Learn Hardcore Swedish: Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå nästan lika hög som min. - After this week her level is almost as high as mine.

In Swedish, when you use den här / det här / de här (this/these), the noun also takes the definite form. This is called double definiteness.

Indefinite: vecka (week)
Definite: veckan (the week)
With den här: den här veckan (this week)

You must not say den här vecka; that is ungrammatical. The demonstrative den här requires the noun to have the definite ending (-n here).

Could I say Efter denna vecka instead of Efter den här veckan? What is the difference?

Yes, you can:

Efter den här veckan – very common, neutral, everyday Swedish.
Efter denna vecka – possible, but sounds more formal or written.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing. In ordinary speech, den här veckan is much more typical.

Why is it hennes nivå and not sin nivå?

Hennes and sin are both possessive, but they are used differently:

hennes: her (someone else’s), does not have to refer to the subject.
sin/sitt/sina: reflexive; refers back to the subject of the same clause.

In this sentence, the subject is hennes nivå itself, not the woman:

Subject: hennes nivå
Possessor: some woman (introduced earlier in the context)

Because the possessor is not the grammatical subject of the clause, you cannot use sin here. You must use hennes:

Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå … ✅
Efter den här veckan är sin nivå … ❌

Why is it hennes nivå and not hennes nivån?

With a possessive pronoun (like min, din, hans, hennes), the noun normally stays in the indefinite form, without the definite ending.

So you say:

hennes nivå (her level) ✅
min bil (my car) ✅
vår lägenhet (our apartment) ✅

You do not combine a possessive pronoun and a definite noun form:

hennes nivån ❌
min bilen ❌

The possessive pronoun itself works as the determiner; you do not add another definite marker.

Why is the adjective hög and not högt or höga?

Adjectives in Swedish agree with the noun they describe, even when they stand after är (predicative position).

The noun here is nivå:

nivå is an en-word, singular (en nivå).

For an en-word, singular, indefinite noun, the basic adjective form is used:

hög nivå (a high level)
nivån är hög (the level is high)

Other forms would be used in different situations:

högt – neuter singular: ett högt hus
höga – plural or definite: höga nivåer, de höga bergen

Here we have en nivå, so hög is the right form.

Why is it nästan lika hög som min and not nästan lika hög än min?

Swedish uses two different comparison patterns:

Equality: lika … som
- lika hög som = as high as
- nästan lika hög som min = almost as high as mine
Comparative “than”: -are … än
- högre än = higher than
- högre än min = higher than mine

So:

lika hög som min ✅ (as high as mine)
lika hög än min ❌ (mixes the two patterns: lika … som vs -are … än)

Why can you say som min and leave out nivå? Is that normal?

Yes, this is very normal and common in Swedish. When the same noun would be repeated and is obvious from context, you can drop it.

Full form: … lika hög som min nivå.
Shorter, natural form: … lika hög som min.

The noun nivå is clearly understood, so Swedish speakers prefer the shorter version. English does the same with mine / yours / his / hers, etc.

Why is it som min and not som jag or som mig?

You are comparing levels, not people:

hennes nivå (her level)
min (nivå) (my level)

So you naturally compare one level with another level:

nästan lika hög som min (nivå) = almost as high as mine.

You could say:

… nästan lika hög som jag.

Then you are comparing her level directly to me as a person, interpreted as my level. This is also grammatically fine, but the original wording makes the comparison between two explicit nivås and is very clear.

Using som mig here is more colloquial and somewhat debated in formal style; traditional grammar prefers som jag after lika.

Where should nästan go? Could I say Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå lika nästan hög som min?

Nästan normally comes before the adjective phrase or the word it modifies.

Correct options are:

Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå nästan lika hög som min. ✅
(nästan modifies the whole comparison lika hög som min)

You do not put nästan between lika and hög:

lika nästan hög ❌ (ungrammatical)

You could also move nästan slightly, but some positions sound odd or marked:

Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå nästan lika hög som min. ✅ (natural)
Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå lika hög nästan som min. ❌ (wrong place)

Why is the verb är (present tense) used, even though we are talking about the future?

Swedish very often uses the present tense to talk about future events, especially when there is a time expression that makes the time clear.

Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå …
= After this week, her level will be …

This is completely natural Swedish. You could also use an explicit future:

Efter den här veckan kommer hennes nivå att vara nästan lika hög som min.
Efter den här veckan ska hennes nivå vara nästan lika hög som min.

All three are grammatically correct. The simple är with a time phrase is very common and not as “present” as in English.

Could I say Efter den här veckan kommer hennes nivå att vara nästan lika hög som min instead? Is there any difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct too:

Efter den här veckan är hennes nivå …
– natural, slightly more direct and simple. Present tense used with a future time reference.
Efter den här veckan kommer hennes nivå att vara …
– explicitly future. Slightly more formal or explanatory, but still very common.

The meaning is almost the same. The version with är feels a bit more like a stated fact about what things are like once that week is over; the kommer att vara version explicitly highlights the future development.

What is the difference between efter den här veckan and om en vecka?

They are not always interchangeable:

efter den här veckan
– after this week (sometime after the week has ended; the exact moment is not specified).
– Focuses on the end of the current week.
om en vecka
– in a week (exactly one week from now).
– Focuses on the time span of seven days from now.

In many contexts they might point to roughly the same time, but grammatically and conceptually they are different:

efter introduces a time after a period is finished.
om (in this sense) means in / after [X amount of time] from now.