Learn Hardcore Swedish: Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren, men relationen till henne är viktig för mig. - We often meet relatives in the summer, but the relationship with her is important to me.

Vi ofta träffar släktingar sounds wrong in standard Swedish, because ofta cannot normally go between the subject and the finite verb in a simple main clause.

What is the difference between träffar and other verbs like möter or besöker?

All can be translated as meet or visit in English, but they are used differently:

träffar – meet in a broad, social sense
- Vi träffar våra släktingar. = We meet / see our relatives.
  Often implies spending some time together.
möter – meet, encounter, often more neutral or accidental
- Jag möter honom på gatan. = I meet / run into him in the street.
besöker – visit (go to a person or place)
- Vi besöker våra släktingar i Malmö. = We visit our relatives in Malmö.

In the sentence Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren, träffar is natural because it’s about social meetings/seeing people, not just running into them or going to their house as a “visit” in a formal sense.

What exactly does släktingar mean? Is it the same as familj?

släktingar means relatives – people you are related to by blood or marriage. It can include:

grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
sometimes in-laws, depending on context

familj usually means your immediate family: parents, children, and sometimes siblings.

So:

Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren.
= We often meet relatives in the summer. (Extended family.)
Jag bor med min familj.
= I live with my family. (Usually the people in your household.)

They overlap, but släktingar is wider and focuses on kinship, not necessarily the people you live with.

Why is it på sommaren and not i sommaren?

For seasons and many time expressions, Swedish typically uses på where English might use in:

på sommaren = in (the) summer
på vintern = in (the) winter
på kvällen = in the evening
på morgonen = in the morning

i sommaren is not idiomatic. You say i sommar to mean this summer (referring to the coming or current summer):

Vi ska resa i sommar. = We will travel this summer.

But when speaking generally about summer as a season, use på sommaren.

Why is it på sommaren with the definite form sommaren, when English just says “in summer”?

Swedish often uses the definite form where English uses a general, non-definite expression.

på sommaren literally: on the summer
but idiomatically: in summer / in the summer (in general)

Similarly:

på vintern = in (the) winter
på lördagarna = on Saturdays (in general)

So på sommaren here refers to summer in general, not one specific summer, even though it has the definite ending -en.

Why is there a comma before men in ..., men relationen till henne är viktig för mig.?

In Swedish, it is standard to put a comma before the conjunction men when it starts a new main clause:

Clause 1: Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren
Clause 2: men relationen till henne är viktig för mig

Joining them:

Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren, men relationen till henne är viktig för mig.

This matches English quite closely:
We often meet relatives in the summer, but the relationship with her is important to me.

Why is it relationen till henne and not relationen med henne?

Both relationen till henne and relationen med henne can be used, but till is more neutral and typical in this kind of sentence.

Nuances:

relationen till henne
- Very common when talking about the quality or importance of the relationship.
- Focuses on your personal connection to that person.
- Relationen till henne är viktig för mig.
  = My relationship to her is important to me.
relationen med henne
- Often focuses more on the interaction / how things function between you, slightly more “between us” feeling.
- Min relation med henne är komplicerad.
  = My relationship with her is complicated.

In this context, till henne is the natural default.

Why is it henne and not hon in relationen till henne?

hon and henne are different cases of the same pronoun:

hon = subject form (like English she)
- Hon är snäll. = She is kind.
henne = object form (like English her)
- Jag tycker om henne. = I like her.

In relationen till henne, the pronoun is the object of the preposition till:

relation (subject) – till (preposition) – henne (object)

So the correct form is henne, just like English requires her after a preposition:
the relationship to her (not to she).

Why is it viktig för mig and not viktig till mig?

Many Swedish adjectives require specific prepositions, and these don’t always match English.

With viktig (important), the usual preposition is för:

viktig för mig = important to me
viktig för oss = important to us

Using till here would be ungrammatical.

Some other common patterns:

bra för dig = good for you
svår för mig = difficult for me
lätt för henne = easy for her

So you should memorize viktig för någon (important to someone) as a fixed pattern.

Why is the word order relationen till henne är viktig för mig and not something like Relationen till henne viktig är för mig?

In a normal Swedish main clause, the basic word order is:

Subject
Verb
Predicative / object / other info

In this clause:

relationen till henne = subject
är = verb
viktig för mig = predicative (saying something about the subject)

So:

Relationen till henne (subject)
är (verb)
viktig för mig (what it is like)

Swedish does not move är to the end like German sometimes does, and it does not allow you to freely scramble words in a simple clause the way you wrote. So:

✅ Relationen till henne är viktig för mig.
❌ Relationen till henne viktig är för mig. (ungrammatical)

Why is the present tense är used here when this is more about a general, ongoing state?

In Swedish, the present tense is used not only for actions happening right now, but also for general truths, ongoing states, and things that are usually true—just like in English.

Vi träffar ofta släktingar på sommaren.
= We often meet relatives in the summer. (habitual)
Relationen till henne är viktig för mig.
= The relationship with her is important to me. (ongoing state / general truth)

So the present är is exactly what you want for stating something that is currently and generally true.