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Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe eller bara te.

Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe eller bara te.
I wonder if the café has strong coffee or only tea.
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Questions & Answers about Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe eller bara te.

Why is it starkt kaffe and not stark kaffe?

Because kaffe is a neuter noun (ett kaffe), the adjective has to take the neuter ending -t when it comes before the noun.

  • en-word: en stark sås (a strong sauce)
  • ett-word: ett starkt te (a strong tea), starkt kaffe (strong coffee)

So:

  • starkt kaffe = strong coffee (correct)
  • stark kaffe would sound wrong in standard Swedish in this context.

When the adjective comes after the noun, it still agrees:

  • Kaffet är starkt. = The coffee is strong.
Why is it caféet with -et at the end and not just café?

Caféet is the definite form: the café.

  • Indefinite: ett café = a café
  • Definite: caféet = the café

Swedish usually adds the definite ending to the noun itself:

  • ett hus → huset (the house)
  • ett café → caféet (the café)

The written form café with é is borrowed from French. You may also see kafé in more Swedish spelling, but café/caféet is very common.

Why is the word order om caféet har and not om har caféet?

In Swedish subordinate clauses (like the om-clause here), the verb does not go in second position as in a main clause.

  • Main clause (V2): Har caféet starkt kaffe? = Does the café have strong coffee?
    (verb har comes right after the first element)
  • Subordinate clause: om caféet har starkt kaffe
    (subject caféet comes before the verb har)

So after om (if/whether), normal order is: > om + subject + verb + ...

That’s why it is om caféet har and not om har caféet.

What exactly does om mean here? Is it “if” or “about”?

Here om means if / whether.

  • Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe.
    = I wonder if the café has strong coffee.

om can also mean about or around, but in this structure: > Jag undrar om …
it introduces an indirect yes/no question, so it is best translated as if or whether.

You could (more formally) replace it with huruvida (whether), but om is by far the most common.

Is Jag undrar om … the normal way to say “I wonder if …” in Swedish?

Yes, Jag undrar om … is the standard, neutral way to say I wonder if / whether ….

Some related options:

  • Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe.
  • Jag vet inte om caféet har starkt kaffe. = I don’t know if the café has strong coffee.
  • More formal: Jag undrar huruvida caféet har starkt kaffe. = I wonder whether…

In everyday speech you can sometimes just say Undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe …, dropping Jag, but that’s more informal and often sounds like “I’m thinking to myself” rather than a complete, careful sentence.

What nuance does bara add in eller bara te?

bara means only / just, often with a slightly minimizing tone.

  • starkt kaffe eller te = strong coffee or tea (neutral)
  • starkt kaffe eller bara te = strong coffee or only/just tea
    → suggests that tea is the less satisfying or less interesting option.

So bara here adds a nuance like: “or only tea (and no coffee)”.

Is te an en-word or an ett-word in Swedish?

te is grammatically a neuter noun: ett te.

Examples:

  • Vill du ha ett te? = Do you want a tea?
  • Teet är varmt. = The tea is hot.

In your sentence there’s no adjective before te, so you don’t see the -t agreement like with starkt kaffe.

Why is it har starkt kaffe instead of something like “serves coffee”?

In Swedish, ha (har in the present) is very commonly used where English uses have or serve with businesses:

  • Caféet har starkt kaffe.
    = literally The café has strong coffee,
    but functionally also “The café serves strong coffee.”

Other examples:

  • Har ni vegetariska rätter? = Do you have / serve vegetarian dishes?
  • Restaurangen har en stor meny. = The restaurant has a big menu.
Why is the adjective only on kaffe and not repeated with te?

Swedish often works like English here: if the same adjective would apply to both nouns, you don’t have to repeat it.

  • starkt kaffe eller bara te
    literally: strong coffee or only tea

If you specifically wanted to say that both are strong, you could repeat the adjective:

  • starkt kaffe eller starkt te = strong coffee or strong tea

But in your sentence the contrast is more about:

  • starkt kaffe vs (bara) te
    strong coffee vs (just) tea
    so only kaffe gets the adjective.
Can I say Jag undrar ifall caféet har starkt kaffe instead of om?

Yes, ifall can be used in place of om in many if/whether clauses:

  • Jag undrar om caféet har starkt kaffe.
  • Jag undrar ifall caféet har starkt kaffe.

Both are correct. ifall is often a bit more colloquial and can feel a touch more “spoken” or informal. om is the most common, neutral choice.

How do you pronounce undrar and caféet?

Approximate pronunciations (Swedish standard):

  • undrar → [ˈʉnːdrar] or [ˈɵndrɑːr] depending on dialect
    • u like in a tight “oo” but more fronted
    • ndr cluster is fairly smooth; the d isn’t strongly released
  • caféet → [kaˈfeːet]
    • stress on fé
    • é = long e sound
    • you can hear a small break between feː and et, like ka-FEE-et.

You don’t have to pronounce the é very differently from e in most modern Swedish, but the word still has stress on the second syllable.