Learn Hardcore Swedish: Barnen sjunger, men de andra lyssnar. - The children sing, but the others listen.

So Barnen sjunger literally means “The-children sing”, i.e. “The children are singing.”
If you said just Barn sjunger, it would mean “Children sing” in a very general sense, without “the.”

How does verb conjugation work in the present tense? Why is it sjunger for “the children sing”?

Modern Swedish has one present tense form for each verb, regardless of the subject:

jag sjunger – I sing / am singing
du sjunger – you sing / are singing
han/hon/de/barnen sjunger – he/she/they/the children sing / are singing

So sjunger is used with all subjects. There are no different endings like English “sing/sings” or Spanish “canto/cantas/canta”. The subject doesn’t change the verb form.

What is the difference between sjunger and sjunga?

They are different forms of the same verb:

sjunga = the infinitive (“to sing”)
- e.g. Jag tycker om att sjunga – I like to sing.
sjunger = present tense (“sing / am singing”)
- e.g. Barnen sjunger – The children are singing.

So you use sjunga after att (“to”) or another verb, and sjunger when it is the main present-tense verb of the clause.

Why is there a comma before men? Is it always required?

In Swedish, a comma is normally used before coordinating conjunctions like men (but), especially when they join two full clauses:

Barnen sjunger, men de andra lyssnar.
Clause 1: Barnen sjunger
Clause 2: de andra lyssnar

So here, the comma is standard written Swedish.

If the second part is not a full clause, you may not use a comma:

Inte barnen utan de andra lyssnar. – Not the children but the others are listening. (Here utan is used differently, and punctuation rules can differ.)

As a simple rule for beginners:
If “men” connects two full sentences, put a comma before it.

What does de andra literally mean, and why is andra in that form?

de andra literally means “the other ones / the others.”

de = “they” (subject form, also used like “the” before adjectives in plural)
andra = “other” in plural

In Swedish, when you say “the + adjective + (plural noun)”, the pattern is:

de + [adjective in plural form] + [noun in plural definite form]

Examples:

de andra barnen – the other children
de stora husen – the big houses

When you leave out the noun, you still keep de + adjective:

de andra – the other ones / the others
de stora – the big ones

So in your sentence, de andra = “the others,” and andra is in its plural form to agree with the plural pronoun de.

What is the difference between de andra and de andra barnen?

Both involve “the other,” but:

de andra = the others / the other ones (the noun is implied, not said)
de andra barnen = the other children (the noun is explicit)

Context decides what de andra refers to:

Barnen sjunger, men de andra lyssnar.
→ “The children are singing, but the others are listening.”
Here de andra likely means “the other people / the others in the group.”

If you say:

Barnen sjunger, men de andra barnen lyssnar.
→ “The children are singing, but the other children are listening.”

Now you’re explicitly talking about two different groups of children.

How do I know when to use de and when to use dem?

Grammatically, Swedish distinguishes subject and object forms:

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

Examples:

De sjunger. – They are singing. (subject)
Jag hör dem. – I hear them. (object)
Jag tror att de sjunger. – I think they are singing. (subject of the second clause)

In your sentence:

de andra lyssnar
→ de is the subject (“the others” are listening), so de is correct.

Complication:
In standard spoken Swedish, both de and dem are almost always pronounced /dom/. This makes it harder for learners, because you can’t hear the difference. You have to think “Would I say they or them in English?”

If it’s they, write de.
If it’s them, write dem.

How are de and sjunger pronounced? That “sj” sound seems tricky.

Very briefly:

de is usually pronounced “dom” in everyday Swedish, not “de.”
- So de andra sounds like “dom andra.”
sjunger:
- The sj in sjunger is a special Swedish sound (often written /ɧ/ in phonetics).
- It’s something like a breathy, “sh”-like sound made further back in the mouth or throat.
- Roughly:
  - sjunger ≈ “shunger”, but with the “sh” deeper in the mouth and more breathy.

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, so what you hear from Swedes may differ slightly, but recognizing that sj is usually this special sound will help your listening a lot.

Can I change the word order, like Men de andra lyssnar, barnen sjunger?

You can move parts around, but you must respect Swedish word-order rules and natural flow.

Your version:

Men de andra lyssnar, barnen sjunger.
→ This sounds odd and confusing. It’s not a natural way to say it.

Natural alternatives:

Barnen sjunger, men de andra lyssnar. (the original)
De andra lyssnar, men barnen sjunger. (reverses the focus)

Swedish is quite strict about verb-second (V2) word order in main clauses: the finite verb (like sjunger, lyssnar) should normally come in second position in the clause. Both natural versions above follow that; your suggestion ends up sounding like two fragments stuck together in an unusual way.

For learners, it’s safest here to keep the original pattern:
[Subject] + [verb] , men [subject] + [verb]

What is the difference between lyssnar and hör?

They match the English distinction between “listen” and “hear”:

lyssna (på) – to listen (to), i.e. to actively pay attention with your ears.
- Barnen lyssnar på musik. – The children are listening to music.
höra – to hear, i.e. to perceive sound, not necessarily actively.
- Jag hör musik. – I hear music.

In your sentence, de andra lyssnar suggests the “others” are actively listening (perhaps to the children singing), not just hearing them in the background.