Learn Hardcore Swedish: De sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar om sina framtidsplaner. - They sit in the living room and talk about their future plans.

the simple present: pratar = talk / are talking
or a “position verb” + och + main verb to show what someone is doing while sitting/standing/lying:
De sitter och pratar. – They are sitting and talking.
Hon sitter och läser. – She is sitting and reading.
Han står och väntar. – He is standing and waiting.

So sitter literally means are sitting, and together with och pratar it gives the idea of are sitting and talking.

Why are both verbs in the simple present (sitter, pratar) when the English uses “are sitting / are talking”?

Swedish only has one present tense form, used for both:

simple present: they talk
and present continuous: they are talking

So:

De pratar. = They talk / They are talking.
De sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar. = They sit in the living room and talk / They are sitting in the living room and talking.

Context tells you whether it’s a habitual action or something happening right now.

Why is it De sitter and not Dom sitter or Dem sitter?

In standard written Swedish you distinguish:

de = subject form (they)
dem = object form (them)

So here the subject is de:

De sitter i vardagsrummet … – They are sitting in the living room …

However, in speech, both de and dem are usually pronounced [dom].
Some informal writing (texts, chat) actually writes dom for both, but in normal written Swedish you should write de (subject) and dem (object).

Why is it i vardagsrummet and not på vardagsrummet?

The preposition i is used for being inside an enclosed space, such as a room:

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

På is used for many other places (work, school, islands, surfaces, etc.), e.g.:

på jobbet – at work
på skolan – at the school
på bordet – on the table

For ordinary rooms in a house/apartment, you almost always say i, not på: i vardagsrummet is the natural choice.

Why is it vardagsrummet with the definite ending, instead of just vardagsrum?

In English you say “in the living room,” not “in a living room” when you mean the specific room in the home. Swedish works the same way:

ett vardagsrum – a living room (indefinite, singular)
vardagsrummet – the living room (definite, singular)

So i vardagsrummet = in the living room (the one that belongs to that home).

Also note the gender:

It’s an ett-word: ett vardagsrum → vardagsrummet.

What exactly does vardagsrum mean, and how is vardagsrummet formed?

Vardagsrum is a compound noun:

vardag – everyday / weekday
rum – room

So vardagsrum literally is like “everyday room”, i.e. the room you use daily → living room.

Forms:

ett vardagsrum – a living room
vardagsrummet – the living room
vardagsrum – living rooms (indefinite plural, same form as singular)
vardagsrummen – the living rooms (definite plural)

Why do we use sina and not deras for “their” future plans?

Swedish has reflexive possessive pronouns (sin, sitt, sina) that refer back to the subject of the clause.

sin – for a singular en-word (e.g. sin bok)
sitt – for a singular ett-word (e.g. sitt hus)
sina – for plurals (e.g. sina böcker, sina planer)

In this sentence, the subject is De (they). Sina shows that the plans belong to them themselves:

De … pratar om sina framtidsplaner.
→ They are talking about their own future plans.

If you said deras framtidsplaner here, it would normally mean some other group’s future plans (someone else’s plans), not the plans of the people referred to by de.

Why is it sina and not sin or sitt?

The choice between sin, sitt, and sina depends on the grammatical form of the thing possessed, not the owner:

sin – with a singular en-word:
- sin bil – his/her/their own car
sitt – with a singular ett-word:
- sitt hus – his/her/their own house
sina – with plural nouns:
- sina bilar – his/her/their own cars
- sina planer – their own plans

Here we have framtidsplaner (plans, plural), so we must use sina:

sina framtidsplaner – their own future plans.

How is framtidsplaner built up, and why is there no article like “some” or “the”?

Framtidsplaner is a compound:

framtid – future
planer – plans (plural of plan)

So framtidsplaner = future plans (indefinite plural).

Swedish often uses bare plural (no article) where English might use “some” or just plural:

De pratar om sina framtidsplaner.
= They are talking about their future plans (no “the” or “some” needed).

If you wanted to be very specific, you could say:

De pratar om de där framtidsplanerna. – those particular future plans.
But in the given sentence, indefinite plural is the natural, general form.

Could we also say De sitter och pratar i vardagsrummet om sina framtidsplaner? Is that word order correct?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct, and people do say it. Swedish word order is quite flexible with adverbials (like i vardagsrummet, om sina framtidsplaner).

Some possible variants:

De sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar om sina framtidsplaner.
De sitter och pratar i vardagsrummet om sina framtidsplaner.
De sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar om sina framtidsplaner tillsammans.

All are fine; the choice slightly changes which part feels more emphasized, but there is no big difference in meaning here.

Is there a difference between pratar and talar?

Both mean “speak / talk”, but there’s a difference in tone and typical usage:

pratar
- more colloquial, everyday
- very common in daily conversation
- Vi pratar om vädret. – We’re talking about the weather.
talar
- slightly more formal or neutral
- used in official contexts, set phrases, or when referring to speaking a language
- Han talar svenska. – He speaks Swedish.
- Hon talar inför publik. – She is speaking in front of an audience.

In the context of friends or family talking in the living room, pratar is the most natural choice.

What does om mean here, and can it mean other things?

Here om means “about”:

pratar om sina framtidsplaner – talking about their future plans.

Om is a very common preposition/conjunction and can mean different things depending on context:

if: Om det regnar, stannar vi hemma. – If it rains, we stay home.
about: Vi pratar om dig. – We are talking about you.
around / roughly / in (time):
- om en timme – in an hour
- omkring tio personer (often omkring or ungefär is used instead) – around ten people

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly “about”.