Breakdown of Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?
Questions & Answers about Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?
In Swedish yes/no questions normally start with the verb (verb–subject order).
Statement: Du vill dricka något efter jobbet. – You want to drink something after work.
(subject du comes before the verb vill)Question: Vill du dricka något efter jobbet? – Do you want to drink something after work?
(verb vill comes before the subject du)
This inversion (verb before subject) is what makes it a question, much like using “Do you…?” in English.
In this sentence “vill” means “want (to)”, not future “will”.
- Vill = to want
- Jag vill gå hem. – I want to go home.
In English we often say “Will you have a drink…?”, but that “will” expresses a polite invitation, not future time. In Swedish you don’t use vill that way; you literally say “Do you want to drink…?”:
- Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?
→ literally: Want you drink something after work?
For future, Swedish more often uses ska or just the present tense, not vill.
In Swedish, modal verbs (like vill, kan, ska, måste) are not followed by att.
- Correct: Jag vill dricka kaffe. – I want to drink coffee.
- Incorrect: ✗ Jag vill *att dricka kaffe.*
So:
- Vill du dricka något…?
is the normal, correct structure: vill + infinitive (without att).
You use att before an infinitive when there is no modal:
- Jag tycker om att dricka kaffe. – I like to drink coffee.
- Det är bra att dricka vatten. – It’s good to drink water.
Here “dricka” is a verb: “to drink”.
- Vill du dricka något…? – Do you want to drink something…?
However, dricka can also be a noun meaning “drink” / “beverage” (often informal):
- Vill du ha en dricka? – Do you want a drink (a beverage)?
In your sentence the form after “vill du” must be the verb infinitive, so it’s clearly the verb meaning to drink.
Något here means “something / anything”.
Basic forms:
något
- neuter form: “some/any” (for ett-words)
- also very commonly used as an indefinite “something/anything” on its own
- Vill du ha något? – Do you want something?
någon
- common gender form: “some/any” (for en-words)
- also “someone / anyone”
- Ser du någon? – Do you see someone / anyone?
några
- plural: “some / any (plural)”
- Jag har några frågor. – I have some questions.
In “Vill du dricka något…?”, något is best understood as “something” or “anything” (to drink).
Yes. “Något” and “någonting” are both correct and very common.
- Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?
- Vill du dricka någonting efter jobbet?
Meaning is essentially the same: “Do you want to drink something after work?”
Något is a bit shorter and more neutral, någonting can feel slightly more emphatic or explicit, but in everyday speech they’re practically interchangeable.
Swedish usually says “efter jobbet” (literally “after the job”) to express “after work (today / at my workplace)”.
- efter jobbet
= after (finishing) my job / my workday
→ natural translation: “after work”
You don’t normally say ✗ efter jobb in this sense.
Another possibility is:
- efter arbetet – a bit more formal, also “after the work”, but “efter jobbet” is more colloquial and common for “after work” (as in after your shift).
Not necessarily. Literally, it just means:
- “Do you want to drink something after work?”
Context decides whether it implies alcohol:
- If said among friends/colleagues in the evening, it often does imply going for a beer, wine, etc.
- If said in a neutral context, it can just mean any beverage (coffee, tea, soda, water).
If you want to make the alcohol meaning clearer, you might hear:
- Vill du ta en öl efter jobbet? – Do you want to have a beer after work?
- Vill du ta en drink efter jobbet? – Do you want to have a (mixed) drink after work?
Modern Swedish almost always uses du for “you” in the singular, even in relatively formal situations.
- Saying “Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?” to a colleague or even to a boss is normal, as long as the situation is appropriate.
- The old formal pronouns (like Ni as a singular politeness form, or titles instead of pronouns) are much less common today.
So du is the standard singular “you” and is not considered rude by itself.
You can soften it by using “skulle” or “vilja”:
- Skulle du vilja dricka något efter jobbet?
– Literally: “Would you like to drink something after work?”
That sounds more polite / tentative, similar to English “Would you like to…”.
Plain “Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?” is perfectly polite in most everyday contexts; it just feels a bit more direct and casual.
Roughly:
- jobb → [yobb] (short o like in British “job”, but often a bit more closed; j like English y in yes)
- jobbet → [yobbet] (same vowel, with -et pronounced like “eh-t”)
So “efter jobbet” sounds approximately like:
- [EFR-ter YOB-bet] (with Swedish r and shorter vowels)
Stress is on the first syllable of jobbet: JOB-bet.
The main framework is fairly fixed:
- Verb (for yes/no question): Vill
- Subject: du
- Infinitive verb: dricka
- Object: något
- Adverbial (time, place, etc.): efter jobbet
You can add more information at the end without changing the core order:
- Vill du dricka något efter jobbet *i kväll?*
- Vill du dricka något efter jobbet *med mig?*
But you would not say:
- ✗ Vill du något dricka efter jobbet?
- ✗ Vill du efter jobbet dricka något? (possible in special emphasis, but unusual in neutral speech)
So for neutral speech, keep: Vill du dricka något (…)? then add extra info at the end.
Yes, but it means something different.
Vill du dricka något efter jobbet?
– Do you want to drink something after work? (an invitation)Dricker du något efter jobbet?
– Do you drink anything after work? (asking about a habit/routine, not inviting)
So for inviting someone for a drink this time, use “Vill du dricka…”, not “Dricker du…”.