Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon hoppas att tiden räcker för både jobb och motion. - She hopes that the time is enough for both work and exercise.

In this sentence she is talking about a specific, limited amount of time she has (e.g. today, this week), so tiden (the time) is natural:
Hon hoppas att tiden räcker … = She hopes the time is enough …

What exactly does räcker mean, and what is the base form?

The verb is räcka = to be enough, to suffice, to last.

Its main forms:

infinitive: att räcka
present: räcker (here)
past: räckte
supine (used with har): har räckt

So tiden räcker literally means “the time is enough / suffices”.

Why do we need att here? Could we say “Hon hoppas tiden räcker …”?

att here is the conjunction “that”, introducing a subordinate clause:

Hon hoppas att … = She hopes that …

Standard written Swedish normally includes att in this kind of sentence:
Hon hoppas att tiden räcker …

In casual spoken Swedish, many people drop att in similar sentences, so you might hear:
Hon hoppas tiden räcker …
But for correct, clear Swedish—especially in writing—keep att.

Why is the word order “att tiden räcker” and not “att räcker tiden”?

Swedish has different word-order rules in main clauses and subordinate clauses:

Main clause (independent): verb is normally in second position (V2 rule).
- Hon hoppas. – She hopes.
Subordinate clause after att: the order is usually Subject – Verb – rest (no V2).
- att tiden räcker = that the time is enough

So in a clause starting with att, you say:
✅ att tiden räcker
❌ att räcker tiden (sounds wrong in standard Swedish)

Why is räcker in the present tense if she is hoping about the future?

Swedish very often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when it’s about plans, schedules, or results you expect:

Jag åker imorgon. – I’m going/leave tomorrow.
Filmen börjar klockan åtta. – The film starts at eight.

Here, tiden räcker can mean “the time will be enough” in context.
You could also say:

Hon hoppas att tiden kommer att räcka … – more explicitly future, but heavier style.

The simple present is the most natural here.

What is the difference between räcker för and räcker till?

Both exist, but they’re used a bit differently:

räcka för (något) – to be enough for something, often for more general activities or purposes:
- Tiden räcker för både jobb och motion.
- Pengarna räcker för hyran.
räcka till (något) – also “be enough for”, sometimes with a slightly stronger feeling of barely enough or not quite enough, and often with more concrete things:
- Pengarna räcker inte till en ny bil.
- Kaffet räcker till alla.

In this sentence, räcker för både jobb och motion is the most idiomatic choice.

How does både … och … work here? Could I place it somewhere else?

både … och … means “both … and …” and links two parallel elements of the same type.

Here, it connects two nouns:

både jobb och motion = both work and exercise

Typical pattern:

för både X och Y – for both X and Y

You can also say:

för både jobb och motion (most common), or
både för jobb och för motion (more emphasis on for each thing).

But you wouldn’t split it in a way that mixes the structure, e.g.
❌ både jobb och för motion – feels unbalanced.

Why is there no article before jobb and motion?

In Swedish, when you talk about activities or things in a general, non-specific way after a preposition like för, you often use the noun without an article:

för jobb och motion – for work and exercise (in general)
på jobbet = at the job (specific) vs på jobb (dialectal, more like “at work” generally)
i skolan = at school (definite) vs i skola (rare, more old-fashioned/generic)

Here she means “for both work and exercise in general”, not particular jobs or particular exercise sessions, so bare jobb and motion (no ett, en, or definite ending) is correct.

What’s the difference between jobb and arbete?

Both can translate as “work” or “job”, but they differ in tone:

jobb (neuter: ett jobb)
- very common in everyday speech
- can mean a specific job or work tasks
- more informal:
  - Jag har ett nytt jobb. – I have a new job.
  - Jag har mycket jobb. – I have a lot of work.
arbete (neuter: ett arbete)
- slightly more formal / written
- can refer to employment, to “work” as an abstract concept, or a specific piece of work:
  - Jag söker arbete. – I’m looking for work.
  - Hans arbete är viktigt. – His work is important.

In this everyday-style sentence, jobb is the natural choice.

What does motion mean in Swedish? Is it the same as English “motion”?

No, it’s a false friend.

In everyday Swedish, motion usually means physical exercise, especially moderate exercise for health:

Hon behöver mer motion. – She needs more exercise.
Jag går ut på promenad för att få motion. – I go for a walk to get some exercise.

It does not normally mean “movement” in a physics sense, or “a proposal in a meeting” like in English.

Can you explain the pronoun Hon? Could it also be hen?

hon = she, referring to a female person.
han = he.
hen = a gender-neutral pronoun that can mean “they (singular)” or “that person”, used when gender is unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary.

So you could say:

Hon hoppas att tiden räcker … – She hopes …
Hen hoppas att tiden räcker … – They (singular, gender-neutral) hope …

The rest of the sentence stays the same; Swedish doesn’t change the verb for gender.

How do you pronounce the trickier words like räcker, tiden, and motion?

Approximate pronunciation:

Hon – like “hoon” (short oo).
hoppas – short o (like “hop”), double pp = short vowel + strong p.
tiden – “TEE-den”: ti like “tee”, den like English “den”.
räcker – roughly “REK-er”:
- ä similar to the vowel in English “bed”
- ck = a hard k after a short vowel
jobb – like “yobb”: j is like English y.
motion – roughly “mo-SHOON” or “mu-SHOON”:
- ti here is pronounced with the Swedish sj-sound, similar to a soft “sh” but more in the back of the mouth
- stress is on the second syllable.

Precise sounds vary with accent, but these approximations will be understood.