Learn Hardcore Swedish: I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska. - In her group both children and adults sit and speak Swedish.

I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.

In her group both children and adults sit and speak Swedish.

Breakdown of I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.

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Questions & Answers about I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.

Why does the sentence start with I hennes grupp sitter ... instead of putting the subject first, like in English?

Swedish main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what comes first.

In your sentence, the structure is:

I hennes grupp – a place phrase (adverbial) in first position
sitter – the finite verb in second position
både barn och vuxna – the subject
och pratar svenska – the rest

So if you put a place/time expression first, the verb jumps in front of the subject:

I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.
Både barn och vuxna sitter i hennes grupp och pratar svenska. (now the subject is first, so sitter is still second)

Both are correct; the first one emphasizes the group, the second emphasizes who is in it.

What exactly does sitter mean here? Is it literally “sit”, or is it more like “are”?

Literally, sitter means “sit / are sitting”, but Swedish often uses posture verbs (sitta = sit, stå = stand, ligga = lie) to describe where people are and what they’re doing.

The pattern is:

sitter och pratar = are sitting and talking
står och väntar = are standing and waiting
ligger och läser = are lying and reading

So sitter … och pratar svenska is best understood as:

are sitting (there), talking Swedish

It doesn’t mean “sit and then talk” as two separate actions; it’s one ongoing situation, very much like the English continuous “are sitting and talking”.

You could say är instead, but it changes the feel:

I hennes grupp är både barn och vuxna. – “In her group there are both children and adults.” (just stating existence, not what they’re doing)
I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska. – adds the idea of them actually sitting there, engaged in conversation.

Why is it i hennes grupp and not på hennes grupp or something else?

The preposition i literally means “in / inside”, and with grupp (group) it’s the normal choice:

i hennes grupp = in her group (as a member of that group)

You use i with many “container” or membership nouns:

i klassen – in the class
i laget – in the team
i familjen – in the family

På is used with many places and organizations too, but usually when you think of them as locations or institutions, not as “containers” of members:

på jobbet – at work
på universitetet – at the university
på kursen – on the course

So i hennes grupp is “inside that group as part of it”, which fits the meaning here.

Why is it hennes grupp and not gruppen or hennes gruppen?

Three important points:

No double definiteness with possessives
In Swedish, if you use a possessive pronoun (min, din, hans, hennes etc.), the noun does not take a definite ending:
- gruppen = the group
- hennes grupp = her group (not hennes gruppen)
- min bil = my car (not min bilen)
The possessive itself makes it definite
Hennes grupp is already definite in meaning (that particular group that belongs to her), so you don’t add -en.
Why not just gruppen?
- gruppen = the group (we already know which one from context)
- hennes grupp = her group – explicitly tells whose group

The sentence wants to say her group, not just the group, so hennes grupp is needed.

What’s the difference between hennes and sin? Could the sentence be I sin grupp sitter ...?

Both hennes and sin can refer to “her”, but they behave differently.

hennes = her (non‑reflexive; does not refer back to the subject)
sin/sitt/sina = her/his/their own (reflexive; refers back to the subject of the clause)

Examples:

Hon sitter i sin grupp. – She sits in her own group.
Hon sitter i hennes grupp. – She sits in another woman’s group.

In your sentence, there is no explicit subject yet when we say I hennes grupp ..., so hennes is neutral: we just know it’s some female person’s group (“her group”), not necessarily the subject of this sentence.

You could say:

I sin grupp sitter hon med både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.

There, sin clearly refers back to hon. But then you must actually have hon as the subject in the same clause. The original sentence probably refers to “her” from previous context (e.g. “Anna is a teacher. In her group ...”), so hennes is natural.

How does både ... och ... work? Could I just say barn och vuxna without både?

Både ... och ... is a fixed construction meaning “both ... and ...”. It emphasizes that two kinds of things/persons are included.

både barn och vuxna = both children and adults

You can definitely say just barn och vuxna; that simply lists them without the extra emphasis.

