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På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.

På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.
In the evening I don't want to think about work.

Breakdown of På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.

jag
I
vilja
to want
inte
not
jobbet
the work
kvällen
the evening
på
in
tänka på
to think about
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Questions & Answers about På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.

What does På kvällen literally mean, and why is it på and not i?

Literally, På kvällen is “on the evening”.

In natural English we say “in the evening”, but Swedish often uses på with parts of the day:

  • på morgonen – in the morning
  • på dagen – in/at daytime
  • på kvällen – in the evening
  • på natten – at night

So you should memorize på + part of the day as a fixed pattern. Using i kvällen here would be wrong in standard Swedish.

Why is it kvällen (definite form) and not just kväll?

Kväll = evening
Kvällen = the evening

In Swedish, when you talk about a general, repeated time of day, you usually use the definite form:

  • På morgonen dricker jag kaffe. – In the morning I drink coffee.
  • På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet. – In the evening I don’t want to think about work.

So even though English uses “in the evening” in a general sense, Swedish still marks it as the evening with -en.

Could I also say På kvällar or På kvällarna? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

  • På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.
    General statement, but can also sound a bit like “in the evening (today / in general)”.

  • På kvällar vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.
    Less common; sounds more like “on evenings (in general)”, slightly more abstract.

  • På kvällarna vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.
    Very natural for a habitual action: “In the evenings I don’t want to think about work.”

In everyday speech, På kvällen and På kvällarna are both common for saying what you typically do in the evenings.

Can I start the sentence with Jag instead of På kvällen?

Yes:

  • Jag vill inte tänka på jobbet på kvällen.

This is also correct and means essentially the same thing.

Difference in emphasis:

  • På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.
    Emphasizes the time: In the evening is the important information.

  • Jag vill inte tänka på jobbet på kvällen.
    Emphasizes I / my wish, with på kvällen added as extra information about when.

Both are fine; it’s mostly about what you want to focus on in the sentence.

Why is the word order På kvällen vill jag inte… and not På kvällen jag vill inte…?

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.

In your sentence:

  1. På kvällen – first element (an adverbial phrase)
  2. vill – the finite verb (must come second)
  3. jag – the subject
  4. inte tänka på jobbet – the rest

So:

  • ✅ På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet. (correct V2 word order)
  • ❌ På kvällen jag vill inte tänka på jobbet. (incorrect; verb is no longer in second position)

If you start with the subject, it’s still V2:

  • Jag vill inte tänka på jobbet på kvällen.
    Subject (jag) = first, verb (vill) = second.
Why is it tänka and not tänker?

Vill works like a modal verb (similar to English want to).
In Swedish, modal verbs are followed by the infinitive form of the next verb, without att:

  • vill tänka – want to think
  • kan prata – can speak
  • ska göra – will/shall do

So:

  • jag tänker – I think (present tense, by itself)
  • jag vill tänka – I want to think (infinitive after vill)
  • jag vill inte tänka – I don’t want to think

That’s why it must be tänka here.

What exactly does vill express here, and how is it different from gillar?

Vill means want (to):

  • Jag vill inte tänka på jobbet.
    I don’t want to think about work.

Gillar means like:

  • Jag gillar inte att tänka på jobbet.
    I don’t like thinking about work.

Difference in nuance:

  • vill inte – expresses a wish/decision: I refuse / I don’t want to.
  • gillar inte – expresses preference: I don’t enjoy it.

In your sentence, vill inte fits better because it’s about a choice you make in the evening.

Why do we say tänka på jobbet and not just tänka jobbet or tänka om jobbet?

The verb tänka often needs a preposition, and tänka på is the standard way to say think about:

  • tänka på något – think about something
    • Jag tänker på dig. – I’m thinking about you.

Tänka om means something different, more like change one’s mind:

  • Jag har tänkt om. – I’ve changed my mind.

You cannot say tänka jobbet in Swedish; that would be ungrammatical in this meaning.
So for “think about work”, you must say tänka på jobbet.

What does jobbet mean exactly, and why is it in the definite form?

Jobb = job / work (as a countable job)
jobbet = the job / the work

In context, jobbet usually means my job / my work:
tänka på jobbet ≈ think about work / think about my job.

Swedish often uses the definite form instead of a possessive when it’s clear whose thing it is, especially with:

  • body parts: Jag har ont i huvudet. – My head hurts.
  • family members: Jag träffar mamma. – I’m seeing my mother.
  • work/school: Jag är på jobbet. – I’m at work.

So jobbet here is natural, and you usually don’t need mitt.

Could I say mitt jobb instead of jobbet? Would that change the meaning?

You can say:

  • På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på mitt jobb.

This is grammatically correct and understood as my job.

Nuance:

  • tänka på jobbet – most neutral, idiomatic: “think about work / the job”.
  • tänka på mitt jobb – emphasizes my particular job, e.g. maybe compared to someone else’s job or other topics.

In everyday speech, tänka på jobbet is more common unless you specifically want to stress my.

Why is inte placed after jag and not before vill?

Standard word order for negation in a main clause is:

[first element] + verb + subject + inte + (rest)

Your sentence:

  1. På kvällen – first element
  2. vill – finite verb
  3. jag – subject
  4. inte – negation
  5. tänka på jobbet – rest

So we get: På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet.

You can sometimes move inte for emphasis:

  • På kvällen vill inte jag tänka på jobbet.

This emphasizes jag: I don’t want to think about work (maybe someone else does). But the neutral version is with inte after the subject: vill jag inte.

How is På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet pronounced? Any tricky sounds?

Key points:

  • På – like “poh”; long å (similar to English “o” in “bought”, but shorter and cleaner).
  • kvällen – kv is like “kv” in “kvetch”; ä like “e” in “bed”; stress on kväl: KVÄL-len.
  • vill – short i, like “will” in English; double l makes the vowel short.
  • jag – in standard speech often pronounced closer to “ya” or “jag” with a soft g; many dialects say “ja”.
  • inte – usually IN-te; the t is clear but not exploded.
  • tänka – tän like “ten” but with Swedish ä; ka with a hard k.
  • jobbet – j like English “y” in “yes”: YOB-bet; short o, double b gives a short vowel.

Rhythm-wise, primary stress on KVÄL and JOB:
På KVÄL-len vill jag IN-te TÄN-ka på JOB-bet.

What tense or time does the sentence express? Is it about now or a general habit?

The verb vill is in the present tense, but in Swedish the present tense is also used for general habits and routines.

På kvällen vill jag inte tänka på jobbet. can mean:

  • a general habit: “In the evenings, I don’t want to think about work (as a rule).”
  • something about the current period in your life: “These days, in the evenings, I don’t want to think about work.”

If you wanted to talk about the past (used to be that way), you’d say:

  • På kvällen ville jag inte tänka på jobbet. – In the evenings I didn’t want to think about work.