ng is like the ng in sing
- i = like English ee in see
- duschen ≈ [ˈdɵʂɛn]
- dusch sounds a bit like “doo-sh” with Swedish vowels and a retroflex sh sound
So very roughly: “hoon SHUUNG-er ee DUSH-en”, but with Swedish vowels and consonants.
i means “in” and is the normal preposition for being inside something:
- i duschen = in the shower
You would not say på duschen here; på usually means “on” or “at” and doesn’t fit the idea of being inside the shower space.
So stick with i duschen for “in the shower.”
Dusch is a common noun of the en‑word type:
- en dusch = a shower
- duschen = the shower
Swedish usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun:
- en stol (a chair) → stolen (the chair)
- en bok (a book) → boken (the book)
- en dusch (a shower) → duschen (the shower)
So i duschen literally means “in the shower”, not just “in shower.”
No, not in normal Swedish.
To sound natural, you’d say:
- Hon sjunger i duschen. = She sings in the shower.
Leaving off -en would sound incomplete or incorrect in this context. Swedish often uses the definite form where English uses “the,” and here the definite is expected.
Yes, you can say I duschen sjunger hon, and it’s grammatically correct. It sounds more like:
- “In the shower, she sings.” (putting extra focus on in the shower)
Swedish is a V2 language: in a main clause, the verb should be in second position.
- Hon (1) sjunger (2) i duschen
- I duschen (1) sjunger (2) hon
Both follow that rule.
You add inte (not) after the verb:
- Hon sjunger inte i duschen. = She doesn’t sing in the shower.
Basic pattern in main clauses:
Subject + verb + inte + …
- Hon sjunger inte i duschen.
- Hon sjunger i duschen inte is wrong in neutral modern Swedish.
For a yes/no question, you place the verb first:
- Sjunger hon i duschen? = Does she sing / Is she singing in the shower?
Intonation rises at the end, like in English.
Answering:
- Ja, hon sjunger i duschen. = Yes, she (does).
- Nej, hon sjunger inte i duschen. = No, she doesn’t sing in the shower.
Yes. The Swedish present sjunger can describe:
- Something happening right now
- She is singing in the shower (right now).
- A habit or general fact
- She (usually) sings in the shower.
If you want to make the habitual meaning clearer, you can add an adverb:
- Hon brukar sjunga i duschen. = She usually sings in the shower.
- Hon alltid sjunger i duschen. (better: Hon sjunger alltid i duschen.) = She always sings in the shower.