Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet. - She is sitting alone in the living room.

English often uses to be + -ing (is sitting / is standing / is lying), but Swedish usually just uses the simple verb (sitter, står, ligger) without an extra auxiliary.

What is the difference between själv and ensam here? Could I say Hon sitter ensam i vardagsrummet?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

själv = by herself / on her own
- Focus is on the fact that she is not with others. It can be neutral.
- Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet.
  = She is there on her own; others might be elsewhere.
ensam = alone / lonely
- Can mean just alone, but often has a more emotional tone, hinting at loneliness.
- Hon sitter ensam i vardagsrummet.
  = She is alone there; it can sound a bit sad or isolated depending on context.

In everyday speech, people do sometimes use them almost interchangeably, but:

själv is a bit more neutral: simply “by herself.”
ensam more easily suggests she might feel alone or left out.

Is själv an adjective here or an adverb? Does it change form for gender or number?

In Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet, själv behaves like an adverb meaning “by herself.” As an adverb, it does not change for gender or number:

Hon sitter själv. – She sits by herself.
Han sitter själv. – He sits by himself.

However, själv can also be used like an adjective/pronoun meaning “self” or “-self” (myself, yourself, etc.):

Jag själv – I myself
Hon själv – She herself
Vi själva – We ourselves

In that more adjectival use, it can have a plural form själva:

Vi själva gjorde det. – We ourselves did it.

So in your sentence, think of själv as an adverb = “by herself,” so it stays the same form.

Why is it i vardagsrummet and not something like i det vardagsrum with a separate word for “the”?

Swedish usually puts the definite article as a suffix on the noun instead of using a separate word like English the:

ett vardagsrum – a living room
vardagsrummet – the living room

So:

i vardagsrum – in (a) living room (very rare in this bare form; you’d usually specify it more)
i ett vardagsrum – in a living room
i vardagsrummet – in the living room

Using i det vardagsrum would be ungrammatical in standard Swedish. The “the” is already built into vardagsrummet.

Why does vardagsrummet end in -et and not -en? How do I know which one to use?

Swedish nouns have two grammatical genders:

en-words (common gender) – definite singular ends in -en
- en stol – a chair → stolen – the chair
- en bil – a car → bilen – the car
ett-words (neuter gender) – definite singular ends in -et
- ett hus – a house → huset – the house
- ett vardagsrum – a living room → vardagsrummet – the living room

Vardagsrum is an ett-word, so its definite form is vardagsrummet.

Unfortunately, gender is mostly something you have to learn with each noun; there aren’t perfect rules. Dictionaries usually mark nouns with en or ett, for exactly this reason.

Could själv here mean “herself” in the sense of emphasizing identity, like “She herself is in the living room”?

In context, Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet is understood as:

She is sitting by herself in the living room.

If you want to emphasize she herself (and no one else) in Swedish, you normally move själv next to the pronoun as a kind of emphatic word:

Hon själv är i vardagsrummet.
= She herself is in the living room (as opposed to someone else).

Compare:

Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet. – She is sitting there by herself (alone).
Hon själv sitter i vardagsrummet. – It is she herself who is sitting in the living room (emphasis on who, not on being alone).

So in your original sentence, the position after sitter makes själv mean “by herself,” not “she herself.”

Can I change the word order and say Hon sitter i vardagsrummet själv? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet.
Hon sitter i vardagsrummet själv.

Both are grammatically correct and usually mean the same thing: she is sitting alone in the living room.

However, there is a slight nuance:

Hon sitter själv i vardagsrummet.
– More neutral, standard placement for this adverb; just “She is sitting by herself in the living room.”
Hon sitter i vardagsrummet själv.
– Often sounds a bit more contrastive: she is specifically the one who is there by herself in the living room (maybe others are elsewhere). Context decides if that contrast is felt strongly or not.

In everyday conversation, both word orders are common, and the difference is subtle.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “is” like in English “She is sitting”? Why just sitter?

Swedish does not usually form the continuous aspect (is sitting, is reading, is working) with är + verb-ing the way English does.

Instead, Swedish typically just uses the simple present:

Hon sitter i vardagsrummet.
= She is sitting in the living room.
Hon läser en bok.
= She is reading a book.
Han arbetar.
= He is working.

Context tells you whether the action is happening right now or is more habitual. You do sometimes see constructions like håller på att sitta, but that’s uncommon and awkward for most verbs. For simple, ongoing actions, plain present tense is the normal choice.

Why is the preposition i used? Could you use på with vardagsrummet?

With rooms of a house, Swedish normally uses i (“in”):

i vardagsrummet – in the living room
i köket – in the kitchen
i sovrummet – in the bedroom

Using på vardagsrummet would be wrong in standard Swedish.

På is used with many other types of places or settings:

på jobbet – at work
på restaurangen – at the restaurant
på skolan – at the school / in school

But for rooms inside a building, i is the regular choice.

How do you pronounce själv and vardagsrummet? The spelling looks tricky.

Approximate IPA and English-like hints:

själv
- IPA: [ɧɛlv] (or regionally closer to [ʃɛlv])
- The sj- sound is a special Swedish sound, often written as [ɧ], somewhat like a breathy “sh” or “h” plus “sh” blended.
- The ä is like the vowel in English “bed” but a bit more open.
- The v is pronounced like English v.
- Rough English approximation: “shelv” (but with the Swedish sj sound, not a standard English sh).
vardagsrummet
- IPA: [ˈvɑːɖasˌrʊmːɛt] (can vary slightly by region)
- var-: va like British “father” (long a).
- -dags-: dags like “dahgs” (short a).
- rum: like “room” but with a shorter u, closer to “rook” but with rounded [ʊ].
- Double mm means a long m sound.
- Final -et is “eh-t”, not like French -et.

Stress pattern: VÅR-dags-rum-met (main stress on vard-, secondary on rum).

You don’t need perfect IPA; just note that:

sj = special sh-like Swedish sound
ä ≈ “e” in “bed”
vardagsrummet is one long word with two clear stress peaks.