Learn Hardcore Swedish: Barnen sitter på soffan och tittar på tv. - The children sit on the sofa and watch TV.

Barn is an ett-word that means “child” in the singular and “children” in the plural (the form doesn’t change).
To say “the children”, Swedish adds a definite ending:

ett barn = a child
barn = children
barnet = the child
barnen = the children

So barnen specifically means “the children”, which matches the English sentence with “the”.

Could you ever say barnarna for “the children”?

No. Barnarna is incorrect.

For ett-nouns whose plural is the same as the singular (like barn), the definite plural always ends in -en, not -arna. So it’s:

barn → barnen (the children)
not barnarna.

The -arna ending is used for many en-words, for example:

en pojke (a boy) → pojkar (boys) → pojkarna (the boys)

Why is there no word for “the” before barnen and soffan?

Swedish usually puts “the” at the end of the noun, not in front of it.

barn → barnen = the children
soffa → soffan = the sofa / the couch

So where English has “the children” and “the sofa”, Swedish uses barnen and soffan without a separate article in front. The definiteness is marked by the -en / -n / -et ending on the noun.

What is the difference between soffa and soffan?

(en) soffa = a sofa / a couch (indefinite)
soffan = the sofa / the couch (definite)

The -n (or -en) ending makes it definite. In the sentence på soffan, we’re talking about a specific, known sofa, so the definite form soffan is used.

Why is it sitter and not something like “är sittande” to mean “are sitting”?

Swedish usually does not use a special progressive form like English “are sitting”. Instead, the simple present does that job:

Barnen sitter = The children sit / The children are sitting

Same with tittar:

Barnen tittar på tv = The children watch TV / The children are watching TV

So sitter and tittar in simple present already express an ongoing action.

Why is it på soffan and not i soffan?

Prepositions are often different between English and Swedish.

på literally means “on”, “on top of”.
i means “in” or “inside”.

You normally sit on a sofa, not in it, so Swedish uses på:

sitter på soffan = sitting on the sofa

You might use i soffan only in a very literal sense, like someone is physically inside the sofa (e.g. stuffed inside it), which is unusual.

Why is it tittar på tv and not just tittar tv?

The verb titta (“look”) almost always needs a preposition when you say what you’re looking at. That preposition is usually på:

titta på något = look at / watch something

So:

titta på tv = watch TV
titta på filmen = watch the movie
titta på mig = look at me

Saying tittar tv without på is ungrammatical in standard Swedish.

What is the difference between titta and se when talking about watching TV?

Both can be used with TV, but they have slightly different basic meanings:

titta (på) = look (at), watch (more active, focusing your eyes)
- titta på tv = watch TV (what you normally say)
se (på) = see, watch (more about perceiving with your eyes)
- se på tv or se på en film = also watch TV / watch a film

In everyday speech about TV, titta på tv is extremely common and very natural. Se på tv is also correct but often sounds a bit more neutral or formal in many contexts.

Why is it written tv and not capitalized, like TV?

In Swedish, it’s common to write the abbreviation in lower case:

tv = television

You may also see:

TV (all caps) – also accepted
teve – a more phonetic, spelled‑out version

All three appear, but tv (lowercase) is very widespread in modern writing.

In this sentence, på tv means “on TV” or “on the television”.

Can you also say på teven or på tv:n?

Yes, those are also used:

på tv = on TV (generic, like “on TV in general”)
på tv:n = on the TV set (more like “on the television device”)
på teven = on the TV (same idea, but using the spelled-out form teve)

In everyday speech and writing, titta på tv is the most common and simplest way to say “watch TV” in general.

Could you change the order and say Barnen tittar på tv och sitter på soffan instead?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct:

Barnen sitter på soffan och tittar på tv.
Barnen tittar på tv och sitter på soffan.

Both are fine. You just slightly change the focus:

First version emphasizes where they are (on the sofa), then adds what they’re doing there (watching TV).
Second version starts with what they’re doing (watching TV) and then adds where they’re doing it (on the sofa).

In practice, both can describe exactly the same situation.

How is och pronounced here?

In careful speech, och is [ɔk] or [ɔx], roughly like “ock”.

However, in everyday spoken Swedish, it is very often reduced:

It can sound like just [o] or [å], almost like it’s just a vowel between the words.
So sitter på soffan och tittar can sound a bit like “sitter på soffan å tittar” in casual speech.

In writing it always stays och, even if people pronounce it more like å.

Do the verbs change form because barnen is plural?

No. Swedish verbs do not change for person or number in the present tense. The verb form is the same for I / you / he / she / we / they:

jag sitter = I sit / I am sitting
du sitter = you sit
han/hon sitter = he/she sits
vi sitter = we sit
de sitter = they sit

So barnen sitter (the children sit / are sitting) uses the same form sitter that you’d use with any subject. The same is true for tittar.