I hennes grupp sitter barn och vuxna och pratar svenska.
I hennes grupp sitter både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska. (stronger feeling of “both groups are included”)

Grammatically, både precedes the first item, and och comes before the second:

både X och Y – both X and Y
både lärare och elever – both teachers and students
både gamla och unga – both old and young

Why is barn not marked for plural? Shouldn’t it be something like barnen or barnar?

Barn is an irregular noun whose singular and plural indefinite forms are identical:

ett barn – a child
barn – children (no ending)

The definite forms are:

barnet – the child
barnen – the children

So in your sentence:

både barn och vuxna = both children and adults
(indefinite plural, so barn without any ending)

This pattern (same singular/plural indefinite) is common for some neuter nouns, especially those ending in a consonant:

ett rum – rum – rummet – rummen (room)
ett barn – barn – barnet – barnen (child)

What is vuxna? Is that an adjective or a noun, and why does it have an -a?

Vuxen is both an adjective and a noun meaning “adult / grown‑up”.

As a noun:

en vuxen – an adult
vuxna – adults (plural indefinite)
den vuxna – the adult
de vuxna – the adults

In your sentence, vuxna is a plural noun:

både barn och vuxna = both children and adults

As an adjective, it also uses vuxen / vuxet / vuxna depending on gender and number:

en vuxen man – an adult man
ett vuxet barn – a grown‑up child
vuxna personer – adult people

Why is it pratar svenska without any article, not pratar den svenska or similar?

When talking about languages in Swedish, you normally use no article and no preposition:

pratar svenska – speak Swedish
lära sig svenska – learn Swedish
förstår du engelska? – do you understand English?

So:

och pratar svenska = and (they) are speaking Swedish

You’d only add something like den or use svenskan if you’re talking about “the Swedish language” in a more abstract or specific sense:

Svenskan är ett nordiskt språk. – Swedish is a Nordic language.
Den svenska som han talar är svår att förstå. – The Swedish he speaks is hard to understand.

In everyday talk about ability or action, it’s just pratar svenska, talar tyska, skriver franska, etc.

What’s the difference between pratar and talar? Could I say talar svenska instead?

Both pratar and talar can mean “speak”, but they differ in style:

pratar – more informal, everyday
talar – more formal, or used in fixed expressions

In your sentence, both are grammatical:

... och pratar svenska. – very natural, casual
... och talar svenska. – a bit more formal or neutral

Some typical uses:

prata med kompisar – talk with friends
tala inför en publik – speak in front of an audience
tala sanning – tell the truth (fixed expression)
prata i telefon – talk on the phone

Most learners are safe using prata in normal conversation.

Why are there two och in the sentence: både barn och vuxna och pratar svenska?

They do two different jobs:

både barn och vuxna – here och connects barn and vuxna (children and adults).
... sitter ... och pratar svenska – here och connects two verbs (sitter and pratar) in the construction sitter och pratar.

So the structure is essentially:

(In her group) sit both children and adults and talk Swedish.

English also often uses two and’s in a similar way:

“In her group, both children and adults sit and talk Swedish.”

In Swedish, sitter och pratar is felt as one unit meaning “are sitting talking”, so that second och is very natural and almost obligatory in this pattern.

Is sitter och pratar the normal way to say “are sitting and talking” in Swedish? How does Swedish show the continuous aspect?

Yes, sitter och pratar is a very natural way to express an ongoing action while sitting. Swedish doesn’t have a separate “-ing form” like English does; instead it usually uses simple present tense plus context:

De sitter och pratar. – They are sitting and talking.
Hon läser. – She is reading / She reads. (context decides)

For physical positions plus another activity, Swedish often uses:

sitter och ... – are sitting and ...
står och ... – are standing and ...
ligger och ... – are lying and ...

You can also use håller på att + infinitive to emphasize the ongoing nature:

De håller på att prata. – They are in the middle of talking.

But in your sentence, sitter ... och pratar svenska is exactly the idiomatic, natural choice.